The Shadow - 28 - The Shadow's Justice by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1933-04-14T22:00:00+00:00

While Harry still watched the lights, wondering if they would blink again, he heard the distant whistle of a locomotive. The sound was repeated with increasing loudness.

At last, the bright headlight of the engine bathed the station with brilliance. Harry still gazed at the platform. He saw no one lurking there.

The train came to a stop. Harry saw a young man alight, and recognized the figure of Carter Boswick.

He saw Carter pick up a pair of heavy suitcases and start diagonally across the street. He was obviously going to the Junction House.

But Harry, yielding to a hunch, still waited. He saw another man get off the train, with a valise in hand.

Harry stared in sudden recognition. He was sure that he had seen the man before—on the limited between New York and Chicago!

HARRY was correct. This man was Stacks Lodi, still on Carter Boswick’s trail. Harry saw Stacks light a cigarette, then leisurely follow the course that Carter had taken.

As soon as the second man had entered the hotel, Harry started the motor of his coupe, drove a short way up the street, turned, and pulled up at the door of the Junction House.

Harry carried his own suitcase into the hotel. No bell boy came to receive it. Harry guessed the reason.

The place would not have more than two attendants; both were at present employed in showing the previous guests to rooms.

Signing the register, Harry noted two names inscribed there. One was Carter Boswick, in Room 208; the other was Antonio Lodi, in Room 215.

The slouching clerk read Harry’s name; then wrote 222 after it. He rang a bell, but nothing occurred for several minutes. Then an unkempt bell boy came shambling down the stairs. The clerk tossed him the key.

After establishing himself in Room 222, Harry donned a pair of soft-soled slippers, and went out into the hallway. He noted a light beneath the door of Room 215, which was near the head of the stairs. He went on to the front of the hall, and spied Room 208. No light showed there. Evidently Carter Boswick had retired.

Starting back, Harry heard a click. He slid to the stairway that led toward the third floor, just as Stacks Lodi came out of Room 215. The man was fully dressed. Harry saw him go downstairs.

Listening at the top, Harry could hear him talking with the clerk. The discussion seemed to concern a good brand of cigar for a discriminating smoker.

The clink of coins indicated that the purchase had been made. Harry heard a remark concerning the coolness of the night. Stacks was praising the fine air of the vicinity. The slam of the front door meant that some one had gone outside.

Harry stole to the front of the hall. He opened a window above a small porch that projected over the sidewalk. This portion of the hall was almost totally dark. Harry slipped noiselessly to the porch and lay flat, peering over the edge.

He could see Stacks Lodi just beneath. The man was holding a cigar in his hand.

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