The Shadow 252 by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

JUDGE LAWLESS hadn’t specified why the clerk would leave. His instructions had included the item that Dave was to enter the hotel when the clerk left. So Dave entered to the tune of a clanging elevator door, and seeing the lobby deserted, did the next thing stipulated in the Judge’s very precise instructions.

Dave went behind the desk, stopped at the switchboard and plugged into the socket that represented Helmbroke’s third-floor apartment. When Helmbroke answered, Dave spoke in a tone that he could ably mimic, because he’d heard it constantly for the past few years. Dave was using the excited pitch of his former employer, Homer Moyland.

It wasn’t that Dave’s fakery was perfect. His theme was the important part. What Dave said, in Moyland’s style, was that he had to see Helmbroke on urgent business which concerned them both. Learning that “Moyland” was calling from the lobby, Helmbroke told him to come up immediately.

Dave went up by the stairway, since the elevator wasn’t available, though he wouldn’t have used it anyway. And all the way to the third floor, Dave was congratulating himself on the success of the ruse.

It made perfect sense that Moyland should have dashed in to see Helmbroke, provided that something had happened to disturb the deal with Tharn. Equally sensible was the fact that Moyland would not have given any details over the lobby phone. Finally, when Dave reached the top of the stairs, he saw the fulfillment of another prediction that Judge Lawless had made.

Helmbroke was peering from the door of his apartment, watching for the arrival of the elevator. The stairway was at another angle and if Dave bided his time, he’d be able to steal toward Helmbroke and accost him. Dave didn’t have a gun, but the Judge had agreed he wouldn’t need one. Helmbroke was just yellow enough to fall for the business of a pencil-sized flashlight jutting through a pocket to fake a gun muzzle.

So Dave folded up his coat collar, pulled down his hat, and took a grip on the flashlight, only to see Helmbroke turn suddenly back into the apartment. But the blocky man left the door open in expectation of Moyland’s arrival, so Dave strode right into the apartment. There, he saw why Helmbroke had gone inside.

Helmbroke was at the telephone answering another call; he must have heard the bell from the doorway.

“Why… why-” Helmbroke’s stammer was worried. “Why, yes, I suppose you can come up… No, wait! I’ll be coming down to the lobby shortly… Yes, wait right there for me. I’ll only be a few minutes…”

Who the caller might be, Dave didn’t know or care. Some friend of Helmbroke’s, no doubt, but a few minutes was all that Dave needed. He strode across the living room while Helmbroke was hanging up, and as the blocky man turned, Dave spoke gruffly:

“All right, Helmbroke! Stand right where you are, but with your hands a little higher. Stay that way - and listen!”

Helmbroke froze. The bulge of Dave’s coat pocket seemed to scare him more than sight of an actual gun would have.

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