Hands in the Dark by Maxwell Grant & Walter Gibson

Author:Maxwell Grant & Walter Gibson [Grant, Maxwell & Gibson, Walter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Espionage, Fiction, Thrillers
ISBN: 9780450028847
Google: cu87AAAACAAJ
Amazon: 0450028844
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1932-05-01T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XIV. THE MENACE OF THE SHADOW

IT was after midnight. A coupe turned from Broadway, above Seventy-second, and stopped before a house on a side street.

Two men alighted. They ascended a pair of steps. One of them unlocked the door to the house. They entered.

One of the men was tall, pasty-faced and stoop-shouldered; but his features wore a look of cold brutality that marked him as a dangerous character. He was "Moose" Shargin, a dominating figure in the affairs of gangland.

Wary, cunning and close-mouthed, Moose Shargin was one who avoided useless feuds. His name was seldom mixed in gang wars. He preyed on the unprotected, and avoided enterprises that would lead to conflict with others of his ilk.

At the same time, Shargin was noted for his determination. Other czars of the badlands never interfered with him.

His companion, Garry Elvers, was his official bodyguard. Garry was a hard-faced gangster, who aped his commander's custom of saying little, and keeping his business to himself. He traveled with Moose only when the gang leader was abroad without his gorillas.

The two were frequently seen at Brindle's Cafe, a favorite Broadway spot for big shots. They had come to this house together, on some unknown mission.

Moose Shargin nudged his thumb in the direction of a room off the hall. Elvers understood. He was to wait there while Shargin went upstairs. Even with his trusted lieutenant, Moose was mute regarding certain enterprises.

Elvers had been here before, and he had obeyed instructions on previous occasions. He did not know what purpose Moose had in mind, and he did not care. It was this quality of indifference that had gained Garry his position of second-in-command of Moose Shargin's forces.

Garry locked the door while Moose went upstairs. Then the hard-faced bodyguard shrugged his broad shoulders and entered the side room. He turned on a light and pulled a tabloid newspaper from his pocket.

MEANWHILE, Moose Shargin had ascended in darkness. He did not turn on a second-floor light. Instead, he found his way to a closet at the side of the hall. He entered the door of the closet and found a coat peg. He drew it downward.

The wall swung open, and the draft of a narrow passage greeted the gang leader.

It was only a few steps to the end of the passage. There, Shargin encountered a closed barrier. He tapped, rattling his finger nails against a metallic substance. A panel opened. Shargin stepped into a lighted room.

From the blankness of bare stone walls, Moose Shargin had emerged into a small but sumptuous apartment, dark-paneled, carpeted by a thick Oriental rug, furnished with fine mahogany chairs.

The panel closed behind the pasty-faced gangster. Moose stood facing a large easy-chair in the corner. A man was seated there, reading a book.

The man laid the volume aside and glanced toward his visitor. The reading lamp revealed the good-natured features of Hiram Mallory.

"Hello, Chief," said Moose, in a low, growling voice that was his habitual tone.

"Hello, Moose. How did it go tonight?"

The gangster pulled a chair toward the corner and sat down facing Mallory.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.