Maxwell Grant - The Shadow 056 by The Crime Crypt

Author:The Crime Crypt [Crypt, The Crime]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2011-11-14T23:20:06+00:00

Something clicked. The door of the vault moved open. It had taken Fingers twenty-five minutes; he thought that he had done a creditable job. He did not know that The Shadow had been here before him, to do the work in exactly three minutes!

Fingers Keefel spied the golden scroll. He gloated. He pulled the object from between the two statues that guarded it and gripped the scroll beneath his arm, leaving the pedestal on the floor of the vault.

AS Fingers headed for the door of the curio room, he saw Croaker Mannick moving inward. The killer shoved the muzzle of his revolver close to Brisbane Calbot’s body. Fingers, at the door, peered nervously about. He remembered the sensation of some strange presence in the house. He wanted to be sure that no intruder was around.

“Better give him the bump,” urged Fingers, nudging his free thumb toward Brisbane Calbot. “Wait until I’m up the stairs though. You’ll have to hurry to get out before the mob piles in. I’ll open the side door, Croaker. That’ll leave two ways.”

“Yeah?” Croaker growled. “How’s the mob going to hear it if I fire down here?”

“Give them another signal upstairs.”

“And suppose they might happen to hear the first one? Listen, Fingers - I’m coming right after you - get that? I’m not sticking down here in this trap. Say - could anybody ever open that vault in shorter time than it took you?”

“There’s not another guy could do it in less than an hour.”

“Well, that settles it. This mug is going in his own vault. He won’t last a half an hour.”

Croaker’s gun jabbed against Calbot’s ribs. The curio collector backed away. Fingers Keefel grinned fiendishly as he watched from the cellar. He saw Croaker back Calbot into the vault while the curio collector gasped his protests.

“My scroll!” blurted Calbot. “You thieves! Stealing - my greatest treasure. You - you murderers!”

The last word came in a hoarse scream as the collector tumbled backward into the vault. As Calbot sprawled upon the pedestal which had held the golden scroll, the vault door swung shut. Fingers saw Croaker twirl the knob. Without another word, the safecracker started for the stairs, leaving his companion to follow.

Fingers reached the side door and opened it. He left the barrier ajar. With the fake scroll of pretended gold, Fingers slipped out into the darkness of the alleyway. He headed toward the back; he quickened his pace as he heard the blast of Croaker’s .38 from within the side door of the house.

Croaker, like Fingers, was clear. Thief and murderer were scurrying away to safety - each to his own hide-out. The third job had been accomplished.

Gloating, Fingers Keefel chuckled over the thought of Brisbane Calbot, interred alive in his own vault.

The last of three whom Duke Larrin had marked for death was buried in a spot where doom was certain!

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.