Shadow 069 - The Four Signets 01-01-35, The by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant [Grant, Maxwell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Street and Smith
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

MALLAN stopped short as Laverock and Kent came to their feet in angry protest. Zurick waved the philanthropists down; with the same gesture, he silenced the detective’s outburst. Then, in his dry tone, Zurick became the arbiter.

“Let us consider present circumstances,” decided the spokesman for the three philanthropists. “Philip Lyken is dead. The man, apparently, was ready to betray a trust. I can scarcely say that I regret his death; although, by giving him the benefit of a doubt, I am inclined to do so. But Lyken’s death can not be rectified.”

“Elwood Phraytag was associated with Laverock, Kent and myself. Had he not retired from active pursuits, he would have been present at our conferences. True, Phraytag had become a burden in our plans. But he was rendered so by blindness and infirmity. Poor Phraytag!” Zurick’s grief seemed real as the philanthropist shook his head. “In a sense, his death was fortunate. Life held no more for him.”

“Then why beef about it?” queried Mallan. “Say - you might think I had some personal grudge against the guys. Looks like you’re coming to my way of figuring it. When they’re dead, they can’t talk.”

“A poor philosophy,” crackled Zurick, shaking his head reproachfully. “It is one, Mallan, to which I can not subscribe. I merely feel that, since murder has been done, there is nothing that we can do to offset it.

“True it is that when the knowledge we now possess” - he tapped the report sheet that he was holding - “we could make public certain facts that the police are anxious to learn about. But to do so” - he was turning to Laverock and Kent - “we would be forced to jeopardize our own interests.

“We chose, some time ago, to protect certain funds that had come into our possession. That trust has priority. It is not proper that we should deliberately sacrifice it by performing the present duty of turning Mallan’s report over to the law.”

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