Shadow The Baron Read Online Free

inquire, Mr. Mannering, but I don’t really think I shall get any information of importance. Shall I leave everything else, and just get on to this?”
    “No – fit it in, as you go along. Take what time you want for it.”
    “Very good,” said Larraby. “Are you thinking of investigating yourself?”
    “Not yet.”
    “It doesn’t seem to me one of the inquiries which would greatly interest you,” said Larraby. There was an old worldly air about the man, and his gentle voice and precise way of speaking added to it. “I don’t think the Shadow has a criminal background, he isn’t one of the profession, so to speak Or rather, I shall be surprised if it ever proves that he is.”
    Mannering shrugged.
    Just after six o’clock that evening, he drove his Sunbeam Talbot to his lock-up garage in Chelsea and walked from there to his flat, in River Walk. The flat was on the top floor of a large house in a terrace. From the outside, it was ugly, inside there was little to recommend the main hall or the heavy staircase, but his own flat had an air which seemed to belong to a different world. He closed the front door and walked across to the living room; it was empty. It had the charm which came from carefully selected pieces of furniture, none of them modern, except a radiogram. One great window overlooked the river and the lights of the Embankment and two bridges were reflected on the rippling surface; he didn’t draw the curtains, but stood looking out. As he stood there, the door opened wider. Lorna Mannering came in.
    She walked across the room without a word, and stood by his side. His arm went round her waist. They watched the distant river, the headlights glowing along the Embankment, the sharply contrasting outlines shown up in them. After a while, Lorna moved away and began to pull the curtains.
    “Hetty never remembers,” she said. “If she weren’t a good cook, she’d be hopeless.”
    “She’s like you,” Mannering said. “One in a million.”
    “I thought you liked sentiment. Been busy?”
    “Fairly. The light was just right, and I worked longer than I usually do.”
    Mannering stood and looked at her. The subdued glow threw her features into soft relief. She was tall, her dark hair thick and wavy. There were those who said that, in repose, she looked grave; almost sullen, but none who argued she wasn’t beautiful.
    Mannering switched on more lights. “Don’t overdo it. I happen to love you, in case you haven’t noticed. Sherry?” He busied himself with bottles and glasses. “Did Toby call up, this afternoon?”
    “As a matter of fact, he did.”
    “Dinner with him next Wednesday be all right?”
    “Quite. Sherry, I think.” Lorna sat on the arm of a chair and he brought the drinks across. “What did he want?”
    “Am I the Shadow? And if I’m not the Shadow, will I help to catch the man who is? Bill Bristow is perplexed, and must be almost desperate, or he wouldn’t have sent an unofficial envoy. To the grey of your eyes, my sweet!” He drank.
    “And what are you going to do?” demanded Lorna.
    “Nothing, yet. Well, nothing much. I’ve asked Josh to keep his eyes and ears open. Having a man who knows his underworld is an advantage. Josh thinks the Shadow comes from high society. Toby isn’t exactly sore about his own loss, but there’s a pendant he’d rather like back. I advised him to advertise, asking the Shadow to oblige him!”
    Lorna’s repose went, her beauty became vivid.
    “Seriously?”
    “Seriously! I think he will, too. I was firm, my dear. Emphatic. The Shadow is a police job, there’s no reason why dog should eat dog. Pity, though. If he’d knock someone over the head, I’d like to have a shot at him. I haven’t played at being detective for a long time. Where shall we go for dinner tonight?”
    “We’re staying in,” said Lorna. “Don’t go after the Shadow, unless you really have to. He’s too much like the past. She forced a laugh. “Darling, what