FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31  
32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   >>  
ers to his servants. For the time being the back of the cafe was deserted and unnoticed. Campbell sprang to his feet, and with Ennis close behind him, darted through the black curtains. They found themselves in a black corridor at the end of which a red bulb burned dimly. They could still hear the uproar. Campbell's gun was in his hand, and the American's in his. "We dare only stay here a few moments," the inspector cried. "Look in those rooms along the corridor here." Ennis frantically tore open a door and peered into a dark room smelling of drugs. "Ruth!" he cried softly. "Ruth!" _2. Death Trap_ There was no answer. The light in the corridor behind him suddenly went out, plunging him into pitch-black darkness. He jumped back into the dark corridor, and as he did so, heard a sudden scuffle further along it. "Campbell!" he exclaimed, lunging forward in the black passageway. There was no answer. He pitched forward through stygian obscurity, his hands searching ahead of him for the inspector. In the dark something whipped smoothly around his throat, tightened there like a slender, contracting tentacle. Ennis tore frenziedly at the thing, which he felt to be a slender silken cord, but he could not loosen it. It was choking him. He tried to cry out again to Campbell, but his throat could not emit the sounds. He thrashed, twisted helplessly, hearing a loud roaring in his ears, consciousness receding. Then, dimly as though in a dream, Ennis was aware of being lowered to the floor, of being half carried and half dragged along. The constriction around his throat was gone and rapidly his brain began to clear. He opened his eyes. He found himself lying on the floor of a room illuminated by a great hanging brass lamp of ornate design. The walls of the room were hung with rich, grotesquely worked red silk Indian draperies. His hands and feet were bound behind him, and beside him, tied in the same manner, lay Inspector Campbell. Over them stood Chandra Dass and two of the Malay servants. The faces of the servants were tigerish in their menace, but Chandra Dass' face was one of dark, impassive scorn. "So you misguided fools thought you could deceive me so easily as that?" he said in a strong, vibrant voice. "Why, we knew hours ago that you, Inspector Campbell, and you, Mr. Ennis, were coming here tonight. We let you get this far only because it was evident that somehow you had learned too much about u
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31  
32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   >>  



Top keywords:

Campbell

 

corridor

 

servants

 

throat

 

inspector

 

Inspector

 

Chandra

 
forward
 

answer

 

slender


dragged

 

draperies

 

Indian

 
worked
 

grotesquely

 

unnoticed

 

carried

 

manner

 

illuminated

 

hanging


constriction
 

deserted

 
rapidly
 
ornate
 

design

 

opened

 

tigerish

 

coming

 

tonight

 

learned


evident

 

vibrant

 

impassive

 

menace

 

sprang

 

easily

 
strong
 

deceive

 

misguided

 
thought

receding

 

plunging

 

darkness

 

jumped

 

burned

 
suddenly
 
lunging
 

curtains

 

passageway

 
pitched