The Paw in the Bottle
- Автор: Чейз Джеймс Хэдли
- Год: 1949
- Язык: английский
- Год: Jarrolds
- Жанр: Криминальные детективы
Электронная книга - «The Paw in the Bottle». Краткое содержание книги:
‘The beasts!’ Julie thought. ‘How could they when he is in the room with them?’
Blanche pushed Benton away, wagged a warning finger at him, but her face was animated and her eyes showed a naked desire that sickened Julie.
‘The pointer is here,’ she went on, and pulled a square of the quilted wall out of its seating. Julie could just make out a small number dial set in the wall. ‘I turn the pointer to number three, press the catch with my foot, and the door opens.’
The quilted wall had slid back to reveal the shiny steel door Julie had already seen.
‘That’s pretty neat,’ Benton said. His hand fumbled at Blanche but she pushed him away, frowning at him.
‘There’s another alarm fitted to the steel door,’ she explained. ‘Would you turn it off, Howard?’ She turned back to Benton as Wesley got to his feet. ‘It’s in the bathroom. Actually it looks like one of the electric light switches.’
But Benton wasn’t listening. He caught hold of Blanche the moment Wesley had groped his way into the bathroom. They strained together, his mouth crushed down on hers. They stood there, their breath mingling, their eyes closed, swept away by the intenseness of their passion, and neither of them heard Wesley return. Julie put her hands to her face. It was horrible to see him standing there and to know he was unaware of what was going on. Then Julie felt a shiver run through her as she saw Wesley’s fists clench and his mouth harden into a thin line. Could he possibly hear these two, lost in their beastliness?
Suddenly Blanche realized that he had returned, and she pulled away from Benton. She was shaking and had to grip his arms for support. He looked over his shoulder at Wesley and showed his teeth in an angry, frustrated grimace.
‘The alarm is off,’ Wesley said in cold, flat tones.
Blanche was unable to speak for a moment, then with an effort, she said, ‘Howard had better tell you about the burglar trap, I never could understand how it works.’
Benton took out his handkerchief and dabbed his face. ‘What’s the burglar trap, old boy?’ he asked. His voice was unsteady.
‘I’ll show you,’ Wesley said and moved towards the safe. ‘Will you open up, Blanche?’
Julie watched carefully. She saw Blanche turn down a switch by the side of the steel door. There was a sudden hiss of escaping air, the lights in the room flickered and the door slid back.
‘Even if a burglar succeeded in getting so far, and none of them have up to now,’ Wesley said, ‘he would still be trapped if he entered the safe. There’s a concealed beam of light from a lamp on one side of the wall which is projected across the safe so as to fall on a photo-electric cell fixed to the opposite wall.’
Benton leaned forward and peered into the safe.
‘What happens then?’ he asked, looked at Blanche and raised his eyebrows. She shook her head.
‘The interruption of the beam by a person walking into the safe causes a decrease in the current through the cell,’ Wesley went on. ‘This in its turn causes an increase of the grid voltage applied to a triode valve and brings into operation a series of relays which switch on the thruster for closing the door.’
‘That’s very ingenious,’ Benton said. ‘So if I enter the safe, the door shuts and I’d be trapped, is that it?’
‘Yes, and if no one let you out, you’d suffocate,’ Wesley told him.
‘I don’t think I’ll try it then,’ Benton laughed uneasily, dabbed his face again with his handkerchief. ‘There’s some means of controlling the door I suppose?’
‘Of course. You turn out the light that falls on the cell. It’s safe then.’
‘But is all this necessary? It seems so elaborate and must have cost a tidy sum to construct.’
‘It’s more than a toy,’ Wesley said, and moved away. ‘I shall get the cost back eventually on the reduced insurance rates. The insurance company was very impressed with it and consequently greatly reduced their rates. The furs alone are insured for thirty thousand and then there’s Blanche’s jewellery.’
‘I hadn’t thought about the insurance,’ Benton said. ‘Yes, I see. It’s remarkable, and thanks for showing it to me.’
‘And now let’s go to your stuffy old club,’ Blanche said. ‘Do join us, Howard.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said abruptly. ‘I have a lot of dictation to do. But you go.’
‘Well, if you’re sure,’ Benton said, exchanged glances with Blanche. ‘Come as you are, Blanche. You don’t need to change.’
Blanche took down the mink coat from its hanger, slipped it on.
‘Will you close up the safe, Howard?’
‘Yes,’ he said curtly, and waited for them to go.
Julie stepped away from the chink in the curtain and waited too, her heart pounding, terrified that Blanche would suddenly take it into her head to call her. But Blanche was too preoccupied with Benton to think of Julie.
When she heard the front door slam, Julie sighed with relief, and once again peered through the curtains. What she saw rooted her to the floor. Wesley had taken off his black-lensed glasses and was moving about the room, no longer hesitant nor groping. By the brisk way he closed the safe, she realized he wasn’t blind at all. She was so startled by this discovery that she gave a half-stifled exclamation. Wesley heard her. He turned quickly, stared at the curtained recess behind which she was hiding.
Without the black-lensed glasses, which she now realized had been as effective as a mask, he was a stranger to her and his odd, glittering eyes frightened her.
‘You can come out, Julie,’ he said quietly.
Chapter Four
I
Howard Wesley stood before the big brick fireplace in his study. Facing him, in an arm-chair, bewildered and flustered, sat Julie.
She was still dazed by the shock of discovering he could see, and she had followed him into his study, quite incapable of thinking of an excuse to explain why she had been hiding behind the curtains.
Although he appeared at ease, Wesley was strangely pale, and for some minutes neither of them said anything.
‘You mustn’t think I’m angry with you,’ Wesley said suddenly. ‘There’s no need to be frightened.’
She looked up. His eyes were compelling: dark and glittering as if all his being had come to focus in them.
‘It’s very important you should say nothing about my sight,’ he went on quietly. ‘For the time being no one must know I can see: not even Mrs. Wesley. I can’t go into explanations, but I do want you to assure me you’ll say nothing. Can I rely on you?’
She was surprised he didn’t at once demand to know what she had been doing hiding behind the curtains, and at the same time she felt the return of confidence to know that he was asking her to keep a secret.
‘Oh, yes,’ she said. ‘I won’t say anything.’
‘Look at me, Julie,’ he went on, and as she met his eyes he smiled. ‘You will promise, won’t you? It means success or failure in my work. That’s as much as I can tell you. It’s very important.’
‘Well, if it is so important perhaps I can make use of it in some way,’ she thought. ‘Perhaps that’s why he hasn’t asked me what I was doing behind the curtain.’
‘Yes, I promise,’ she said.
What was a promise anyway? She would see what was going to happen and act accordingly.
‘Thank you.’ He thrust his hands into his pockets. ‘Let’s talk about you. You’re in some trouble, aren’t you?’