Red Shadow (33 page)

Authors: Patricia Wentworth

BOOK: Red Shadow

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The steel door fell back with a clang, and there appeared a most innocent looking manila envelope, large and official. Jim picked it up, and at once she saw his face change.

“What is it?” she said, whispering.

“It's so light.” He turned it over. “It's not sealed.”

“Ohââ”

Jim Mackenzie pushed back the flap of the envelope. A folded white paper showed, its edge doubled over to keep it in place. He drew it out with a puzzled frown. There were black smears on it, and amongst the smears Laura's name scrawled in pencil.

“What is it?” she said, trembling a little.

“Open it.”

Her hands felt stiff as they unfolded the paper. She leaned against Jim's shoulder, and they both read Bertram Hallingdon's pencilled words: “After all, I couldn't risk it.”

“What did he mean, Jimâwhat did he mean?”

Jim Mackenzie pressed on the edges of the envelope and tipped it up. A soft black mass fell out upon the shelf of the safe, and as Laura leaned forward her breath stirred the insubstantial ash so that the charred flakes rose a little and then settled again.

She said, “What is it?” again.

Jim pulled her hand through his arm and held it in a comforting grip.

“That's all that's left of the Sanquhar invention,” he said.

Laura's heart sang and shouted for joy. All her terrors, and all those other terrors which had whispered to her of blood, and tears, and women crying for their deadâall these were just a little ash that she could blow away. A verse from the Bible went through her mind: “The wind bloweth over it and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more.” The red shadow was gone.

Suddenly Jim began to gather up the soft loose ashes and put them back into the envelope. He was laughing to himself. He shut the safe door with a bang, looked over her shoulder at the official's back, and gave her a schoolboy hug.

“Let's give Sasha a run for his money!” he said.

Laura had not been mistaken. Alec Stevens was making his last desperate throw. Since he couldn't get the key and the name from Eliza Huggins, his one chance was to shadow Jim and Laura. He guessed that they would not leave the papers where they were. His plan was bold and simpleâCatherine at the wheel of a fast car, and then snatch and run. And the plan succeededâamazingly, triumphantly it succeeded.

He was on the steps as they came out, and the car at the kerb with the engine running. He could trust Catherine's nerve through anything. And then, by a miracle of imprudence, there was Mackenzie with the envelope in his hand. Why, the game was given away. It was mere child's play. A shove, a snatch, and the thing was done. The car was already moving as he sprang in, and they were away.

Jim Mackenzie hailed a taxi and put Laura into it. He flung himself down beside her, still laughing.

“I want to see his face when he opens it!
Laura
âwhat's the matter? What is it, darling? The whole damned nightmare's over, and you've got to be happy. Do you hear? You've got to be happy.”

“I am happy.”

“Then why are there tears in your blessed eyes? You've no business to cry when I can't kiss you.”

“I was thinking about Catherine.”

“You're not to think of anyone but me,” said Jim.

About the Author

Patricia Wentworth (1878â1961) was one of the masters of classic English mystery writing. Born in India as Dora Amy Elles, she began writing after the death of her first husband, publishing her first novel in 1910. In the 1920s, she introduced the character who would make her famous: Miss Maud Silver, the former governess whose stout figure, fondness for Tennyson, and passion for knitting served to disguise a keen intellect. Along with Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, Miss Silver is the definitive embodiment of the English style of cozy mysteries.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by Mauricio DÃaz

ISBN: 978-1-5040-3334-3

This edition published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

180 Maiden Lane

New York, NY 10038

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