Murder on the Line by John Creasey

Author:John Creasey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: House of Stratus

Chapter Fourteen

Nurse Holloway

The little Nurse Holloway, who had been in to see Doris Manning, was one of the two on night duty in the private wards. The girl who had so nearly been drowned would only be in the hospital for a night, so they had put her in one of these wards for convenience. Nurse Holloway was on her own in the small office near the head of the stairs – for this was the first floor of the hospital – when she heard the scream. She had finished her reports, there was only one emergency patient who needed watching every half hour or so, and she had kicked off her shoes and was sitting with a magazine. Immediately the scream came, she jumped to her feet, tried to push her feet into her shoes, kicked one away, and then heard the scream again.

She rushed out, in her stockinged feet.

She saw a door open, half way along the passage, knew that it was the girl’s room – and felt searing alarm when the scream was repeated.

Then, a man appeared.

He was small and curly-haired. She did not think she had ever seen him before. He carried something small in his right hand, and the light of the passage glinted on it. He swung round, saw her, and for a moment he stopped where he was, half crouching. Then a doctor, Dr Benson, who had been to see the emergency patient, rounded the far corner, and the man saw him.

The stranger began to run towards Nurse Holloway, who was at the head of the stairs.

She did not flinch, but ran towards him. The stranger’s lips were parted, he seemed to be snarling, and there was something vicious about his face, the way he held his arms, the thing which glittered, and the way his body hurled towards her.

The nurse stopped dead. She was badly frightened now, but did not turn and run, although it was a long passage, and Dr Benson was still too far away to help.

Standing resolutely and facing the stranger, as if to stop him from passing her, Nurse Holloway raised her clenched hands. Her teeth were also clenched because she could not be sure what he would do. She was oblivious of the sound from Miss Manning’s room, of Dr Benson shouting as he seemed to stagger, everything except this man.

The thing in his hand was a knife.

Nurse Holloway felt terrible fear but could not make herself move, and the man was only two yards in front of her. He raised the knife. She was sure that he would use it, and as he sliced it downwards, she struck out wildly. She felt the knife cut into the flesh of her arm just above the wrist, felt the sharp, keen pain, and staggered to one side. The man rushed past. Nurse Holloway half turned and watched him, but was too shocked to move. Dr Benson was on his way again.

The man had reached the head of the stairs, and disappeared; his footsteps hard and clattering.

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