The Jade Venus by George Harmon Coxe

Author:George Harmon Coxe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Head of Zeus Ltd

Chapter Twelve

THE SMELL OF DEATH

MURDOCK WAS ON HIS HANDS AND KNEES when he heard the door slam. But he could not get up just then. Later, he knew he was not out long, for he remembered voices that seemed to come to him in a dream, and he seemed also to be vaguely aware that when Leo had gathered the scattered rolls of canvas, he, Murdock, had been kicked solidly in the ribs.

He did not feel anything but the jolt at the time because there was too much pain in his head and the floor still tilted crazily. He heard Erloff laugh at Leo before the door slammed and then he was alone, on his hands and knees, trying to push with his hands so that he could get one foot under him.

He finally made it. He got the foot under him and pushed hard and toppled over again. Then he stayed on his hands and knees and let his head hang and crawled over to the couch. Little by little he pulled himself up until he could flop down and then, after a struggle to hold his nausea in check, he pushed himself to a sitting position.

Gradually the room cleared and his stomach quieted down and presently he was well enough to be angry. That helped a lot. Anger, hot and driving now, was good for him and he finally made his way to the sink and turned on the water and let it run on the back of his head.

He used the towel on the rack gingerly and explored the growing lump in back and above one ear. The skin did not seem to be broken and he knew he was lucky he had his cap on when the blackjack clipped him. He knew also he was lucky the blow had been at least a partially glancing one. He felt of his ribs. They were sore but nothing seemed to be broken.

Turning from the sink, he glanced around. The racks that had been filled with canvases were bare. He went over and picked up his cap. He sat down on the divan again, his eyes morose and his mouth a thin, hard slit.

“And you had to make it easy for them,” he mumbled. “You even unlocked the door so they wouldn’t have to force it.”

He was still sitting there mumbling under his breath when he heard the footsteps on the stairs. He waited, sitting up now until he heard the steps in the hall. When the knob turned he stood up.

Roger Carroll came in fast, turned, did a double take and stopped, his jaw sagging and his gaze fixed. “Hey,” he said. “Hello.” He closed the door. “What—” His eyes slid by Murdock and found the empty racks.

“What is this?” he choked. “Who—what happened to my—?” He started for the racks, stopped, spun on Murdock, and his thin face was ugly. “Well, say something, damn it!”

Murdock leaned back. “Sit down,” he said.

“Sit down, hell. I want to know—”

“Okay, stand up,” Murdock said, and took a big breath and it hurt his side.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.