Peril in Paris by Katherine Woodfine

Author:Katherine Woodfine [Woodfine, Katherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Egmont

The green lion. Sophie stopped still. The words chimed like a bell, and she had a sudden, instinctive feeling that they were important. Acting on impulse, she grabbed one of the blank sheets of paper from the Professor’s desk. She did not want to take the little note, just in case the police noticed it was missing, but she could at least scribble down the words. She picked up the Professor’s fountain pen from where it was lying amidst the scattered paper, but the pen wouldn’t work.

She frowned and shook it cautiously, then tried again. The pen moved quite smoothly over the paper, as though the ink was flowing, but no words appeared on the page. She gently lifted the paper and examined it under the light: tilting it, she could see now that it was wet, but the ink appeared to be completely colourless. There was a curious smell in the air – light, sharp and fragrant.

She put down the pen, and turned to the sheaf of what she had thought was blank paper, lifting a sheet into the light and sniffing it experimentally. Sure enough, there was the same peculiar scent.

Tilly appeared in the study doorway. ‘I can’t find anything,’ she reported. ‘No drawers or cupboard opened and looted, no paintings torn out of frames – nothing that seems at all like a burglary. What about you? Did you find the safe?’

Sophie was still frowning at the Professor’s pen. ‘Come and look at this –’ she began.

But before she could even finish the sentence, there was a sound outside in the corridor. Rapid footsteps were approaching the Professor’s door. As quick as blinking, Sophie turned out the lamp, stuffing the sheaf of blank papers into the pocket of her jacket. She knew they must not be caught here, and her heart began to beat faster, but at the same time she was curious. Who could be coming to the Professor’s apartment? Surely it could not be the police at this time of the night?

She darted out of the study; Tilly was already gesturing frantically towards a hiding place she had found, behind a big bookcase in the sitting room. There came the sound of the door handle turning and then a stifled exclamation of surprise. They had not locked the door after themselves, and now whoever was coming in had not expected to find it open.

Sophie could feel Tilly’s fingers gripping her arm, but they both stood still behind the bookcase, as the door creaked quietly open. She heard one step of footsteps pad cautiously inside, and then another. She guessed from the way they walked that they were two men, and that they too did not want to be heard. The door closed softly behind them: one set of footsteps went forward into the room, murmuring something to the other in a low voice. She had been right: it was a man and, what was more, he was talking German. She couldn’t understand the words but she recognised the sound at once.

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.