The Chinese Puzzle by John Creasey

The Chinese Puzzle by John Creasey

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


Chapter Thirteen

Once A Policeman …

Mannering could not move because his wrists and ankles were tied; the best he could do was keep his head above water. The strain on his neck made even that difficult, if he had to stay in this position for too long, it would be impossible. He was completely at the mercy of these two men. They could turn him round, push his face under water until he drowned; or they could use a knife; or they could bludgeon him about the head. He saw a bludgeon in one man’s hands, knobbed, murderous-looking. It was the one who had raided Li Chen’s.

The thudding and the banging continued, the floor shook and the walls reverberated. It lasted only a matter of seconds and yet to Mannering it seemed like hours. What would they do? His mind was split between the glory of hope and the dread of death. Then the man with the bludgeon jumped forward, out of the room, talking in that clacking voice, like a Donald Duck. Mannering had no idea what he was saying but they were both out of the bathroom, they were leaving him unhurt. He craned his neck even more; there was a streak of pain from the back of his head halfway down his spine, but it did not prevent him from watching.

The first man flung up a window; the second climbed through it, nimble as a goat, and the other followed. That wall was sheer. The only hope they had was to climb from window sill to window sill, and if they slipped it would be the end. He saw a pair of legs dangling, and realised that they were going upwards, to the roof.

The legs disappeared.

Another, louder, crash was followed by a short, groaning kind of quiet; then footsteps sounded, of men running into the bedroom. An Englishman called out: “The window!” After a flurry of footsteps, he and two Chinese policemen appeared at the window, and one of the Chinese began to climb out. Other footsteps followed, and a man glanced into the bathroom. On that instant the strain at Mannering’s neck became too great, and he sank down. Water surged over his mouth and nose, he gulped, and began to choke. He struggled convulsively for a moment, but stopped when hands touched him firmly, and a man said sharply: “Stop jumping about!” He lay still as the speaker gradually raised him up, so that not only his head but his shoulders were above water. There was so much water in his eyes that he could not see clearly, and the water in his ears made it impossible to distinguish the voice, but he was raised gently out of the water, right out of the bath, then carried into the bedroom and put down at full length on a bed.

The danger was past, and he could breathe freely again.

He felt the cords at his wrists part. Pins and needles began to prickle through his hands and forearms, but not enough to harass him much.



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.