Huddled close to the wall inside the door, I stowed the silk bag away, and regretted that I hadn’t stayed plastered to the floor behind the Frenchman. This room was dark. It hadn’t been dark when the woman switched off the sitting-room lights. Every room in the apartment had been lighted then. All were dark now. Not knowing who had darkened them, I didn’t like it.
No sounds came from the room I had quit.
The rustle of gently falling rain came from an open window that I couldn’t see, off to one side.
Another sound came from behind me. The muffled tattoo of teeth on teeth.
That cheered me. Inés the scary, of course. She had left the sitting-room in the dark and put out the rest of the lights. Maybe nobody else was behind me.
Breathing quietly through wide-open mouth, I waited. I couldn’t hunt for the woman in the dark without making noises. Maurois and the Kid had strewn furniture and parts of furniture everywhere. I wished I knew if she was holding a gun. I didn’t want to have her spraying me.
Not knowing, I waited where I was.
Her teeth clicked on for minutes.
Something moved in the sitting-room. A gun thundered.
“Inés!” I hissed toward the chattering teeth.