“Going to do me in? That’s the correct expression, I believe. You have got it in for me.”
“You’ve got a nerve all right. No, we shan’t attempt violence. Just keep you under restraint, so to speak.”
“I’m afraid you’re backing the wrong horse,” said Tommy. “I’ve no intention of being ‘kept under restraint’ as you call it.”
Mr. Ryder smiled genially. From outside a cat uttered a melancholy cry to the moon.
“Banking on that cross you put on the door, eh Sonny?” said Mr. Ryder. “I shouldn’t if I were you. Because I know that story you mentioned. Heard it when I was a little boy. I stepped back into the alleyway to enact the part of the dog with eyes as big as cart wheels. If you were in that alley now, you would observe that every door in the alley is marked with an identical cross.”
Tommy drooped his head despondently.
“Thought you were mighty clever, didn’t you?” said Ryder.
As the words left his lips a sharp rapping sounded on the door.
“What’s that?” he cried, starting.
At the same time, an assault began on the front of the house. The door at the back was a flimsy affair. The lock gave almost immediately and Inspector Marriot showed in the doorway.
“Well done, Marriot,” said Tommy. “You were quite right as to the district. I’d like you to make the acquaintance of Mr. Hank Ryder who knows all the best fairy tales.”