Doctor Who_ Atom Bomb Blues - Andrew Cartmel [90]
What had Lady Silk said? Gun or knife? Maybe they’d used a knife. Maybe he was already too late. He stared at the door. What was going on down there? Maybe he should go back outside, crouch down in the grass again and peep through the basement window, see what was happening.
But Butcher had the terrible feeling that while he was doing that he might hear the guns go off. He stood in the middle of the cool, pleasant-smelling kitchen, frozen with indecision. Then he saw it. Lying sprawled on the kitchen table. A ripple of white cloth with a big red spot on it. He held it up. It was a robe like the one he’d seen the husband wearing in the basement, and from the size of it, it was obvious who it belonged to.
Butcher felt a smile spreading across his face.
He went back through the hallway to the lounge on the other side and grabbed some cushions.
∗ ∗ ∗
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The armed goons hadn’t dared to fire on Ace and the Doctor when they made their move because they were too close to Lady Silk. And now they were even closer, using her as a human shield while the Doctor held the knife to her throat.
‘You know, it was very rude of you not to return that knife,’ said Lady Silk.
Ace couldn’t believe how cool the woman was.
‘You useless idiotic scum,’ said Imperial Lee, his face dark with anger. He was looking at his gunmen, waving his fists in the air, as if he wanted to start beating the men. They stared back at their boss sheepishly. Ray had moved quickly towards the staircase, away from the centre of activity, and it had looked for a moment like he might flee up into the house, but Albert Storrow had stopped him. Now Storrow and Ray stood on the sidelines watching.
‘You pathetic rejects,’ spat Lee. ‘Why didn’t you shoot?’
‘Leave them alone,’ said Lady Silk. ‘What could they do? Firing Tommy guns in a basement is a dumb idea at the best of times. Thank God they had the brains not to shoot, or I’d be lying here dead. The ricochets would have probably killed you, too.’
‘They were going to put them in the well and then shoot them,’ said Lee.
‘There weren’t going to be any ricochets. I’d thought it all out.’
‘Well, that’s a relief,’ said Silk drolly.
Lee turned away from his cowed henchmen and took a step towards the Doctor and Ace, who stood huddled close behind their captive. ‘Don’t come any closer,’ said the Doctor. Ace could see the elbow of his arm holding the knife and she was pleased to note that it was completely steady.
‘If you harm that woman. . . ’ said Imperial Lee.
‘Oh, he’s not going to harm me,’ said Lady Silk.
‘I’m holding the point of this rather sharp knife directly against your jugular vein,’ said the Doctor in a pleasant, conversational voice. ‘Doesn’t that indicate anything to you?’
‘It indicates that you like to talk,’ said Lady Silk.
‘Don’t antagonise him,’ said Lee.
‘Stop worrying Lee. Do I sound worried? I’m not worried.’
‘They’ve got a knife to your throat!’
‘Yes, that might be alarming in certain circumstances,’ allowed Silk. ‘But not when the knife is being held by a blancmange.’
‘A what?’ said Imperial Lee, confusion and rage and fear staging a three-way collision in his voice.
‘Or a meringue or anything else soft and ineffectual.’ Lady Silk tried to turn her head and look at the Doctor. ‘You’re just a little softy, aren’t you?’
‘Would you like to find out?’ said the Doctor in a cold, hard voice that even gave Ace a chill. But Lady Silk just laughed.
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‘Oh, I’m sure you can be a tough and remorseless fellow,’ she said. ‘In certain circumstances. But you’re not going to slice open the throat of a helpless woman.’
‘No?’ said the Doctor.
‘No,’ said Lady Silk decisively. ‘You’re just not the type. She sounded utterly confident and Ace felt a sudden sinking feeling. After all, the woman was right. The Doctor would never do such a thing.
As if echoing her thoughts, the Doctor said,