Partners in Crime_ A Tommy & Tuppence Adventure - Agatha Christie [37]
He came forward and unbound Tommy’s hands. Then he handed him his cane with a little ironical bow.
‘The blind Problemist. Let us see if he will solve this problem. I shall stand here with my pistol ready. If you raise your hands to your head to remove that eyeshade, I shoot. Is that clear?’
‘Perfectly clear,’ said Tommy. He was rather pale, but determined. ‘I haven’t a dog’s chance, I suppose?’
‘Oh! that –’ the other shrugged his shoulders.
‘Damned ingenious devil, aren’t you?’ said Tommy. ‘But you’ve forgotten one thing. May I light a cigarette by the way? My poor little heart’s going pit-a-pat.’
‘You may light a cigarette–but no tricks. I am watching you, remember, with the pistol ready.’
‘I’m not a performing dog,’ said Tommy. ‘I don’t do tricks.’ He extracted a cigarette from his case, then felt for a match box. ‘It’s all right. I’m not feeling for a revolver. But you know well enough that I’m not armed. All the same, as I said before, you’ve forgotten one thing.’
‘What is that?’
Tommy took a match from the box, and held it ready to strike.
‘I’m blind and you can see. That’s admitted. The advantage is with you. But supposing we were both in the dark–eh? Where’s your advantage then?’
He struck the match.
‘Thinking of shooting at the switch of the lights? Plunging the room into darkness? It can’t be done.’
‘Just so,’ said Tommy. ‘I can’t give you darkness. But extremes meet, you know. What about light?’
As he spoke, he touched the match to something he held in his hand, and threw it down upon the table.
A blinding glare filled the room.
Just for a minute, blinded by the intense white light, the ‘Duke’ blinked and fell back, his pistol hand lowered.
He opened his eyes again to feel something sharp pricking his breast.
‘Drop that pistol,’ ordered Tommy. ‘Drop it quick. I agree with you that a hollow cane is a pretty rotten affair. So I didn’t get one. A good sword stick is a very useful weapon, though. Don’t you think so? Almost as useful as magnesium wire. Drop that pistol.’
Obedient to the necessity of that sharp point, the man dropped it. Then, with a laugh, he sprang back.
‘But I still have the advantage,’ he mocked. ‘For I can see, and you cannot.’
‘That’s where you’re wrong,’ said Tommy. ‘I can see perfectly. The eyeshade’s a fake. I was going to put one over on Tuppence. Make one or two bloomers to begin with, and then put in some perfectly marvellous stuff towards the end of lunch. Why, bless you, I could have walked to the door and avoided all the knobs with perfect ease. But I didn’t trust you to play a sporting game. You’d never have let me get out of this alive. Careful now –’
For, with his face distorted with rage, the ‘Duke’ sprang forward, forgetting in his fury to look where he put his feet.
There was a sudden blue crackle of flame, and he swayed for a minute, then fell like a log. A faint odour of singed flesh filled the room, mingling with a stronger smell of ozone.’
‘Whew,’ said Tommy.
He wiped his face.
Then, moving gingerly, and with every precaution, he reached the wall, and touched the switch he had seen the other manipulate.
He crossed the room to the door, opened it carefully, and looked out. There was no one about. He went down the stairs and out through the front door.
Safe in the street, he looked up at the house with a shudder, noting the number. Then he hurried to the nearest telephone box.
There was a moment of agonising anxiety, and then a well-known voice spoke.
‘Tuppence, thank goodness!’
‘Yes, I’m all right. I got all your points. The Fee, Shrimp, Come to the Blitz and follow the two strangers. Albert got there in time, and when we went off in separate cars, followed me in a taxi, saw where they took me, and rang up the police.’
‘Albert’s a good lad,’ said Tommy. ‘Chivalrous. I was pretty sure he’d choose to follow you. But I’ve been worried, all the same. I’ve got lots to tell you. I’m coming