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O'Connor's smile faded, but he forced it back into place. 'Where's the old man? He's the one I've come to see. Not the hired help.'

Marlowe took a single step forward and the fat man backed hurriedly away. 'I don't want any trouble,' he gabbled in a frightened voice. 'I just want to make a straight business proposition to the old man.'

Marlowe looked him over coldly. 'I don't like you, O'Connor,' he said. 'It wouldn't take much to make me break your fat neck. Remember that.'

He turned abruptly and led the way upstairs. When he opened the door to Magellan's room the old man was waiting impatiently, an extra pillow behind him, his back as straight and unyielding as an iron bar.

O'Connor came into the room breathing heavily and flopped down into the chair by the window. It creaked ominously and he took out a handkerchief and ran it over his face. He seemed to find difficulty in breathing and fanned himself vigorously with his hat. After several moments he said, 'My heart isn't what it used to be.' He gulped and ran the handkerchief over his face again. 'Those stairs are damned steep.'

Papa Magellan said in a voice of iron, 'You won't get any sympathy here. Say what you've come to say and get out.'

O'Connor's smile slipped. 'All right,' he said. 'I'll come straight to the point. You're in my way, Magellan. I want you out of here. I'll give you three thousand pounds for this place, trucks included, and I'll settle your mortgage as well. You wouldn't get half that price on the open market and you know it.'

Papa Magellan adjusted his spectacles and picked up his newspaper. 'I'm not interested.'

There was another moment of silence and then O'Connor exploded. 'You damned old fool, you've got to accept. You'll be ruined otherwise.'

The old man looked at Marlowe, an expression of distaste on his face. 'Get him out of here, Hugh,' he said. 'The place is beginning to smell bad.'

O'Connor lurched to his feet and moved forward. 'I'm warning you,' he said threateningly. 'This is your last chance. After this I'll run you off the roads and I won't be too particular how I do it.'

Marlowe gripped him firmly by the arm and propelled him towards the door. Papa Magellan put down his paper and removed his spectacles. 'Just a minute, Hugh.'

Marlowe stopped in the doorway, his hand still gripping O'Connor's arm and the old man said, 'I've known you a long time, O'Connor. We've stood each other more drinks than I can remember. I never approved of some of the ways you made your money, but that didn't mean I disliked you.'

O'Connor tried to pull away and Marlowe tightened his grip painfully. 'Keep still,' he said threateningly.

'I don't know what happened to you,' Papa Magellan continued, 'but during the past year you've turned into a wild beast. Anyone who gets in your way you destroy.' He shook his head and spoke very deliberately. 'Well, I give you fair warning. I've had enough. If you harm anyone or anything belonging to me from now on, I'll seek you out and destroy you for the mad dog that you are.'

He turned back to his newspaper, his hands trembling slightly, and Marlowe pushed O'Connor through the door and along the corridor.

O'Connor seemed to have difficulty in negotiating the stairs and when they reached the bottom he suddenly clutched at the wall, gasping for air, one hand tearing at his collar.

The attack was obviously genuine. Marlowe pushed him down into a chair and loosened his tie and collar. O'Connor's face had turned purple and his lips assumed a peculiar bluish tinge. Marlowe went quickly into the living-room and returned with a glass of brandy.

O'Connor gulped at it greedily and brandy trickled down his chin and soaked into his shirt front. After a few moments his breathing was easier. He smiled weakly up at Marlowe. 'One of these days I'll have one too many of these attacks.'

Marlowe nodded soberly. 'You're carrying too much weight around. It's a wonder your heart's lasted out this long.'

O'Connor struggled to his feet. 'When I was younger