Chapter VI IN THE DARKENED ROOM *
Bob paused on the threshold of the long office, staring into theblackness of the room. After his recent experiences he couldn't be blamedfor hesitating a moment.
Should he close the door, back into the hall and await his uncle'sarrival or should he snap on the lights and see what had taken place inthe room? It seemed to Bob that he pondered those questions for severalminutes; actually it was less than five seconds.
He reached for the light switch at the left of the doorway and pushed thebutton. But there was no answering blaze of light; only the dead click ofthe switch.
Bob knew then that the lights had been tampered with, that more thanlikely someone was lurking in the shadowy darkness of the office. Hisbetter judgment told him to wait until he could summon assistance, butsome other urge drove him on. He couldn't explain it later; he simplywent ahead.
The young filing clerk stepped across the threshold, the flashlight inhis hand aimed down the center of the room. Then he turned on the flashand a beam of light cut through the darkness.
Bob gasped. The light showed papers strewn over the floor and the drawersfrom desks and filing cases pulled indiscriminately out and dumped on thefloor.
The shock of the confusion in the office brought him up short. Then hestarted to swing the light about the room to determine the full extent ofthe damage by the marauder.
A slight noise to the right caught Bob's attention and he turned in thatdirection. Instinctively he knew that danger lurked there, and he tensedhis body. It came before he was ready; something hurtling out of thedark; something that struck his right hand a numbing blow; something thatsent the flashlight crashing to the floor where the lens and the bulbshattered and the light went out.
But the blow sent Bob into action. He must get back to the door and getit closed; that would cut off the one avenue of escape for the intruder.
The clerk leaped backward, his hands reaching out for the doorway. Hecollided with someone else; someone wearing a topcoat still damp from therain outside.
Bob thought quickly. He must find some way to stop the other if for onlyan instant. He drew back his right foot and swift kick connected with theunknown's shins with such force that an involuntary cry rang through theroom. Bob leaped on and crashed into the half opened door. With anxiousfingers he found the key on the inside, slammed the door shut and turnedthe lock.
That done Bob dropped down on the floor where he would have a chance torest, to collect his wits, and to plan his future course of action.
For a time there was no sound in the room. He could not even catch thebreathing of the other man and he thought of the possibility that theother had slipped out the door before he had closed it. Then he dismissedthat as an impossibility for there had not been sufficient time for that.
Bob knew every inch of the long office; knew where every desk and chairwas located and every window. As his eyes became more accustomed to thedark he could pick out the lighter blots which were the windows.
Then a slight noise caught his attention. The unknown was moving,probably on his hands and knees, feeling his way toward the door. Bobcouldn't resist a chuckle as he thought of the dismay that would spreadthrough the other when he found the door securely locked and the keymissing.
Just to be on the safe side, Bob edged away from the door and soughtshelter behind a nearby desk. To make sure that he would move noiselesslyhe slipped off his shoes and placed them beside a filing cabinet where hewouldn't fall over them if it was necessary for him to make a suddenmove.
Strangely enough Bob felt very calm. His heart beat rapidly and hisbreath came shorter and faster, but his mind was remarkably clear, hishands steady. He was glad now that he did not have the flashlight, forusing it would only have made him a target for the marauder.
Bob wondered how long it would take his uncle to reach the scene.Probably another ten minutes, for Merritt Hughes lived a considerabledistance from the building. What might happen inside that room in thenext ten minutes was something that Bob didn't care to guess about.
As Bob listened he could hear the almost noiseless movements of the otherman and knew that he was nearing the door. Then he heard hands movingalong the woodwork--finally the gentle turning of the doorknob. Thenthere was the sharp rattle of the knob as though a sudden wave of angerhad swept over the man at the realization that he had been trapped in theroom.
Bob moved away from the door, crawling on his hands and knees, and hekept going until he was well down the room and right at the steel cabinetwhere the radio documents were filed. With cautious hands he felt alongthe front of the case. So far the drawers had not been pulled out forthey were identified only by key numbers instead of by the name of thetype of papers which they contained.
This was one cabinet Bob was determined to protect, for, after what hisuncle had told him earlier in the night, he felt sure that this was theobject of the unknown's visit.
Once more the doorknob was rattled sharply; then silence again shroudedthe room and Bob felt his nerves tightening. It was tough waiting alonein the darkness. He wondered if the other man possessed a gun and if hewould have the nerve to use it if an emergency caught him.
Bob strained his ears for some sound of the other's maneuvers. A faintsort of "plop" made him smile. It sounded very much like a shoe beingplaced gently on the floor. Several seconds later there was a similarsound and Bob knew that they were now on even terms; neither one of themhaving his shoes on. This man was no fool; he was determined to keep hisown movements as secret as possible.
Then Bob heard a sound which was anything but heartening. The unknown wascoming toward him. He could hear the gentle scrape of knees as the mancrawled along the floor. He was evidently feeling his way along thefiling cabinets and Bob moved out toward the center of the room where hefound protection between two desks, set fairly close together.
His action was not a minute too soon, for he had barely settled himselfin his new position when he saw a darker shadow moving along in front ofthe filing cases. The man was less than six feet away, and breathing veryquietly, but steadily.
Bob held his own breath as the man passed along the row of filing cases.Evidently he was going to make the rounds of the room in an effort tocatch Bob by surprise, overpower him, and take away the key. Bob chuckledinwardly at that thought. He was too familiar with the room to be caughtin that manner.
Moving out slightly from behind the shelter of the desks, he saw the manreach a window and raise his head so that he could look down on thestreet. It was a temptation that Bob couldn't resist and he picked up aninkwell on the desk beside him, took careful aim, and hurled the heavyglass container.
Just as he threw the inkwell, Bob slipped and the noise attracted theattention of the other man. He leaped to his feet and whirled about. Theglass container, instead of striking the man's head, hit his shoulder,glanced into the window and crashed its way on out into the darkness.
There was a cry of pain from the intruder and then a sharp burst of flameas a bullet scarred the top of the desk which shielded Bob.
Bob went cold all over. There was no more fun in this thing. It wasdeadly serious now and he knew that his very life might depend on theevents of the coming minutes for this man was cornered and capable ofshooting his way out if necessary.
Agent Nine Solves His First Case: A Story of the Daring Exploits of the G Men Page 6
