The Mystery Woman (Ladies of Lantern Str - By Amanda Quick Page 0,53

is a killer in this chamber.”

“I have a gun,” Joshua said.

But the Anubis figure was already fleeing toward a wall on the far side of the chamber.

And then Joshua was upon her. She realized that he had a handkerchief tied like a mask around the lower half of his face. He scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder.

“I should have known that things would not go according to plan tonight,” Joshua said. “They never do when you’re involved.”

She was safe.

She abandoned the effort to stay awake and gave herself up to the sea of darkness.

Her last conscious memory was that of the familiar psychical prints she had seen near the altar. Impossible, she thought. She was hallucinating.

—

HE GOT HER UPSTAIRS without encountering any of the guests or servants. He could not be certain that no one saw them but he consoled himself with the thought that if that were the case it would be assumed that Hannah’s paid companion had imbibed too much gin.

Hannah was waiting in the room. She stared at him and his burden, shocked.

“Dear Lord, is she—?”

“Unconscious,” he said. “But her pulse and breathing appear to be normal.” He eased Beatrice’s limp form down onto the bed. “I think she was drugged. Do you have some smelling salts?”

“Yes, of course. Sally always packs some for emergencies. But I have noticed that Beatrice carries her own.” Hannah reached for the vial that dangled from the chatelaine around Beatrice’s waist.

“Not a good idea,” Joshua said. “Believe me when I tell you that you do not want to use those particular salts. The formula is a very special one concocted by her employers. The stuff is designed to ward off mad dogs and would-be assailants.”

“I see. How unusual. Josh, what happened tonight?”

“I’m not sure yet but I intend to find out. I must leave Beatrice to you and Sally for now. It would not be good for me to be seen in this room. In any event, I must deal with the murder.”

“What murder? What are you talking about?”

“I suspect that the man who was attempting to blackmail you is the victim. The question is, who killed him?”

Twenty-Two

He used the old spiral staircase in the storage room to go back downstairs. When he reached the ground floor he made his way along the long, dark corridor that led to the antiquities chamber. He was aware that he was in a strange state of mind. A volatile storm of emotions seethed inside him. Among those highly charged sensations was a cold fury, a good deal of which was aimed at himself. He had put Beatrice in grave danger tonight.

Everything had gone wrong. Again. Just as they had a year ago, he thought. At least this time an innocent woman had not died, but it had been a very near thing.

The massive doors were still closed, just as he had left them a few minutes ago, and still unlocked. Assuming the killer had fled, it was unlikely he would have taken the time to lock the doors on his way out. Still, one never knew. The criminal mind was often predictable but not always.

He pulled out the handkerchief he had used earlier when he had realized that there were dangerous fumes in the room. He held the large square of linen across his nose and mouth.

He entered the cavernous space, struck a light and pulled the door closed behind him.

The scented smoke had largely dissipated but he could still feel some of the disorienting effects. The arm of a nearby statue appeared to move. He ignored the hallucinations and focused on his objective.

He turned up two of the wall sconces. The glare fell across the body on the altar. An unlit lantern sat near one of the dead man’s hands.

He moved forward, listening intently for another presence in the room. He was certain that he had the chamber to himself now. The killer was gone.

The victim was not one of the guests. He was dressed like a high-ranking servant, a valet, perhaps. Joshua doubted that anyone would claim him in the morning.

It was the sight of the wound that sent a flash of knowing through him. The fraudulent valet had been killed with a single, expert thrust to the heart. It was possible there were two highly skilled assassins involved in the affair, but the probability was very low. In any event, professionals killed in unique ways. No two did it in exactly the same manner. There was little doubt