Page "mystery" Paragraph 878

There was no answer to this and he began to pace back and forth across the room, his imagination out of control.

He tried to tell himself that maybe Burton had sobered up enough to get some sense.

Maybe he only intended to scare the blackmailer, whoever he was, in which case an unloaded gun would be good enough.

He thought of other possibilities, none of them satisfactory, and finally he began to think, to wonder if there was some way he could reach Burton.

Then, as he turned toward the telephone, it rang shrilly to shatter the stillness in the room and he reached for it eagerly.