Dialogues of the Dead

like a wrestling mat. The lion chair had been knocked over int the grate and already its back was beginning to char. But Hat hac no eyes for this. All he saw was the knife raised high ... the knife| already dripping with blood ... ,|| He hurled himself forward and seized Dick Dee from behind,| one arm round his neck, the other grappling the knife arm, ami tried to drag him away from Rye. He came with such ease if Hat was taken by surprise and fell backwards. But he didn't rele' his grip and without the use of his arms to break his fall, crashed heavily to the ground, his head whiplashing against t crystal tile dish. The flames of the fire seemed to dance into mind, filling it with smoke and shifting shadow. He felt a gus of liquid over his already misting eyes, blood, tears, he didn'l know what except that it stung and blinded. The weight of Dee, was pressing down upon him. He threw it off and as he tried ta sit up, he felt something run like a soldering iron along his lefi ribcage. Rye was screaming again. Not for herself this time,l because he could still feel Dee's body close by his side. It must'a be for him, and the thought gave him strength. He tried to risfe '.fl again. Something smashed against the side of his head. He flailed||| out blindly, his fingers touched metal - grasped - straightened all" a blade cut into flesh - adjusted. And now they tightened around a bone handle. He had the knife. But his assailant had something almost as lethal in its plac which came crashing once more against the side of the detective^ head. Minimum force. For some reason this phrase came into Hat'S mind from his not so distant training days. Force may be use" to effect an arrest, but it must always be the minimum fore commensurate with the lawful restraint of a suspect. When you were on your back, and blind, and wounded, ana losing consciousness, and grappling with a homicidal maniac,,! minimum was hard to define. lj He swung his arm up high then drove the knife down hard,| That felt like minimum. And again. Still felt like minimum. Antfij again ... yes, still well within the limits ... and again ... if this^ were minimum, what in this case would be maximum? ... c^ The question danced in and out of the flickering flames and shifting shadows in his mind, pursuing an elusive answer among broken definitions and the shards of words. Then the rising ululation of what he knew was a siren but still sounded to him like that ill-omened bird of night rose to a climax. Then stopped. And darkness fell.

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Chapter Forty-seven |