Page 180 of Storm of Bells
Not a bloody thing, except a stretch offlowery wallpaper.
‘Darn! I was so sure!’ I punched theportrait, hard, wishing it were its subject.
Thomp!
I stiffened—then punched the paintedDalgliesh in the face once more, harder.
Thomp!
‘It’s not really him,Sahiba,’ Karimtold me carefully, in a ‘let’s talk the crazy woman off the ledge’voice. ‘He isn’t really here, you kn—’
‘Silence!’
Stepping aside, I delivered a hard punch tothe wall.
Thud!
Turning back to the portrayed, I deliveredanother strike. It produced the same thumping sound as before. Adistinctlyhollowsound.
‘Hand me a knife, Karim!’
‘I can understand your feelings,Sahiba, but it’s just a portrait. It won’t do any goodto—’
I threw him a look that shut his mouth.Wordlessly, he reached below his jacket and pulled out a knife. Hehanded it to me hilt-first.
Taking the weapon, I marched back towards thepainting of Dalgliesh standing proudly in front of a ship, andsmiled. Just because this wasn’t the real Dalgliesh didn’t mean Icouldn’t enjoy it.
Hard and fast, I stabbed the knife intoDalgliesh’s groin.
Or at least I tried to.
Clang! Thomp!
‘Ow!’
The knife collided with something hard and,tearing a large gap in the canvas, slid off to the side. Stumbling,I landed on the floor, my knees ramming into the hardwood. But itwas worth it. Nothing remained of His Lordship’s lumbar regions buta big, gaping hole. And beyond the hole—iron. Hard, black, castiron.
‘Quick! Help me!’
Jumping up, I grabbed hold of one side of thepainting and tore. Karim joined me on the other side and, withoutdelay, we stripped away the canvas, revealing the cast-iron doorbelow. At the very left, just where Dalgliesh’s hand had been amoment earlier, was a keyhole, underneath which were emblazoned afew small, but nonetheless significant words:Ellis, Smithson& Co.
Not behind the portrait—inside the portrait!Sneaky bastard!
Heart pounding, I pulled the ring of keys outof my pocket and looked for the key in question. Keeping my fingerscrossed, I rammed it into the keyhole and turned.
Click!
Reaching for the tiny keyhole, I slipped myfingernail inside. There was no handle or other way to open thisslim, insidious thing. Cautiously, I pulled and slowly, the metaldoor began to swing open.
CareerMoves
The metal door at theback of the portrait swung open, revealing a slim compartment. Thecompartment was filled to the brim with tightly-typed documents,sealed envelopes and strange objects I wasn’t even able toidentify.
‘Well, well…’ I whistled. ‘Look what we’vefound here.’
Karim eyes narrowed. ‘What exactlyhavewe found here?’
‘No idea.’ Reaching up, I grabbed handfulafter handful of the safe’s contents and started stuffing them intomy pockets. ‘But if Dalgliesh thinks it’s worth hiding, I know it’sworth taking!’
