Arthur Upfield - The Devil_s Steps

Bony’s next move followed after several minutes of studying the board and attempting to elucidate the reason for Marcus’s last move. That last move had not been the one he expected. Pity he could not detect which arm-pit concealed the nesting gun, so that he could anticipate which hand Marcus would use when he went into action.

Following Bony’s move, Marcus took only three seconds to make up his mind how to counter. He forced Bony to take two of his men, and then he removed three of Bony’s men and brought his “jumper” to Bony’s rear line of defence. That wouldn’t do! Bony would have to remove his mind from arm-pits and guns and hands, and concentrate on this game. It was about time that Bolt turned up and earned his salary for the day. But then Bolt mightn’t arrive until after dinner. Oh, forget it and play, Bony!

Ah-Marcus had left himself wide open! But wait! That might be a trap. If he, Bony, movedthuswise, that would make Marcus movesowise, and then he could follow up with athencewise. No, that would leave his centre too vulnerable. Better try and dig into Marcus’s left flank. Seems to be more interested in the view than in the game, but he wasn’t playing as though his mind was occupied with anything else.

Bony made his move and sat back in his chair. Tobacco smoke drifted before his face, and its aroma he did not like. It came from Tully’s pipe, and Tully was half reclining on his wicker chair, his hands placed at the back of his head. The quiet of the afternoon continued. There had been only one car past the Chalet since the game of draughts began, and that had gone down the highway.

Then Marcus made a silly move. Why had Marcus made that move? It had been unlike his play. The minutes passed, and still Bony studied the board-until he became reasonably sure that his opponent had, indeed, made a move without intent. What did this mean? Was his mind wandering? What was he thinking?

What was he seeing?

Bony’s hand hovered over the board, was withdrawn whilst he fell to studying the board again. Marcus was sitting back, apparently relaxed, his gaze directed past Bony to something beyond the balustrade. The temptation to turn became strong in Bony, but to do so might be to make a physical movement as silly as the move Marcus had made with a draughtsman. If he did turn to ascertain what Marcus was seeing, Marcus would know that he was on edge about something, and it was essential that the man’s suspicions be kept to a minimum until Bolt arrived. Whatwas he looking at? Bony made his move, taking advantage of the stupid move by Marcus.

“H’m! I seem to have made that initial mistake after all,” Downes said, seeing that he was compelled to remove two of Bony’s men and to suffer more severe loss himself. “Sorry, Bonaparte, I’m not feeling very well. Indigestion, I think.”

Downes stood up, slowly and with both hands resting on the table.

“Perhaps if you walked about for a little while,” suggested Bony, easing himself on his chair and so turning a quarter-circle. That brought him round to face along the veranda towards Sleeman, Lee and the big man known as Tully. Downes moved back and away from the table. Bony saw him “opening” his chest, and the action increased the distance between the lapels of his coat. Then he saw Bolt and Mason, with a third man, on the lawn.

The three policemen were halfway up from the wicket gate. The Superintendent was pointing to the Devil’s Steps as they walked slowly and with a hint of deliberation towards the veranda steps.

Nonchalantly, Bony cleared his throat and took up from the table his tobacco pouch and papers. Downes was moving slowly back from the table. Sleeman was watching the advancing police officers. Tully was sitting on the edge of his chair and staring intently at Bony, and Bony feltmore sure than ever that Tully was a policeman whose job it was to protect him.

“I’ll go and get a tablet,” Downes said coolly to Bony. “I’ll not be long. Remember, it’s your move next.”

Bony nodded. Whilst Downes had been speaking his eyes were directed towards Bolt and his companions. Then, for an instant which seemed to be a minute long, he stared into Bony’s eyes, and Bony saw a tinge of scarlet behind the black pupils.

Bolt and the two with him were now within twenty feet of the veranda steps when Downes made a half turn and began to walk between Tully and the line offrench windows. Then Mason pointed to something beyond the far end of the house, and Bolt slowed in his walk. Mason said something, and Bolt stopped to gaze at what Mason was pointing to. Bony could not see what was interesting Mason, but actually the three were delaying in order to permit Inspector Snook and his troop to reach the main entrance. Other plain-clothes men were coming down from the top entrance to enter the house by the scullery door. Beyond the boundaries of Wideview Chalet, a hundred policemen entirely surrounded the property.

Still staring at Bony, Tully rose to his feet. With the merest motion of his head, he indicated Downes, and Bony nodded. Then, casually, the big man turned to his right and to Downes said:

“Better stay put-for a minute or two. It seems that the place is surrounded.”

Tully’s right hand was thrust into the pocket of his tweed coat. He was now standing squarely on his feet, facing Downes, and Downes halted to stand slightly raised on his toes with his arms hanging loosely. The fingers of both hands were splayed outward, as Bony had observed them that evening when they had rushed to the kitchen on hearing the screams of Alice.

Bony, whose gaze was now directed towards the tableau, heard heavy boots on the veranda steps almost behind him. He was gripping the table with his hands, his body leaning forward and resting partly on his toes. It was then that Downes moved with incredible speed.

His body appeared to lift and move two or three feet to the left all in a fraction of a second. A pistol shot crashed into the silence of the afternoon when Tully fired from his pocket. With such swiftness-that Bony barely followed the movement, Downes had altered position so that the bullet from Tully’s weapon smacked into the wall behind him. His right hand flashed upward and then flashed halfway down. It was empty when it rose, when it came down there was an automatic pistol in it.

The man’s face had fallen into a devilish grin. His eyes were wide and big-and red. To Bony they grew even larger in the small fraction of time. In that face was the exultation of the killer, and Downes paused before firing to savour the thrill. That pause saved Tully’s life.

He fired, intending to kill Tully with a bullet between and above the eyes, as he had killed Constable Rice and others, but even as his finger pressed the trigger, the table on which he had played draughts crashed against his legs. It was not a heavy table, but the impact was enough to spoil his aim. The bullet took Tully in the right shoulder.

Having thrown the table and cascaded the draughtsmen over Mason and Bolt, who were leaping up the veranda steps, Bony dived for Tully’s chair, and even before Tully fell the chair was on its way towards Downes. Downes dodged it and fired at Bony, who was crouched behind another chair. A woman screamed. Bolt’s great voice came like one of the wind-giants. Downes fired again at Bony the instant he disappeared into the lounge through the open windows.

Racing through the lounge, Downes arrived at the cross-passages, there to see policemen at the kitchen door. He turned right and rushed to the reception hall and the front entrance-to see Snook and others coming in. He turned left-into Miss Jade’s office.

It had been a bad day for Mrs. Parkes. It had begun badly for her when she entered a dark and cold kitchen with no Bisker and no tea waiting for her. The giggling Alice had not improved the cook’s temper, and when, later in the morning Mrs. Parkes witnessed Bisker and Fred at work under a guest’s supervision, the day was wholly ruined.