Page 177 of Storm of Bells
‘That,’ Karim told me, his beard bristling,‘is still open for discussion.’
Wasn’t he a dear?
The keyhole apparently thought so, too. Thenext key slid easily inside. I turned it, and the door clickedopen.
I swallowed. Dalgliesh’s house. Not that itwas my first time breaking into one of his places. And I knew hewasn’t even there. I had put him out of commission myself, forheaven’s sake! Still—up until now, whenever going up againstDalgliesh, I had always had Mr Ambrose at my side. Now, he wasnowhere in sight. And while the guards out here were gone, I had noidea who or what awaited me in there.
‘Karim?’
‘Yes,Sahiba?’
There wasn’t a trace of antagonism left inhis voice. I loved him for that.
‘You’ll keep an eye out, won’t you?’
One of his big paws reached out and squeezedmy shoulder.
‘I swear I shall protect you with my life,Sahiba.’
I smiled. ‘Your sabre will do. Let’s go.’
I pushed open the door.
The hallway beyond was as empty as it wasostentatious. Plush carpets covered the floor. From the dark,wood-panelled walls, stern ancestors—none of whom, I was sure, werein any way related to Lord Daniel Eugene Dalgliesh—gazed down uponthe intruders.
Farther down the corridor, around the corner,the floor creaked. I stiffened. One finger flew up to my lips, andmy eyes met Karim’s. He nodded. Drawing his sabre, he sidled pastme towards the noise, pressed tightly against the wall. Followinghis example on the other side of the hallway, I peered around thecorner, and…
Blast!
I had hoped that the house might be empty.Apparently, it was not to be. Up ahead, a man in livery was headingdown the corridor. I should probably have guessed. The guards hadgone out to search for Dalgliesh. The servants in the housewouldn’t have been taken along.
Too bad for the servants.
The man ahead opened a door and steppedthrough. It closed behind him with a click. I gestured to Karim andpointed to the first door on our left. Moving to it with anastonishing lack of noise, the big bodyguard pressed his earagainst the wood, swiftly peered through the keyhole—thenstraightened and gave me the thumbs-up sign. Nodding, I joined himat the door.
‘On the count of three,’ I whispered. ‘Incase you missed it, and someone is in there after all, you makesure he doesn’t make a noise, understood?’
The only reply was a nod.
‘One…two…three!’
The door flew open. Karim dashed into theroom, his eyes flicking from corner to corner—in vain. No one wasinside. Carefully, I closed the door behind me.
‘What now,Sahiba?’ Karim enquired.‘What exactly are we looking for?’
I remembered the words between Mr Ambrose andmyself just before he’d left the coach.
‘There’s just one thing I don’tunderstand…’ Glancing down at the ring of keys, I frowned. ‘Justhow do you know this key ring leads to what you’re looking for?They look like nothing special.’
‘Really? Have a look at this.’ Reachingout, he tapped one of the smaller keys. Engraved in the metal, Inoticed the tiny words Ellis, Smithson & Co.
‘Who are Ellis, Smithson &Co?’
‘Two very rich people.’ And to judge bythe look on his face, whatever their firm did, he didn’t own anyshares. ‘They’re locksmiths, specializing in custom-made safes fornobles and the rich. Most of their safes cost more than what peopleput inside. If there’s an Ellis, Smithson & Co in Dalgliesh’shouse, you can bet that whatever is inside is worthtaking!’
‘A safe.’ I met Karim’s eyes. ‘We’re lookingfor a safe. And besides that, anything we can use againstDalgliesh.’
Karim’s eyes were immediately drawn to twobig, crossed medieval swords hanging on the wall.
