Read The Shadowers for Free Online

one-way streets barely wide enough for a horse and carriage, and sidewalks barely wide enough for a crinoline. The alley I found was even narrower, just a crack between two tall buildings.
    Where I stopped her at last, the night sky was a distant violet-gray strip above us, and the lighted street was a narrow slice of life and hope left far behind, or so it must have seemed to her. When we stopped, she put her back to a blank wall defensively. Her dim face, framed by the midnight-black hair, looked as white as her long gloves.
    “What do you think is going to happen to you, doll?” I asked.
    She shook her head minutely. “Don’t!” she whispered. “Whatever lousy thing you’re going to do to me, do it. Get it over with. Don’t tease me. That’s dirty.”
    “I’m not teasing you,” I said. “I just want you to know what’s going to happen next so you won’t go off half-cocked. As soon as I finish talking I’m going to put this knife in your hand. Then, while you’re holding the knife, I’m going to kiss you for being a sweet kid and helping me out of a tough spot. Are you ready?”
    She stared up at me, startled and confused. Well, that was what I was working for. Now that I’d used her, I had to keep her from telling the police all about it. Being hauled off to jail is one of the things we’re not supposed to let happen to us. On the spur of the moment, the romantic mystery-man approach seemed the best bet for silence, short of killing her, which was neither necessary nor desirable.
    She licked her lips. “But—”
    “Conversation is not required,” I said. “Hold out your hand.”
    I had to reach down and find it and close her fingers about the handle of the knife. I guided the point toward my chest.
    “No,” I said, “a little to my left, doll. It’s tough work shoving a knife through a man’s breastbone. That’s better. Now make up your mind. All you have to do is push; it’ll go in smooth and easy. You’ll be surprised how little effort it takes to kill a man. Here comes the kiss.”
    Moving very deliberately, the way you’d reach for a frightened bird, I took her face in my hands and bent down briefly. Her face was cold and her lips were cold. I felt the knife move very slightly against me, but it never penetrated my coat. I stepped back. She let her hand fall to her side. After a moment I heard a shaky little laugh.
    “Mister,” she breathed. “Mister, I...” She stopped.
    “What’s your name?” I asked.
    “Antoinette,” she whispered. “Antoinette Vail.”
    “Toni?”
    “My friends call me Toni,” she said. Her voice was coming in stronger now. “I’ll let you know when you qualify. In the meantime... In the meantime, I think Miss Vail sounds very nice, don’t you?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” I said.
    We stood for a little while facing each other like that, hearing the sounds of the city all around us; but nothing moved in the dark, narrow alley where we were. She glanced down at the knife in her hand, and looked at me again.
    “You scared me,” she murmured. “You really scared me! I really thought you... Here, take it!” I took the knife, closed it, and dropped it into my pocket. She was watching me steadily. “What happens if I run?” she asked.
    “In here?” I said. “Dark as it is, you’ll probably fall over something and ruin your stockings. You’d better walk carefully until you get out where there’s some light. If you want to leave.”
    “If?” she breathed. “If? Are you crazy or something? Do you think I—” She stopped.
    “Aren’t you a wee bit curious? Aren’t you intrigued? I must be losing my grip,” I said. “Well, then, didn’t you have some plans for tonight that I’ve just shot to hell? Wouldn’t you like to have dinner on me—anywhere, any price—and listen to a lot of lies about why I had to do what I did? I’m a fascinating liar, Miss Vail.”
    “That, I’ll believe,” she said tartly. “You fascinated me, you and that