Death in Zanzibar Read Free Page A

seen anything better in days. No, sir! It’s a pity that your taste in newspapers didn’t run to a smaller sized sheet, but who am I to carp and c-cavil? Let’s face it, it might have been The Times. Not, le’ me tell you, that you look like a dame who reads The Times. No, I sh’d say ____ ’
    â€˜ Will you be quiet?’ demanded Dany frantically. ‘And if you aren’t going to help, go away! No — no, don’t do that! For goodness sake get me a pass key.’
    â€˜Sure,’ said the young man cordially. ‘Any li’l thing you say. Here, hold the children.’
    He handed over the balloon and the white cat, and Dany, making a rash attempt to accept them, came dangerously near to losing the front page of the Daily Dawn in the process. The balloon bounced out of reach and the white cat fell to the floor.
    â€˜Now look what you’ve done!’ said the young man reproachfully. ‘You’ve dropped Asbestos. Have you no compassion on dumb animals? He may be heat-resistant, but he doesn’t like being kicked around.’
    He retrieved the cat and hunted through his waistcoat pockets with his left hand. ‘Don’t rush me. I know I had it some place. Ah, here we are! Madam — no. No wedding ring. That’s good. Miss — your key.’
    He held out a door key with a courtly bow.
    â€˜But that isn’t my key,’ said Dany on the verge of shedding tears of sheer exasperation. ‘It’s yours!’
    â€˜Why, so it is! You know something? you’re a very intelligent girl. You may even read The Times. A pity. Well, I’ll tell you what. You can’t stand there for everyone to take a look at; ’tisn’t decent — besides being darned chilly. I’m parked in that room over there, and I guess you’d better go right in and wait while I fetch some gilded flunkey to batter down your door. O.K.? Don’t mention it: my fam’ly motto has always been “Never Give a Sucker an Even Break”. Let’s go.’
    He tacked across the corridor, humming gently, and after a couple of unsuccessful tries succeeded in opening the door of the room opposite Dany’s.
    â€˜There you are,’ he said in the self-congratulatory tone of one who has performed an intricate conjuring trick: ‘Move right in. We Holdens are nothing if not hospitable. Make yourself at home. And if there’s any little thing you fancy, such as a blanket or a bath towel or a bathrobe, jus’ go right ahead and wrap it up. The joint’s yours. I’ll be right back.’
    He bowed again, sweeping the floor in an old-world gesture with the white cat, and removed himself.
    Dany did not move until he was out of sight (the Daily Dawn did not meet round the back) but as soon as it was safe to do so she crossed the corridor at a run and took refuge in his room.
    It was in darkness, for the curtains were still drawn, and she switched on the lights and saw that the bed had been neatly turned down and a pair of maroon-coloured pyjamas laid out upon it. There was also a bottle-green dressing-gown hanging over the back of a chair, and she reached for it thankfully. It was far too large, but all the more welcome for that; for Dany, though slim, was by no means short, and it covered her adequately from throat to ankle, allowing no more than a glimpse of bare feet.
    A small travelling-clock on the bedside table informed her that it was already ten minutes to six, and from behind the heavily curtained windows she could hear the muted rumble of the early morning traffic. But there were as yet no sounds of movement from inside the hotel, and Dany sat down on the edge of the bed and prepared to wait.
    The room was an almost exact counterpart of her own, though a good deal tidier, and it contained one slightly surprising object: a large photograph of an extraordinarily beautiful woman that stood on the dressing-table, expensively framed in