The man dove in. The corpse didn’t look as inviting in the dark of night. The clock had stopped on half past seven. Still, a faint ticking could be heard, as sinister evidence that the old clockwork was still taking its course. Just like life. Take one, and life will take its course. Take two, to be on the safe side, and what do you know; life will still be taking its course. All this thinking made the man unreasonable. He couldn’t accept these, the world’s little miracles, as the simple things they were. He knocked on the table. Twice. One knock for each life he had taken. That was when he noticed! The ticking had stopped. Like a battlefield quieting. Like a brigade, as it searches its way through its foundation. A chill ran through him with unease. Was there something about the body that revealed itself to him there, like a dead dog licking his master? Was it not dead? Unless I’m entirely mistaken, you now wanted to read on. This was too exciting for the faint of heart. The two sentences from yesterday’s paper frightened him. Something didn’t add up. For a good minute, the man stood still and studied the crime scene. There was no trace of a clue. But something was very wrong. Witnesses, perhaps? |