Another unusual circumstance he observed was that , thought driving in the general direction of Shaunasey Heights , she did not take the direct route to her home .sx Instead , half-way there , she turned down a road so closely bordered by tall and thickly-growing trees that there were places where overhead the branches interlocked .sx Originally his intentions had been , when she pulled up outside her own house , to intercept her , and , with the privilege of old friendship , suggest a stroll , and in that interval to extract every last ounce of information she could be persuaded to unload .sx But now , turning the corner of that silvered road , the fine instinct of which more than once in his career he had been aware told him of events more imminently to hand .sx Almost without knowing it , and before his own car had turned the corner , he jammed on his brake - got out - on foot edged cautiously around the bend .sx By this , her car had progressed a good two hundred yards down the road .sx But even as , pressed against a tree-trunk , he halted , she slowed down until , with no houses on either side to serve as excuse , the Buick was proceeding only at walking pace .sx At which , that same sure instinct guiding him , and taking advantage of every inch of cover , Colin pressed cautiously forward .sx What was she waiting for ?sx Because , every instinct of mind and body told him that , actually , was what she was doing .sx Then , within distance , his body pressed hard against a tree-bole , his eyes boring hard through the fretted moonlight that streamed through the foliage overhead , he saw , flashing upwards from the driving-seat of the now barely moving car , the gleam of an electric torch .sx Signalling , by Ginger !sx In addition , and , unless his unusually keen eyesight betrayed him , amid the branches of a tree only some few yards in advance of where , now the car lingered , a darker patch stood out among the green - a patch that , he thought , moved a little .sx Then , from the immediate neighbourhood of that dark patch came the answering signal - the gleam twice repeated of an electric torch .sx Instantaneously the car moved a little further forward until , immediately beneath the tree from which had come the signal , it stopped dead .sx And in the moment it remained stationary , something dropped from the tree into the body of Marion Beale's car , that , as it seemed to Colin , simultaneously with the impact shot ahead , and at a swift pace passed down the avenue .sx There was , then , but one thing to be done .sx The interview with Marion would keep - he could talk to her later .sx In that dark patch in the tree were possibilities that probably never would recur .sx Fast pressed against the concealing trunk , he waited - and watched .sx A minute passed - two - five .sx Nothing happened .sx Then , from that dark patch , Colin was aware of a smaller and lighter patch turned towards him for an instant , and as quickly turned away .sx A moment , and as though reassured , the whole patch moved .sx Something snake-like curved from the over-hanging branch .sx And , hand over hand , as agile as a monkey , a small lithe figure slid down that rope .sx As quickly as a flash and as silently , Colin broke from cover - was after him .sx The two , the one descending and the other pressing forward , reached the same spot simultaneously .sx Afterwards Colin was able to compare what immediately transpired to a fight between himself and a short , but extremely agile and venomous snake - a reptile , moreover , whose sting was represented by the knife that , swift and sinister as a serpent's tongue , for a fraction of time gleamed coldly in the moonlight .sx Colin avoided the blade only by the instinctive body-curve of the trained boxer , and even then , with the curving downward sweep , his shirt was slashed from breast to waist .sx Following which , steel-wire eel as he was , the assailant was permitted no second chance .sx His fingers about the wrist that held the hilt of the weapon , Colin gave a vicious turning wrench as if to twist the flesh from the bone .sx Screaming , his victim dropped the knife to the ground .sx With all his resentment at the wrong that had been done to Marion , Colin's right came up from somewhere in the neighbourhood of his knee , and with it the simultaneous loosing of his clutch upon the other's hand .sx His knuckles struck below the chin , and he felt the head literally lift to the impact .sx The little man , lithe no longer , but inert as a deflated bladder , slumped to earth a good fifteen feet away .sx Colin picked up the knife - a wicked blue-bladed spearhead of a weapon ; went over to his victim , detached the scabbard from the conveniently-placed thigh pocket .sx Then , as incontinently as though that unconscious man had been some unimportant merchandise baled for transport , slung his quarry into the car .sx His knowledge of dope gang methods was almost unequalled , and a still more exact realisation of the devastation that the traffic engenders determined him as to what he was going to do about it .sx It was not Colin's night for wearing kid gloves .sx Fronting English Bay was an empty bathing shack that belonged to a friend of his own , and to which he had the key .sx And even if , following disembarkation of his now partially recovered cargo , what transpired there was unbeautiful , at least it possessed the merit of efficiency .sx Which goes to explain why , on his return to barracks an hour or so later , Colin broke every speed limit ; why , within ten minutes of the arousing of a fierce-tongued O.C. , there was not a policeman in barracks who did not hurriedly transfer himself from pyjamas into uniform .sx Thirty minutes later still , and under the personal direction of Commissioner Oxford himself , two over-laden police tenders drew up to the door of Kao Ching's chop-suey joint in Pender Street , and , without hesitation or delay , the crews of those vehicles battered in that fast-closed door and swarmed incontinently up a flight of stairs that , at the first instant of assault , had been plunged in darkness .sx But , partly because Kao Ching was what he was , and more by reason of that obese Celestial's overweaning terror of the one who owned him , even then , the surprise was not so complete that their passage went unchallenged .sx Before the head of the stairs was reached , no less than four policemen - of whom the O.C. was one , though , fortunately , shot only through the shoulder - fell from bullet-wounds .sx Ignoring his venomous protests , they passed the O.C. from one to the other to the passage below .sx At which point , Colin , whose place was immediately in the rear of Sergeant Rook , upon whose broad and aggressive shoulders leadership had descended , yelled :sx " Look out !sx " And leaped , not back , but forward , and with him Sergeant Rook and the three others who by this had gained the landing .sx A sixth was not in time to escape the shutter of chilled steel that , more swiftly than a theatre curtain , shot down from the ceiling .sx It was only the body of this brave man that kept open the breach between floor and shutter .sx Upon the farther side of that barrier complete darkness reigned - darkness and an intensity of silence .sx Not shots ; no signs of excitement or alarm ; no rapid scurry of feet .sx A risk , indeed , to shine a light , but one that had to be taken .sx With the instrument held to the full extent of an arm in a direct line with his shoulder , Colin switched on his torch .sx This showed three doors , right , left , and directly facing the shutter that those behind were furiously attempting to raise .sx Sergeant Rook knew his business .sx Though instinct told him that time was the essence of the contract , even more essential was to avoid playing into the hands of the enemy .sx It was necessary to have behind him a bigger force than the four on his own side of the barrier .sx From the farther side policemen crawled beneath the steel curtain , and immediately brought their strength to bear upon the task of holding it ; in a little while all were upon the right side , and , with the stricken constable's body removed , there was nothing for it but to allow the shutter to sink into place .sx Later they would find their way out by some other exit .sx All three of those doors were closely locked against them .sx And at what they saw when at last the one on the landing yielded to their forcing , Colin breathed a prayer of thanksgiving for the chance that had come to him , and made this revelation possible .sx It was a room of luxury , not of the West , but of the East , for the floor was strewn with Oriental rugs and Oriental cushions , and low , brass-topped tables ; about the walls silk-covered divans .sx It was , however , none of these things that set the usually good-humoured mouths of the raiders into savage , vicious lines ; that turned their eyes agate-hard .sx Upon those divans , as oblivious of all about them as the dead , were four girls , obviously of Anglo-Saxon blood - girls whose swollen lids were tight-closed in unwholesome , leaden , putty-coloured faces ; whose clothing was stained and shabby , whose hair was dry and lifeless ; girls who were abject and drug-sodden .sx And that quartette consisted of those who were the last to have been reported missing .sx Exotically furnished as the first , in the next room they drew blank ; nevertheless , eloquent traces remained of those who so recently had been there - the monogrammed handkerchief of one , two or three items from the vanity-bags of others - a room that did nothing to lighten the grimness that , as though permanently , now had settled on the faces of the policemen .sx At the third door :sx " Stand aside , you fellows !sx " Sergeant Rook said quietly , launched himself at the lock - that with surprising ease gave way , so that he pitched headlong into the room .sx Yet , though their first swift examination showed this to be as empty as the last , from somewhere within Colin's sub-conscious mind there sounded a note of warning .sx Normally sensitive to impressions , never before had a room so stamped its atmosphere upon him .sx A strange room this , and eerie , as though over it brooded a spirit evil and unquiet - a spirit the more hungry from what it fed upon .sx " There's something here , Sergeant , " Colin whispered in a voice that not the most vital call upon his self-possession altogether could steady , and the grim old Sergeant nodded .sx " Don't I know it !sx " he replied .sx The minute I set foot in - " .sx Plup-p-p !sx A look of amazed protest flashed into those rugged , rough-hewn features ; a tiny blue-rimmed mark appeared as if suddenly stamped upon the forehead .sx With the grunt of a tired man sinking to sleep , the legs bowed from under him ; slowly , but with an impression of terrible inevitability , he sank slowly lower and lower towards the floor .sx Yet , with the stark unexpectedness of it , they were not in time to catch him as he fell .sx A voice said , not loudly , but with a knife-edge distinctness that , superimposed upon the faintly sibilant , yet deliberately articulated words , held a lifelessness that rendered it of the very extremity of horror .sx " Although to-night , by treachery , you have been enabled to cut down a single twig , yet the tree - the creeping , irresistible , all-embracing roots , the multitudinous branches that spread in every direction from the parent trunk - is as unaffected as a giant elm remains unaffected by - pruning .sx A tree whose roots , before many years , will have surrounded the world - silently , irresistibly - crushing it , squeezing it , killing it !sx " The wall from which the voice came showed for a moment a nine-inch square of illumination - pale , opalescent .sx A split-second only it remained before even that light obscured , yet in that infinitesimal period a face looked out upon them - a face that was neither , white nor yellow , of the bone-structure of the East with the mouth and chin of the West - a face that neither frowned nor leered nor smiled ; that showed neither anger , nor pleasure , nor dismay ; only silently regarded them .sx