His senses awakened to the fetid stench of death emanating from the platform and the sharp prickles of the thick hemp rope, the hangman drawing it snug about his neck and then suddenly pulling it taut. The abrupt, crushing tension on his Adam's apple caused him to gasp and choke. The frenzied cro...
He paused at the entrance, languidly surveying the room and nodding here or there to an acquaintance, noting that no one in this celebrated gentlemen’s abode presented a more elegant or composed picture. Determined that nothing in his demeanor, dress, or bearing could sugg...
