I sat up with a start, dressed hastily, and removed the chair from my door. Peregrine Graham was asleep across the threshold of the outer door, and the instant he heard me, he opened his eyes and stared at me as if he hardly knew me. “I’m awake.” “I’m cold. I want my tea. Will you let me prepare it?” “Go ahead.” I busied myself with the tea things, then said, “You’ve got yourself a small problem. There’s no food in the flat. We’ll both starve.” “I’ve considered that. You’ll go and buy what we need. If you call the police or in any way betray my whereabouts, I’ll kill Mrs. Hennessey. If she’s out, I’ll shoot the first three people I see on the street, and then myself. I’m a murderer. What can they do to me? A man can only hang once.” I couldn’t tell whether he was mocking me or not. “Your family will be hurt—it will bring up all the old gossip and make their lives a misery.” “Except for Arthur, who is dead and beyond hurting, I don’t really care.”
