Chapter 258

At half past two a.m., Elodie sat in the darkness and watched as the knob turned slowly and soundlessly. She’d locked the door but it was pointless, since whoever was on the other side of it obviously had a key. Elodie fingered the pen in her pocket. She laid down on the bed, pulled the blanket up to her chin and closed her eyes. The intruder was careful and tried hard not to make a sound, but Elodie heard heavy, uneven breathing. She let the intruder get nearer the bed and with her eyes open a slit, saw a raised hand and the glint of a needle. Elodie sprang up, gripped the intruder’s wrist and twisted hard. A woman screamed in pain. The syringe dropped onto the sheets. With one hand still clamped down on the woman’s wrist, Elodie turned on the bedside lamp. It wasn’t who she expected. The maid who’d shown her to the room earlier was pale-faced and sweating profusely; her wrist was broken. Elodie made a straitjacket out of a thin blanket and had the woman trussed up in no time. She clo