Bless the Bride

said, closed the cabinet carefully, and turned to leave.
    “I’ll take that, thank you,” said a low, smooth voice and I turned to see Monty standing by the screen. He came toward me. “You really are a most annoying woman, you know. Give me the paper.”
    “Did you just owe him money for opium or was he blackmailing you?” I asked.
    “The latter,” Monty said. “Threatened to tell Sarah’s family about my unfortunate habit. Now I’ll just take this—” He went to snatch it from me. I stepped aside. “And then off to the border,” he added.
    “There’s no point, you know,” I said. “There’s a constable at the bottom of the steps. You can’t go anywhere.”
    “I can return the way I came,” he said. He took another step toward me. For a second I glanced down at his feet. “Oh,” I said. “Climbing boots. Of course. Sarah told me you were a keen mountaineer.”
    “Sarah talks too much for her own good,” he said. “She was only too keen to tell me the whole story of those Chinese girls.” He paused smiling as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “On second thought,” he said, “I think I’d better take you with me. Just in case.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous.” I started moving toward the screen. He went to grab me, expecting me to be the usual kind of helpless miss. But I had been well schooled by experience in my profession as well as by my future bridegroom. I delivered a savage kick to his shin, then brought my elbow up to his windpipe. I heard the thin fabric of my dress ripping under the arm but I didn’t care. Monty gasped and reeled backward. I only needed that half second to run around the screen and down the stairs.
    “He’s in there!” I shouted to the constable. “Quickly. The murderer is in there. Don’t let him get away.”
    The constable rushed up the stairs. I stood below, holding my breath. But a few minutes later the constable reappeared. “There was nobody there, miss. You must have imagined it.”
    “Then he escaped over the rooftop again,” I said. “But he can’t go too far. He’ll have to come down a fire escape on the building behind. Blow your whistle and get help.”
    He was now looking at me strangely. “Are you sure about this, miss? You didn’t just imagine that you saw someone. I don’t want to look like a fool if this is for nothing.”
    “Of course it’s not for nothing,” I said. “He tried to grab me and I ripped my dress, see?” I demonstrated, not caring that it was unladylike to reveal flesh to a strange man. “And he got into the apartment across the roofs—the way he got in before. He’s wearing climbing boots.”
    “And you say he’ll have jumped across to the next roof?”
    “Yes, around the corner on Pell Street.”
    “Right. I’ll get help then.” He blew his whistle as he headed in that direction. I was very tempted to follow but I saw that there was nothing useful I could do and I certainly didn’t want to find myself taken hostage by a desperate man. I should go straight to police headquarters to await Daniel. I set off back up Mott Street. As I passed the narrow arched entrance beside Lee’s emporium I thought I saw a flash of something light in the darkness beyond. Surely Monty couldn’t have climbed down from the roof already and taken refuge in there? I didn’t know where the arcade led, but it didn’t seem the brightest move to me, seeing that he could be trapped so easily. I peered into the darkness. Had I really…?
    A hand came over my mouth and I was yanked backward. I tried to struggle but the hand clamped over my mouth and nose, making it impossible to breathe. I hadn’t realized how strong he was. I was being half dragged, half carried backward down a sort of tunnel. I flailed, fought, and tried to breathe. I could feel singing in my head. Spots danced in front of my eyes and my only thought was one of fury—that I had let this man get the better of me, and that I was going to die before my wedding.
    “Damnation,” I heard Monty mutter before I blacked out.
    *   *   *
     
    I gradually came back to consciousness, like a swimmer coming up from deep water. I was lying on a hard surface in almost total darkness. I lay there, gasping for breath like a landed fish. As I breathed I was conscious of a cloying smoky smell that I couldn’t place. My eyes became used to the darkness and I saw a wooden ceiling, only a foot or two above my head. A moment of panic shot through me that I was lying