Chapter VI IN THE DARKENED ROOM ★ Bob paused on the threshold of the long office, staring into the blackness of the room. After his recent experiences he couldn’t be blamed for hesitating a moment. Should he close the door, back into the hall and await his uncle’s arrival or should he snap on the lights and see what had taken place in the room? It seemed to Bob that he pondered those questions for several minutes; actually it was less than five seconds. He reached for the light switch at the left of the doorway and pushed the button. But there was no answering blaze of light; only the dead click of the switch. Bob knew then that the lights had been tampered with, that more than likely someone was lurking in the shadowy darkness of the office. His better judgment told him to wait until he could summon assistance, but some other urge drove him on. He couldn’t explain it later; he simply went ahead. The young filing clerk stepped across the threshold, the flashlight in his hand aimed down the center of the room. Then he turned on the flash and a beam of light cut through the darkness. Bob gasped. The light showed papers strewn over the floor and the drawers from desks and filing cases pulled indiscriminately out and dumped on the floor. The shock of the confusion in the office brought him up short. Then he started to swing the light about the room to determine the full extent of the damage by the marauder. A slight noise to the right caught Bob’s attention and he turned in that direction. Instinctively he knew that danger lurked there, and he tensed his body. It came before he was ready; something hurtling out of the dark; something that struck his right hand a numbing blow; something that sent the flashlight crashing to the floor where the lens and the bulb shattered and the light went out. But the blow sent Bob into action. He must get back to the door and get it closed; that would cut off the one avenue of escape for the intruder. The clerk leaped backward, his hands reaching out for the doorway. He collided with someone else; someone wearing a topcoat still damp from the rain outside. Bob thought quickly. He must find some way to stop the other if for only an instant. He drew back his right foot and swift kick connected with the unknown’s shins with such force that an involuntary cry rang through the room. Bob leaped on and crashed into the half opened door. With anxious fingers he found the key on the inside, slammed the door shut and turned the lock. That done Bob dropped down on the floor where he would have a chance to rest, to collect his wits, and to plan his future course of action.