‘I don’t know.’ He looked down the long tunnel, lifting his torch and throwing the powerful beam into the inky blackness. ‘Take a look at that. Your guess is as good as mine.’
The beam of the torch rested on what looked like a heap of rags. I peered at it; saw bits and pieces of what once had been a lounge suit.
‘There’s a skeleton under those clothes,’ Dedrick said, and I heard his breath whistle down his nostrils. ‘We left him here for not more than twelve hours, and that’s what he turned into: rags and bones, and not a damn thing else.’
‘Who is it?’ My voice sounded hollow.
‘Never mind who it is.’
I decided it couldn’t be anyone else but Lute Ferris.
‘It’s Ferris, isn’t it?’
‘Just another guy who was a nuisance,’ Dedrick said, and wiped his face with his handkerchief. ‘Something’s eaten him.’ He looked uneasily into the darkness. ‘There’s some kind of animal down here: maybe a lynx.’ He took another flashlight from his hip pocket and tossed it to me. That’ll keep you company. If you hear Barratt coming, put it out of sight He’d murder me if he knew I’d left you a light.’
‘Well, thanks,’ I said, and flung the beam of the torch he had given me on to his face. ‘Why not go the whole way and let me free? You’re hating this, Dedrick. Come on; you might still beat the rap, and if you get me out of this, I’ll do what I can for you.’
‘Not a chance,’ he said. ‘You don’t know Barratt. He’s the last man anyone in their right minds would cross. So long, Malloy. I hope it’s quick.’