Horning slammed to the floor. The room rocked about him.
As from afar, he heard his alter ego's voice: "Get up!"
Horning dragged himself to his knees, choking and gasping. He caught a blurred glimpse of the limp figure of the woman who had been his counterpart's wife. A thin trickle of blood was seeping from her mouth....
"Get up, I said!" the killer cried in a tight terrible voice.
He kicked Horning in the side.
Horning rolled away, pain stabbing through him. He scrambled to his feet.
"Climb onto the desk!"
Shaking, Horning clambered up, standing half-crouched with the top of his head pressing the ceiling. A water pipe lay like a cold knife-blade against the back of his neck.
His counterpart dragged a coil of insulated wire from the workbench and threw it to Horning. "Here! Tie a noose!"