But there was no use in firing it.
The bullet wouldn’t have hit anybody.
His assailants had every advantage of him.
He had been caught by both feet and yanked backward.
Others had grabbed him by the arms.
Still another dropped a noose over his head and pulled it tight.
A little more strain on that rope, and the detective would have been choked to death.
In much less time than it takes to tell it, they had him with his hands securely bound behind his back.
The detective was helpless.