The grip of fear Author:Maurice Level Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Ill THE LAST MORNING OF ONESIMUS COCHE, REPORTER more than five minutes the sub-editor of the World shouted and swore and stamped his feet. "Hullo, h... more »ullo — Damn itl Answer, won't you? Oh, the idiots, they've cut us off! Hullo, hullo!" He put back the receiver and began to ring up the Exchange furiously. "Hullo! I say! You cut me off." "No, sir. They must have rung off at the other end." "Then it was a mistake. Put me on again, please." After a minute a different voice asked: "Hullo, hullo! What do you want?" "Did you telephone a moment ago?" "We did telephone, sir, but I don't know whether it was to you. . . ." "Would you mind telling me whom I am speaking to?" "Cafe Paul, Place du Trocadero." "Right. Please tell the gentleman that I want to speak to him again." "Sorry, sir, the gentleman has just gone." "Send some one after him. Run!" "Impossible, sir. We're just closing up, and the gentleman must be quite far by now." "Could you tell me what he was like? Do you know him? Is he one of your customers?" "No, sir; it's the first time he's been here. As for what he's like, sir: he looks about thirty; dark, with a short moustache. ... I think he was in evening dress . . . but I didn't notice." "Thank you; I'm sorry to have troubled you." "Not at all. Good evening, sir." "Good evening." The sub-editor was perplexed. Had he better publish the news, or should he wait till next day? If the thing was true, it would be most annoying to let another paper forestallhis. But supposing it were not true?... This important matter must be settled at once. He thought deeply, then gave a slight shrug, took out some lines detailing the insults that members of opposing parties had publicly hurled at one another in the ...« less