<\/p>\n\n
Griswell’in surat\u0131 k\u00fcl gibiydi.<\/p>\n
“Evet. Ama ben oraya gidiyorum, sen gelsen de gelmesen de. O \u015fey zavall\u0131 John’u \u00f6ld\u00fcrd\u00fc hala yukarda saklan\u0131yor olabilir.”<\/p>\n
“Arkamda kal”, diye emretti Buckner. “E\u011fer \u00f6n\u00fcm\u00fcze bir \u015fey \u00e7\u0131karsa icab\u0131na bakar\u0131m. Ama kendi iyili\u011fin i\u00e7in, seni uyar\u0131yorum, reflekslerim g\u00fc\u00e7l\u00fcd\u00fcr ve genelde \u0131skalamam. Arkamdan i\u015f \u00e7evirmek gibi bir d\u00fc\u015f\u00fcncen varsa unut onu.”<\/p>\n
“Aptal olma!” Bu \u00f6fke, endi\u015fesini daha g\u00f6r\u00fcn\u00fcr hale getiriyordu ve bu \u00e7\u0131k\u0131\u015f Buckner’a ben masumum itirazlar\u0131ndan daha \u00e7ok g\u00fcven veriyor gibiydi.<\/p>\n
“Adil olmaya \u00e7al\u0131\u015f\u0131yorum”, dedi sakince. “Senin i\u00e7in hen\u00fcz bir su\u00e7lamaya veya h\u00fckme varmad\u0131m. E\u011fer bana s\u00f6ylediklerinin yar\u0131s\u0131 do\u011fruysa, cehennemi tatm\u0131\u015fs\u0131n demektir ve sana \u00e7ok y\u00fcklenmek istemiyorum. Ama bana anlatt\u0131\u011f\u0131n \u015feylere inanmak \u00e7ok zor bunu g\u00f6rebilirsin.”<\/p>\n
Griswell bitkin bir halde, tek kelime bile etmeden yol g\u00f6stermesi i\u00e7in harekete ge\u00e7ti. Salondan ge\u00e7tile ve giri\u015fte duraksad\u0131lar. Tozun i\u00e7inde duran k\u0131pk\u0131rm\u0131z\u0131 ince bir damla dizisi basamaklara do\u011fru \u00e7\u0131k\u0131yordu.<\/p>\n
“Adam\u0131n tozdaki izleri”, diye homurdand\u0131 Buckner. “Yava\u015f ol. G\u00f6rd\u00fcklerimden emin olmam gerekiyor \u00e7\u00fcnk\u00fc yukar\u0131 \u00e7\u0131karken onlar\u0131 yok ediyoruz. Hmmm! Bir set yukar\u0131 \u00e7\u0131k\u0131yor, bir set de a\u015fa\u011f\u0131 iniyor. Ayn\u0131 adam. Senin izlerin de\u011fil. Branner senden daha kal\u0131pl\u0131 bir adamd\u0131. T\u00fcm yol boyunca kan var- korkulukta da kan var sanki kanl\u0131 elini oraya koymu\u015f gibi- leke gibi g\u00f6r\u00fcnen \u015feylerde beyin par\u00e7as\u0131. \u015eimdi ne-“<\/p>\n
“\u00d6l\u00fc bir adam, merdivenlerden a\u015fa\u011f\u0131 indi”, diyerek titredi Griswell. “Bir eliyle tutunuyor di\u011fer eliyle de onu \u00f6ld\u00fcren baltay\u0131 tutuyordu.”<\/p>\n
“Ya da ta\u015f\u0131nd\u0131”, diye m\u0131r\u0131ldand\u0131 \u015eerif. “Ama e\u011fer biri onu ta\u015f\u0131d\u0131ysa izleri nerede?”<\/p>\n
G\u00f6lge ve tozla kapl\u0131, zamanla kabuk tutmu\u015f pencerelerin ay \u0131\u015f\u0131\u011f\u0131n\u0131 kovdu\u011fu ve Buckner’\u0131n fenerinin yetersiz kald\u0131\u011f\u0131 bo\u015f ve geni\u015f alana, \u00fcst koridora \u00e7\u0131km\u0131\u015flard\u0131. Griswell bir yaprak gibi titredi. John Branner burada, karanl\u0131\u011f\u0131n ve deh\u015fetin i\u00e7inde \u00f6lm\u00fc\u015ft\u00fc.<\/p>\n
“Birisi burada \u0131sl\u0131k \u00e7al\u0131yordu”, diye f\u0131s\u0131ldad\u0131. “John sanki \u00e7a\u011f\u0131r\u0131l\u0131yormu\u015f gibi geldi buraya.”<\/p>\n
Buckner’\u0131n g\u00f6zleri \u0131\u015f\u0131kta garip bir bi\u00e7imde parl\u0131yordu.<\/p>\n
“Ayak izleri koridordan a\u015fa\u011f\u0131 do\u011fru iniyor”, diye s\u00f6ylendi. “Merdivenlerdeki ile ayn\u0131- bir gurup geliyor ve gidiyor. Ayn\u0131 izler- Judas!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
*Judas: Yehuda, Roma lejyonalr\u0131na para kar\u015f\u0131l\u0131\u011f\u0131 \u0130sa’n\u0131n yerini s\u00f6yleyen havari.<\/p>\n\t
<\/p>\n\n
Griswell’s face was gray.<\/p>\n
“Yes. But I’m going, with you or without you. The thing that killed poor John may still be hiding up there.”<\/p>\n
“Stay behind me,” ordered Buckner. “If anything jumps us, I’ll take care of it. But for your own sake, I warn you that I shoot quicker than a cat jumps, and I don’t often miss. If you’ve got any ideas of layin’ me out from behind, forget them.”<\/p>\n
“Don’t be a fool!” Resentment got the better of his apprehension, and this outburst seemed to reassure Buckner more than any of his protestations of innocence.<\/p>\n
“I want to be fair,” he said quietly. “I haven’t indicted and condemned you in my mind already. If only half of what you’re tellin’ me is the truth, you’ve been through a hell of an experience, and I don’t want to be too hard on you. But you can see how hard it is for me to believe all you’ve told me.”<\/p>\n
Griswell wearily motioned for him to lead the way, unspeaking. They went out into the hall, paused at the landing. A thin string of crimson drops, distinct in the thick dust, led up the steps.<\/p>\n
“Man’s tracks in the dust,” grunted Buckner. “Go slow. I’ve got to be sure of what I see, because we’re obliteratin’ them as we go up. Hmmm! One set goin’ up, one comin’ down. Same man. Not your tracks. Branner was a bigger man than you are. Blood drops all the way-blood on the bannisters like a man had laid his bloody hand there-a smear of stuff that looks-brains. Now what-“<\/p>\n
“He walked down the stair, a dead man,” shuddered Griswell. “Groping with one hand-the other gripping the hatchet that killed him.”<\/p>\n
“Or was carried,” muttered the sheriff. “But if somebody carried him-where are the tracks?”<\/p>\n
They came out into the upper hallway, a vast, empty space of dust and shadows where time-crusted windows repelled the moonlight and the ring of Buckner’s torch seemed inadequate. Griswell trembled like a leaf. Here, in darkness and horror, John Branner had died.<\/p>\n
“Somebody whistled up here,” he muttered. “John came, as if he were being called.”<\/p>\n
Buckner’s eyes were blazing strangely in the light.<\/p>\n
“The footprints lead down the hall,” he muttered. “Same as on the stair-one set going, one coming. Same prints-Judas!”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"….","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,140],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/herkafadanses.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/herkafadanses.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/herkafadanses.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herkafadanses.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herkafadanses.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/herkafadanses.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herkafadanses.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/herkafadanses.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herkafadanses.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herkafadanses.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}