too frightened to fire, knowing if he missed the gunflash would give away his position.
Tux felt as if red-hot wires were being drawn across his belly. He didn't think he could hang on much longer.
'Are you there, Johnny?' he whispered, the .45 thrust forward while he strained his ears for the slightest sound.
Johnny held his breath. Cold sweat ran into his eyes; hit heart hammered so violently he thought he was going to faint.
Then he heard a heavy thud in the passage, followed by two more thuds, and he knew the police had broken in.
He knew what the police would do. They would take no chances. They would kick the door open and spray the room with riot guns. Nothing living in the room would survive.
He lost his nerve.
'Keep out!' he screamed wildly. 'Don't shoot!'
Tux's .45 went off with a deafening roar. The slug caught Johnny in the centre of his forehead, scattering his brains.
Tux flopped back, tried to lift his gun again as the door kicked open.
He couldn't find the strength to raise the gun, and a blast of machine-gun fire ripped open his chest.
CHAPTER X
I
Ken stood in the dark passage and listened. All he could hear was the gun battle overhead raging more violently. The house was silent, and no lights showed.
He made for the stairs, and, moving as quietly as he could, he went down into the darkness, holding on to the banister rail. He reached the bottom of the stairs, and, before moving on, he struck a match to see where he was going. Ahead of him was the street door. He eased the bolt, blew out the match and very cautiously opened the door.
He looked out on to an alley that led to a side street. He listened, hearing shouting away to his right, and then more gunfire.
He had no idea what was happening up on the roofs, but he realized the attention of the police was focused up there and not where he was, and this was too good a chance to miss.
He moved into the alley, ran to the end of it and paused to peer into the side street.
The street appeared deserted, and keeping in the shadows he began to walk quickly to the main street he could see ahead of him. He hadn't walked more than thirty paces or so when a police car came around the corner and headed towards him.
He had no time to duck for cover. The car was coming fast, and with his heart hammering, Ken kept moving. The car swept past him. He caught a glimpse of four cops in the car; none of them looked in his direction, and when the car pulled up at the end of the street, the cops jumped out and ran into one of the side alleys.
Ken kept on until he reached the main street. He paused to peer cautiously around the corner before showing himself. Some way up thestreet a line of cops formed a barrier, holding back a dense crowd that were staring expectantly towards the waterfront.
Ken stepped quickly back.
A narrow alley between two houses offered a way of escape, and he went down the alley which ran parallel to the main street. By climbing over several walls and crossing several backyards, he came eventually out into the main street again, but this time well behind the crowd and the police cordon.
His one thought now was to find a telephone booth and get into touch with Adams. Further up the street he spotted a lighted drug store, and he made his way towards it.
The drug store was deserted. The white-coated clerk stood on the kerb, staring down the street at the police cordon. He was too absorbed in what was going on to notice Ken, and Ken entered the store and shut himself in the telephone booth by the door.
He called police headquarters.
'Lieutenant Adams,' he said when he got his connection.
'The Lieutenant's not here,' a voice told him. 'Who is it?'
'This is an urgent personal call,' Ken said. 'Can you give me his home number please?'
'You'll find it in the book,' the voice growled, and the line went dead.
Ken flicked through the pages of the telephone book and found Adams' private number. After some delay me operator told him there was no answer.
Ken hung up and stood hesitating, wondering what he had best do. The chances were Adams was down by the waterfront, supervising operations there.
Ken knew he had to get off the streets. He had promised Johnny to see his sister, and Johnny had said he would be safe there. He decided to go to Maddox Court right away. From there he might be able to get into touch with Adams.
He called police headquarters again.
The desk sergeant sounded impatient.
