Page 48 - Unlikely Stories 1

Ladreque’s Last Case

And the glowing rod made one pass in front of Ladreque, still
paralyzed with shock. He came to his senses a few moments later, a
deafening clatter in his ears. Another guard was shaking his shoulder
violently.
“Hey, man! Snap out of it! You set that thing off?”
Ladreque swiveled his head groggily. He was sprawled against
the Schlagenkirch Altar, which had moved sufficiently to activate the
alarm. “Uh, I don’t know. Maybe I tripped and fell. Yeah, that’s it. I
just stumbled into it.”
“Hey, if you been drinking, man, you gonna have a lot of
explaining to do.”
“Drinking? No, just tired. Maybe I’m not cut out for this
night watchman business.” Ladreque got to his feet, vaguely aware of
a commotion of which he was rapidly becoming the center. “You
know, my brother-in-law is making a lot of money selling mail-order
lingerie. I think I’ll call him and see if he needs any help.”

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