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A Coffin from Hong Kong / Гроб из Гонконга. Книга для чтения на английском языке
A Coffin from Hong Kong / Гроб из Гонконга. Книга для чтения на английском языке
© КАРО, 2015
Chapter One
1
I was just about to shut down the office[1] for the night when the telephone bell rang. The time was ten minutes past six o’clock. It had been a dull, long and unprofitable day: no visitors, a mail I had dropped into the trash basket without even slitting an envelope, and now this first telephone call.
I lifted the receiver and said, “Nelson Ryan.” My voice as alert and eager as I could make it.
There was a pause. Over the open line I could hear the sound of an aircraft engine start up. The din beat against my ear for a brief moment, then faded to background noise as if the caller had closed the door of the telephone booth.
“Mr. Ryan?” A man’s voice: deep-toned and curt.
“That’s right.”
“You are a private investigator?”
“Right again.”
There was another pause. I listened to his slow, heavy breathing: he was probably listening to mine.
Then he said: “I have only a few minutes. I’m at the airport. I want to hire you.”
I reached for a scratch pad. “What’s your name and your address?” I asked.