The Last Revelation Of Gla'aki by Ramsey Campbell Read Free Book Online Page A

unwelcome impression of a creature watching him from the depths of its lair. Then Rothermere emerged from the gloom, blinking through his glasses at the light, and Fairman reassured himself that the illusion had been brought on by too little sleep. It wasn't why he hastened to his car.
    He was tramping up the passage to the lobby of the Wyleave when Mrs Berry called "Don't put yourself out, Mr Fairman. No rush at all."
    She was waiting at the counter. "We've given you another day," she said. "We knew you couldn't leave us so soon."
    "I don't mean to be any longer than that."
    "We'll have to see, won't we?" Mrs Berry said and gave the cartons he was cradling a slow nod. "More for our collection?"
    This was a different kind of familiarity, one that he found patronising too, but he only said "Can you tell me where to find your tourist office?"
    "Up in the square," Mrs Berry said and spread out a map on the counter. He supposed she had recently painted her nails, since the one she was using to point glistened like the surface of a lake. "Heidi will see to you," she said. "She'll give you what you need."
    Fairman wished that were the case rather than just a single book. He hurried upstairs in time to see a chambermaid leaving his room. She wheeled a trolley next door as he let himself into the room, to find she'd been so eager to finish her work that she'd left the wardrobe open an inch— the wardrobe that contained the safe. The sight made him feel worse than careless, unworthy of the trust that had been placed in him, however irrational his reaction was. He planted the cartons on the bed and threw the wardrobe door wide.
    The safe was locked, but as he typed the combination he saw marks on the black metal beside the keypad—the prints of a pair of moist hands. He could only think the chambermaid had left them, although they were larger than he'd seen her hands to be, as if they'd been pressed so fervently against the door that they'd spread to nearly twice their size. Presumably their clamminess had magnified the prints, which faded and vanished as he peered at them. He thought of confronting the girl or informing Mrs Berry, but what could he possibly say? Surely all that mattered was for the book to be there in the safe.
    It was, and he unpacked it to make sure. The three cartons darkened the inside of the safe so much that he could almost have imagined there was space for nine of them. He wouldn't need it—he would be going home tomorrow. When he shut the safe he thought he heard a stealthy movement, as if the books were settling into their nests. He typed the code and was on his way out of the room until he remembered there was a call he ought to make. However important his search was, he shouldn't let it occupy quite so much of his mind.
    The distant phone took some time to respond, which was how the head librarian treated any question. "Nathan Brighouse," he said at last.
    "Nathan, it's Leonard Fairman. I thought I should report in.
    "So glad you have, Leonard. All secured?"
    "Up to a point, certainly."
    "That'll be a negative, will it? Where's the hindrance?"
    "I've acquired several volumes but the set has turned out to be somewhat scattered."
    "Yes, Sandra Byers was telling me as much. Odd business, I must say. You haven't made the opportunity to assemble the set, then."
    "I'm sure I will have by tomorrow."
    "I'd be glad if that were the case. I'm sure the archives can survive without you for another day, but much longer and it may have to be put down as annual leave. You know how strict I'm forced to be in these straitened times."
    "I assure you I'm doing all I can," Fairman told him, by no means as resentfully as he felt entitled to, and hurried downstairs to leave the key at Reception, where Mrs Berry was waiting. "Keep up the good work," she called after him.
    As he drove onto the promenade Fairman saw that the haze had receded across the sea, giving the impression that the horizon had been drawn closer to the town.