The Riddle of Sphinx Island by R. T. Raichev Read Free Book Online

approaching danger, by a feeling of imminent disaster – even of encroaching death!
    I mustn’t become too anxious, she thought. When I become too anxious, I make snap decisions, which are not always the right decisions.
    The next moment she gave a little gasp. It was Doctor Klein who was causing her unease . The vibes were coming from him. Yes . She didn’t know exactly how she knew, but she did. It was her intuition. She was curious about Doctor Klein. Shefelt with absolute certainty that Doctor Klein had become Oswald Ramskritt’s doctor for the wrong reasons. It was her gypsy blood. Sometimes it allowed her to see things.
    She was curious about all of them, actually …
    Was Maisie aware that she had started leaning against Oswald Ramskritt’s arm? Was Ella really the epitome of decency? Was Feversham going to be any good? Why couldn’t Lady Grylls make the effort to stay awake?
    If she ever saw their thoughts written out, would she be able to match them to their faces?
    The door suddenly opened and a voice spoke.
    ‘What’s this, a wake?’
    It was John de Coverley. Startled, they stared back at him. His face was red. His monocle glistened.
    In his hand John de Coverley was clutching a gun.

7
WARNING TO THE CURIOUS
    Sybil de Coverley had come to see them on Wednesday afternoon.
    The letter arrived the following morning, Thursday, about half an hour before the Paynes sat down to breakfast.
    ‘Well, that’s that. The die is cast. I don’t imagine they dress up for dinner, or perhaps they do. We could always phone and ask.’ Major Payne poured himself some coffee.
    ‘We made a terrible mistake,’ Antonia said. ‘We should have said no.’
    ‘We did say no.’
    ‘Yes, but then we changed our minds and said yes. It was the wrong decision. We allowed ourselves to be won over.’
    ‘Unless the talk is about cancer tests, it’s always better to be positive than negative. Let’s think of it as an adventure, shall we?’ Payne helped himself to some bacon and eggs. ‘We’ve never been on an island before. Think of it that way.’
    ‘Of course we have, Hugh. We live on an island. It’s our wedding anniversary on Saturday. We could go to the Caprice and have fun or we could fly to Capri and have fun … Why oh why didn’t we say no?’
    ‘Toast, my love?’
    ‘Yes, thank you … No, no marmalade … I suppose we could always ring her and say we have reconsidered the matter – or plead a prior engagement, which, I’ll say, we’d completely forgotten? I can lie really well if I put my mind to it. How about it?’
    ‘We wouldn’t have any peace if we didn’t go to Sphinx Island. We’d be eaten away by curiosity.’
    ‘Curiosity killed the cat,’ said Antonia.
    ‘I don’t suppose you would go so far as to describe us as pathologically curious, would you?’
    ‘I would,’ she said firmly. ‘We like nothing better than sticking our forks into other people’s dinner.’
    ‘You make us sound perfectly hideous.’
    ‘We become restless and intense and we feel wretched and irritable if our curiosity is not gratified. We suffer withdrawal symptoms and when that happens we are hell to be with. That’s why people hate us.’
    ‘Nobody hates us. You are being neurotic.’
    ‘Our friends are very careful when they talk to us. They think we suspect them of having things to hide.’
    ‘How do you know what they think? Have they told you?’
    ‘No, of course not. But it’s written on their faces.’
    ‘You are imagining things. Writers have a permanent need for fantasy.’
    ‘Once we become curious, there’s no stopping us. And we have started craving instant gratification, which I regard as a sinister development. At the moment we feel restless and out of sorts because we have allowed the riddle of Sphinx Island to take possession of our minds.’
    ‘I don’t think I am feeling particularly restless,’ said Payne. ‘And I am most certainly not irritable.’
    ‘You raced through The