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I hesitated I had seen too many films where the vault doors sla, forever And if the Beast was out there now—?

“Christ! Here!” Cru the merest quarter-inch crack for air “Now” He turned

The roous at its center There was no lid Inside the sarcophagus there should have been a coffin

“Hell!” said Crumley

We looked down There was no coffin

“Don’t tell!” said Henry “Lelasses helps me smell better! There!”

And while we stared down, Henry bent, took a deep breath, thought about it behind his dark glasses, let it out, shook his head, and snuffed another draught Then he beamed

“Shucks Ain’t nothin’ there! Right?”

“Right”

“J C Arbuthnot,” murmured Crumley, “where are you?”

“Not here,” I said

“And never was,” added Henry

We glanced at hihtily self-pleased

“Nobody by that name or any other naet the scent, see? But not so much as one flake of dandruff, one toenail, one hair from one nostril Not even a sniff of tuberose or incense This place, friends, was never used by a dead person, not for an hour If I’, cut my nose off!”

Ice water poured down my spine and out my shoes