"Are you sure he wanted us to come right now? It's not even noon yet," Kelly said as the jet slowed to a halt.
"For the fiftieth time, he said it's urgent. Here, you can read the cablegram again!" Sabrina slapped into Kelly's hand a folded square of yellow paper, which she quickly opened up. Her lips moved as she read the message to herself.
"'Diablo Island'? I've never even heard of this place," Jill frowned over her shoulder.
A short distance from the plane, a jeep was parked in the tall grass. A man wearing sunglasses stood leaning against it, and the instant all three of them stepped off the jet he rushed over to them. The jet rolled off across the field again, the roar of the engines growing quieter and quieter.
"Hello, you must be Mr. Townsend's people?" They nodded.
"My name is Malcolm Case," he introduced himself. "I'm Mr. Townsend's client, or yours."
"Ah, glad to meet you," Sabrina said, shaking his hand. "My name is Sabrina Duncan, this is Jill Munroe, Kelly Garrett." They smiled politely.
"It's hot out today, why don't we drive and talk? My lodge isn't far from here." He ushered them towards the car. Sabrina walked around to the passenger seat and Kelly and Jill climbed into the back. The jeep turned in a circle and drove back on the same tracks in the grass that it flattened on its trip over.
"Thank you for coming so quickly, I apologize for such short notice."
"No trouble," Sabrina replied. "What is it exactly that you'd like us to investigate?"
"Well," he said, "I happen to be a collector of these rare artifacts, and it seems a number of them have gone missing."
As he continued to explain, the car's path wove through trees and turned around a rocky hill, bringing a small building into view. He parked in front of it and turned the car off.
"Here we are."
They walked into the building and he offered them three stools to sit on.
"So Mr. Case," Jill said. "Can you show us where you've kept these artifacts you were talking about?"
"Malcolm," he corrected her. "Please call me Malcolm. And yes, I was about to suggest just that. Through that door is the room where I kept them, and where they were taken from. Now, what I would like to do is to get each of your first impressions. I want to see if you notice what I did, if you think anything is strange. So you will not influence eachother's thoughts I will ask you to step into the room one at a time and tell me what you think. Is that all right? Who would like to be first?"
"I'll go," Jill volunteered, standing up from her stool.
"Fine, right this way." He led her to a door on the other side of the room and opened it for her. "We'll just be a moment," he said over his shoulder to Kelly and Sabrina.
Jill stepped into the room, and he followed and shut the door behind them. She looked around the room, which appeared to be basically the same as the one they had just been sitting in.
"This is the crime scene?" she asked.
"Yes," he said. "Look very closely, tell me if you notice anything unusual."
"There seems-" her words were cut short when he suddenly seized her from behind, clamping a damp cloth to her face. "Mmmff!" she struggled, grabbing his arm and trying to pull it away from her, but he was too strong and didn't budge. Her hands reached out, trying to claw at his face. A strange dizzy feeling overtook her after several seconds, and right as her eyes drooped shut she finally recognized the familiar smell of chloroform.
Malcolm caught her as she fell limp, her head hanging back awkwardly. He laid her down on the floor and tucked the cloth into his coat pocket. Straightening up, he composed himself, smoothing his clothes and running his hand over his hair, and then emerged from the room once more.
"Alright, Miss Munroe has given me her opinion. Who's next?" he asked cheerfully.
Sabrina joined him. The door shut and Kelly was left in silence, wondering what was so important to observe in that other room. She examined her fingernails. After a minute he came back out, standing in the doorway.
"Last but not least?" he smiled.
Kelly returned the smile and rose from her seat, walking over to him. She stepped inside the room, wondering why this time he did not bother closing the door, and then she saw Sabrina and Jill on the ground.
A wave of panic swept over her and she turned to Malcolm, but it was too late. She even thought herself strangely calm as he held the cloth over her nose. Her hands tugged halfheartedly at his arm, already too weak to make any real effort. There seemed to be plenty of time to think things through.
Chloroform, she identified the smell. Then Sabrina and Jill must not be dead.. they sure look like it though...wwhat'se going.. to dooo? The room spun sideways and faded to black.