Unchained Melody

After the viewing of the "art" in Quigleys room Solomon bid Al and Julia goodnight after stifling a yawn and a loosening of tie started to make his way to his own....

Going down the spiral stairs he grinned smugly to himself as he dropped the key he'd "borrowed" from Quigley into a pocket and started humming an old Jewish tune his Grandfather had favoured.

Feeling self satisfied he entered the corridor where his room was and stopped dead in his tracks.

He could clearly hear the same tune, if scratchily rendered in the corridor as well as in his head.............so he made his way stealthily up the corridor....and past his room.

Yep - the tune was definitely coming from his room - but he hadnt left the wireless on.

Shaking out the garotte in his pocket he prepared it for use in one hand while fishing for his key and listened again before putting the key in the lock, using the cover of the doorframe.

Nothing.

"Here goes - you've done this plenty of times, Steinberg - no problem" he thought as he turned the key and pushed the door open.

The room was empty.

The wireless continued playing while he gave the room a check. Nothing disturbed or out of place.

"Thats enough" he said aloud to himself as he crossed back and switched the wireless off.........the tune carried on.

Giving it a hard thump he switched it on and off - to no avail.

The floor started to vibrate in time with the tune - this was getting spectacularly.....annoying.

"Right then - have it your way" he said wrenching the plug out of the socket and picking the wireless up and carrying it to the door. The wireless stopped as soon as it crossed the threshold.

"Hmmm.......lets see what these parlour tricks are about"

Picking the wireless up he put it near the door, still churning the melody out and locked the door.

The reverberation and footsteps grew louder. Solomon unhurriedly crossed to his valise, flipped it open screwed a suppressor onto a 9mm Automatic and placed himself with a clear shot at the door.

The music and footsteps grew louder...and stopped.

The door handle turned - "Locked - try again"

The door rattled violently in its frame.

Then.......................Silence.

Solomon crept across the room and flung the door open to a deserted corridor

Leaving the door open he picked up the radio, placed it outside near the door and locked it again.

"Bedtime - its been a long day" - he thought with a yawn.