feeling rather diminished by being reduced to such an obvious manoeuvre , Sam swung abruptly round a corner , vaulted , as silently as he could , over a low garden wall , and crouched in the prickly refuge of a bush . the following footsteps panicked . they were almost running . evidently the trailer was a novice . then Sam saw that the footsteps belonged to the man with a straggly beard , the one who had claimed Han &apos;s attention at the party . suddenly Sam felt reckless . he was n&apos;t going to wait for danger written in the stars . he was going to write his own autobiography . without taking any further precautions , Sam followed the follower . the man lost his nerve , and turned to face Sam . well ? Sam demanded . the straggly beard trembled . I was trying to catch up with you , sir . what a coincidence ! for it seems , Sam pointed out , that I have caught up with you . but the other was recovering his composure . I was waiting , he explained , till we passed a bar . then I was going to ask you to have a drink with me . I asked Han to tell me about you &amp;hellip; . we &apos;ll talk here , Sam answered , Mr &amp;hellip; er ... ? Singh , said the bearded man as if he were conferring a favour . my name is Singh , but I wanted to talk to you about Foster . so many names ! said Sam . why should you want to talk to me about Foster ? it happened before I came to this country . Singh said , I think there is going to be a storm . the night , certainly , seemed to be loaded with thunder ; and Sam wondered how intolerable the other &apos;s social manners could get . were they now going to talk about the weather ? Sam was conscious of his muscles absorbing the secrets of flexion . there was a tremendous synaptic gathering inside him . but would it be worth pulling such a silly little beard ? I &apos;m glad you know about Foster , Singh said . but one would need a genius for letting the world rip by not to know about Foster . newspapers had bellowed headlines about the settler who &apos;d complained that his native gardener was getting too interested in his wife , and who &apos;d slugged the man so hard that he &apos;d pushed him into eternity . Foster had always been hitting his native servants , but with the gardener he had gone too far . it &apos;s only right that Foster should hang , Singh said curtly . yet this new government may not like to start what they call a new era with the execution of a white man . they may feel that it will bias their relations with other western powers . so I would like you to sign our petition . as a visitor from the States , your signature would mean so much &amp;hellip; . but the man had not even troubled to ask Sam whether he believed in capital punishment , whether he thought that vengeance was a dish best eaten cold ! of course it was not right that the black men who killed whites should always be punished , while the white men who killed blacks should go free . if there was a law , it should be impartial . but was capital punishment part of any law that could be justified ? Singh would say , Sam was sure , that Sam was standing with the white men when he waved away the petition . but surely he was doing more than that ? for Sam ought to be prejudiced . Sam was as black as night . that was why his mother , not knowing his father , had called him Sam Dark . my name &apos;s trash , she &apos;d said , but we &apos;ll give you a nice one , so that you can be proud of yourself . Sam said , Mr Singh , I &apos;m going to return to my hotel . in the circumstances , perhaps you &apos;d give me ten minutes &apos; start . I do not wish to walk with you , or have you on my heels . after that , there was no tail of footsteps just out of synchrony ; and when Sam passed the first small bar that was open , he took his own solitary footsteps into it . the place was utterly undistinguished , but Sam wanted to drink away the taste of Mary Parker and Mr Singh with his wish to see Foster strung up from the rafters . and after he had drunk away the rancid taste , Sam wanted to think of Han . he did not know how long he spent drinking , and his thoughts reached no conclusions . he left the bar finally because the proprietor begged him to go . there was no sign of the night porter or of any of the night staff at the hotel . yet Sam wanted one last cool glass before going to his room and the whirling fans . after all , Grandad &apos;s soda pop was paying enough to justify Sam throwing a little weight around . Sam , the consultant on market research in relation to coloured citizens in America , who &apos;d been yanked out of the advertising department and sent off as ambassadorial salesman to the new state . Sam , the soda pop salesman , who kept his finger jammed on the bell ; but the eerie thing was that he felt that nobody would come , that somehow the luxury hotel was adrift and floating away without a crew into the stifling night . he looked for another bell , in case the one he had been ringing was at fault . when he found it , he jabbed it with a viciousness that surprised him . he might have saved his finger ; but obstinacy made him sit himself down in a padded chair . surely sooner or later some servant would have to pass through the foyer ? but it was a long term policy , and Sam began to weary . he realised that he might acquire a skull cap of dust before anything happened . he decided that the hotel had won the round , and he got up and moved over to the lifts . but when Sam flipped on the light inside his room , he was no longer alone : there was someone on his bed , a woman who had made herself at home and had gone to sleep ! it was Mary Parker , the bogus fortune teller who read the vibrations accumulated on things people had carried around them , the impetus of fate , psychometry . Mary was n&apos;t handsome when she was awake , and asleep she looked ghastly . then Sam realised that Mary was dead . he saw the penknife . his penknife . it was plunged into the old woman &apos;s heart . Sam staggered into his private bathroom and passed a wet sponge over his face . then he unhooked the shaving mirror and took it back to the bedroom . he put the mirror over Mary Parker &apos;s mouth . Mary was dead all right . there was n&apos;t much blood , but Sam knew that if he pulled out the knife there &apos;d be plenty . ought he to pull out the knife ? it would n&apos;t help the witch now , and a lot of blood would be awkward if &amp;hellip; . if what ? if he took the body down to the foyer and left it in a chair in that mausoleum . a blood trail would be a confession . he could recover his knife in the foyer , and let the corpse bleed comfortably into the cushions &amp;hellip; . yes , Sam &apos;s one obsessive idea was - to get rid of the body . what had happened and how it had happened , these were hideous questions which would have to wait . Sam would have liked to have complained to the management ! what damned right had they to give permission to a caller to wait for a guest in his room ? such slipshod security was bound to lead to trouble . even if Mary had given a wink meaning Sam &apos;s expecting me , they ought n&apos;t to have fallen for that flattering assumption of sophistication . this was supposed to be a first-class hotel in the new state , and not a brothel under the old regime . Jesus ! &amp;hellip; if Mary &apos;s body was found in Sam &apos;s room with Sam &apos;s knife pinning it down to the dimension of eternity &amp;hellip; . although Sam wanted to concentrate on getting the body out of the room , he could n&apos;t control his thoughts . but he tried to force himself to number off the tasks in hand : 1 ) drag the corpse to the door , 2 ) look out to see if the coast was clear , 3 ) get to the lift before the night porter took to operating the damned thing again , 4 ) get back to the bedroom and change clothes in case of bloodstains , 5 ) think up a good bluff if some minion came up with a story about showing Mary Parker up to Sam &apos;s room . but to perdition with trying to think straight . what was needed was a little crooked action . Sam forced himself back to the bedside , and put out his arms to grab the corpse under the arm pits &amp;hellip; . dear me , Mr Dark , I would have thought that any further violence was quite unnecessary &amp;hellip; . Sam spun round . a small man , who was pushing out his lips as if he wanted to kiss or be kissed , had come silently into the room . oh dear , he said , I &apos;m the hotel detective . Sam goggled at him . where the devil have you been ? he said bitterly . why can n&apos;t you prevent this sort of thing happening ? do you think I could have done that , Mr Dark ? I can n&apos;t be everywhere at once , you know . we &apos;ve had trouble with an old lady who lost a valuable brooch . I &apos;ve been interviewing all the staff . the old lady insisted on it . of course in the end we discovered that she &apos;d used the brooch for pinning a cheque to her laundry list . old ladies are capable of anything . you &apos;d never credit what they &apos;ll do without a second thought . they stick a hat pin into a tiresome dog or leave a valuable brooch in a laundry list , and then forget all about it . whereas you and I , we &apos;d have a twinge of conscience , would n&apos;t we ? or else we &apos;d be a bloody sight more careful . the little man tried to suck in his lips , but there was n&apos;t much he could do about it . my name is Ralph Chand , he said , and you ought to be pleased to see me . perhaps I &apos;ve prevented you from doing something foolish . we do get flustered , do n&apos;t we , in a crisis ? Sam was speechless . do hotel detectives talk like nursery governesses ? we must eat up all our bread and butter before we have any cake , must n&apos;t we ? then Sam tensed . perhaps this imbecile was the murderer who &apos;d come back to gloat and perhaps to do some more damage ? Chand said conversationally , stabbed , is n&apos;t she ? but if you prefer it , she could be poisoned or strangled . we must suit your personality . but you are a man who carries a knife , are n&apos;t you ? Sam felt his eyes swelling like bubbles . will you say that again ? he demanded faintly . perhaps , Mr Dark , Chand said brusquely , you are finding it hard to believe in me ? do you think I ought to be holding a gun in one hand and a pair of handcuffs in the other ? here is my warrant . you will verify , I hope , that it is perfectly in order . it looked real . and now , said the hotel detective , I will have to ask you to accompany me . Sam stepped back . oh no , he retorted , I &apos;ll wait here till the real police take charge . I do n&apos;t want to be locked in the kitchen and told I &apos;ve got to wash dishes for the rest of my life . the detective succeeded in getting his lower lip under his upper teeth , and then he released it again . it sprang back to the bulge as if to attack . sir , Mr Chand said firmly , what you want is a lawyer . after this unfortunate incident , he &apos;ll be waiting for us . the best lawyer in town , Mr Dark ; and he &apos;s our acting President while Bassanto is in Nyamba . I could not take you to a higher authority . Sam lifted the telephone , and to his amazement it was answered almost immediately . anyone would think the hotel was running to orderly schedule . Sam said , give me police headquarters . the girl on the switchboard did not seem to be surprised . 