Carl laughed
again and Mr Harris wanted to hit him. ‘Go home, little sister,’ Carl said. ‘I’m
not going to give the diamonds back to you. Go home to your angry husband.’
Suddenly there was a knife in the young woman’s hand. A long, bright knife. Mr
Harris watched with his mouth open. He couldn’t speak or move. ‘give the
diamonds back to me!’ Elena cried. ‘Or I’m going to kill you!’ Her hand on the
knife was white. Carl laughed and laughed. ‘What a sister!’ he said. ‘What a
kind, sweet sister! No they’re my diamonds now. Put your knife away, little
sister.’
But the knife in the white hand moved quickly: up, then down. There was a long, terrible
cry and Carl’s body fell slowly on to the seat. The colour of the seat began to
change to red and the diamond necklace fell from Carl’s hand on to the floor.
Elena’s face was white. ‘Oh, no!’ she whispered. ‘Carl! Come back… come back! I
didn’t want to kill you!’ But Carl didn’t answer, and the red blood ran slowly
over the floor. Elena put her head in her hands, and again in the carriage there
was a long, terrible cry.
