Agent Nine and the Jewel Mystery

"Bob knew then that the lights had been tampered with, that more than likely someone was lurking in the shadowy darkness of the office. His better judgment told him to wait until he could summon assistance, but some other urge drove him on. He couldn't explain it later; he simply went ahead.

The young filing clerk stepped across the threshold, the flashlight in his hand aimed down the center of the room. Then he turned on the flash and a beam of light cut through the darkness.

Bob gasped. The light showed papers strewed over the floor and the drawers from desks and filing cases pulled indiscriminately out and dumped on the floor. . . A slight noise to the right caught Bob's attention and he turned in that direction. Instinctively he knew that danger lurked there, and he tensed his body. It came before he was ready; something hurtling out of the dark; something that struck his right hand a numbing blow; something that sent the flashlight crashing to the floor where the lens and the bulb shattered and the light went out."

--- from Agent Nine Solves His First Case