If I Were You by Douglas James

Summary

This is the story of an Intruder. He entered the house of a playwright. He, however, did not know that the owner of the house was a playwright. He only knew him as Gerrard. He had thought that he was a mystery man, lived in the wilds of Essex, did not meet people and gave his orders over the phone.

The Intruder was a criminal and was being chased by the police. He thought he resembled Gerrard so he had planned to kill Gerrard and live in that cottage by himself.

Gerrard was preparing to leave his house for a dress rehearsal. He had packed his bag with props for the drama. The Intruder threatened to kill Gerrard and told him that he intended to live in his house as Gerrard since he looked like him. He even learnt to imitate Gerrard’s voice.

The Intruder was about to shoot Gerrard. Then Gerrard warned him to be careful and not to kill him. He told the Intruder that he too was a criminal and a murderer, so the police would anyway hang him, if not as himself then as Gerrard.

Hearing this, the Intruder began to think. This was an opportunity for Gerrard to act. He asked the Intruder to run with him in his car to reach a safer place as the police were about to come there soon. He opened a door which was, in fact, a cupboard. The Intruder looked in to see what it was.

Just then, Gerrard gave him a push. The revolver fell as the Intruder stepped into the cupboard. Gerrard shut the door and picked up the revolver. Then he telephoned to call the police to arrest the Intruder.