Priory of Death: 18

"Outsider!" I called. "I'm trapped in one of those descending ceiling traps!"
"Okay!"
A cloud of black smoke shot through the grille in the door, resolved itself into Emily, and jumped down to join me. Meanwhile I was using my lock-picking equipment to try to unlock the lower door.
"It's no good," I sighed. The door was locked by bolts, bolts probably shot by the mechanism.
"We'll smash it down," Emily told me.
"It's solid oak..."
"Watch me!"
The Outside ran at the door and bouced off, landing in a rather undignified position on the floor.
"Plan B!" she called. She dissolved into a gas again and drifted up to the ceiling, passing through the small round hole in it.
I could do nothing, just lue on my back and watch the huge stone slab slowly descend. It was at the level of the first door now, at the top of it. Ten more feet to a very nasty death, I thought as the stone slab got closer and closer. Half-way down the first door. At the bottom of it... At the top of the second door...
I'm not claustrophobic, but this was making me feel that way. I was very glad I'd brought the Outsider with me. How she does her dissolving business, I don't know, and how she makes her weapons dissolve too is a mystery. I suppose it's Indian magic, and WAY outside my Western categories. Or something. Still, there I was, lying at the bottom of a dry well-shaft watching a huge slab of stone slowly descending on me. I'm small and slim - and quite slim enough already, thank you very much.
The stone was three feet from my face, two feet, one foot, six inches... I felt its pressure on my chest...
Then it stopped.
"You okay?" Emily's voice called.
"I'm still alive!" I called back. "But I'm wedged! What did you do?"
"Shoved a crossbow-bolt in the mechanism."
"You dear, sweet Outsider! Can you bring it up again?"
"I'll try!"
It seemed like I was waiting for ever, feeling every jolt as the Outsider shinned up the rope (or chain) to switch the mechanism to bring the ceiling up again. At last, however, I felt the great weight lifted off me, and I breathed in a great lungfull of air as the huge stone slab began to ascend once more.
Emily landed beside me, black and smoky as ever, her red eyes shining like two live coals.
"I did it!"
"You did it, kid." the door unlocked, and we both rushed out into the stone tunnel. I've never felt so glad to be in a damp, dark stone tunnel before in my life. I didn't even mind the water in the bottom of it.

"Wow!" Emily said with feeling. "You're alive!"
"Thanks to you, Black-and-Smoky. And no thanks to whichever of the people at the Priory turned on that machine! It's kind of... it's kind of over the top, even for pressing cider."
Emily laughed.
"Your sense of humour!"
"What else can you do when someone just tried to crush you under several tons of stone?"
"Imperial or metric?"
"Whichever's larger," I replied. "Emily! you saw the mechanism..."
"I did. It could be quite old."
"It could be, but it was in perfect working order, wasn't it?"
"Yes, oiled, greased... I see what you mean, Grey!"
"Yes, things like that only stay working for centuries in the movies. In reality they break down, they corrode, they decay."
"This one looked like it was serviced last week."
"I know who the killer is," I declared.
"Who?"
"I'll tell you later. You see, right now I need a motive for killing Hamilton." I laughed. "The killer made two mistakes, and because of those - I win!"