now the running footsteps clattered straight toward him along the upstairs hall , boards groaning and creaking and protesting under the weight of those merciless rundown bootheels and suddenly kit bradenton knew who it was and he shrieked as the door burst inward and the man in the faded jeans jacket ran in , his murderer 's grin flashing on his face like a whirring white circle of knives , his face as jolly as that of a lunatic santa claus , carrying a galvanized steel bucket high over his right shoulder .