The Girl in the Cellar

Miss Silver looked at him and smiled. She said, ‘I know.’

He went on to tell her the rest of it.

‘She said the other girl had been shot from behind. She had been shot in the head. She was quite sure she was dead. And she was quite sure she hadn’t shot her. She said, “I couldn’t have done it-there wasn’t anything there to do it with.” She said she went down the steps, and the other girl was there, and she was dead.’ He stopped and ran his hands through his hair. ‘I’m telling it very badly. I don’t know-I can’t see how it hangs together. She said she went down the steps with the torch she took out of the bag, and there was this girl in the cellar, and she was quite dead. I don’t know whether it was A

‘And you haven’t seen it’

‘No, I’ve only got your account of it.’ He gave a short impatient laugh. ‘It’s the sort of letter Lilian would write!’

CHAPTER 13

Jim Fancourt leaned forward suddenly.

‘We’ll have to try and find the house.’

Miss Silver looked at him.

‘I can’t see any other way,’ he said.

‘How do you propose to find it?’

He began to speak, not as if he was talking to her, but rather as if he was thinking aloud.

‘If it’s an empty house it won’t be so difficult. To be used for a murder like that, the house would either be empty or the people would be away-or else they’d be the tenants, I don’t think that’s so very likely. No, I should think it lay between the first two-either a dead empty house, or one where the people are away. Yes, that’ll be it.’ He changed his tone and spoke directly to Miss Silver. ‘I’ve been down to the people A

Miss Silver said, ‘Dear me!’ Then she said, ‘Do you think that it was the real A

‘I don’t know. It might have been-it might not. Mrs Birdstock is short-sighted, and it was a dark morning. She says the lady rang the bell and said she was Mrs Fancourt. Was there a letter for her, please? She was expecting one. Mrs Birdstock says she did have a good look at her then, but she was standing with her back to the light and she couldn’t make much of it. She says she was young and quite pretty, and it never entered her head that there was anything wrong, so she gave her the letter. She says the young lady opened it and read it then and there, and when Mrs Birdstock asked her if there was anything she could do for her she just said no, thank you, she would be going straight down to Haleycott, and that was all. She went away with the letter which was found in A

Miss Silver said, ‘Yes.’

‘Then there’s another thing. The letter Lilian wrote was found in her bag. The girl who called on Mrs Birdstock hadn’t a bag at all. When she had read the letter she put it in the pocket of her coat. She hadn’t got a bag. Mrs Birdstock noticed that most particularly. She may not have been A

Miss Silver put the pink shawl into a knitting-bag which she had placed on the lower shelf of the table beside her. All her movements were without fuss or hurry. When she had disposed of the bag she said, ‘I will put on my hat and coat. We will see whether we can identify the house.’

She came back into the room a few minutes later in the black coat and the fur tippet which A

As they went on their way she was thinking intently of her interview with A

They rode for one more street, and then Miss Silver got out. When Jim Fancourt had followed her, they were standing at the corner. She turned to him and said, ‘It may be this street. We have no means of knowing.’

‘She might have crossed over. The road we want may be on the other side.’

Miss Silver shook her head.

‘I do not think it likely. She was not in a state to do anything except what was obvious. I think she would have reached the main road and got onto the first bus that came along. She was in a dazed condition and faint with hunger.’

He said, ‘Why?’ his voice angry.

‘I do not know. It was certainly hours since she had eaten.’

They began to walk down the street. They walked all down one side and up the other. There was no house to let or with the appearance of being unoccupied. It was the next turning which held out the first hope. Half-way down it there stood an unmistakably empty house. There was a board up which said ‘Briggs & Co.’ and the address on the board was round the corner on the main road.

Miss Silver strolled on the opposite side whilst Jim Fancourt went for the key. He came back accompanied by a golden-haired young man with a ready tongue.

‘The late Miss Kentish’s house,’ he explained. ‘The family have left the furniture here for the time being. It is a most comfortable residence and has been well looked after. Very particular Miss Kentish was. How many bedrooms did you want, madam? Five or six? You would, I think, find the accommodation just what you require. Of course a house does not show at its best when it has been shut up for six months-you will quite appreciate that, I am sure.’ He put a key in the door, turned it, and the cold, still air of the house came to meet them.

Jim Fancourt had cause to think of Miss Silver with gratitude. She was so perfectly at her ease. She produced a pencil and paper and took notes. She brimmed over with the right questions and took down the answers so readily supplied by the golden-haired young man.

They went all over the house and found nothing at all until they came back to the empty echoing hall. There Miss Silver lingered.

‘The kitchen-’ she said. ‘The friend who told me about the house mentioned it particularly. I hope it is on the ground floor. I do not like basement kitchens at all, and I am afraid-’

The young man broke in brightly.

‘Ah, madam, your views are exactly the same as those of the late Miss Kentish. She had a horror of a basement, and built out at the back.’

He led the way. The kitchen was neat and spotless. Having viewed it and the scullery, they came back again to the hall. It was dark there. Jim Fancourt moved restlessly. The young man continued to speak of the convenience, the comfort, the good furnishing of the house. ‘I am sure you would find it just what you want,’ he was saying, when Jim broke in.