"You know better than that,
though, don't you?"
Billy's Oriental placidity remained unruffled. He neither admitted
nor denied. He shrugged his shoulders.
"Funny house," he said laconically. "Find window open--nobody
there. Door slam--nobody there!"
On the heels of his words came a single, startling bang from the
kitchen quarters--the bang of a slammed door!
CHAPTER FIVE
ALOPECIA AND RUBEOLA
Miss Cornelia dropped her newspaper. Lizzie, frankly frightened,
gave a little squeal and moved closer to her mistress. Only Billy
remained impassive but even he looked sharply in the direction
whence the sound had come.
Miss Cornelia was the first of the others to recover her poise.
"Stop that! It was the wind!" she said, a little irritably--the
"Stop that!" addressed to Lizzie who seemed on the point of
squealing again.
"I think not wind," said Billy. His very lack of perturbation added
weight to the statement. It made Miss Cornelia uneasy. She took
out her knitting again.
"How long have you lived in this house, Billy?"
"Since Mr. Fleming built."
"H'm." Miss Cornelia pondered. "And this is the first time you
have been disturbed?"
"Last two days only." Billy would have made an ideal witness in a
courtroom. He restricted himself so precisely to answering what
was asked of him in as few words as possible.
Miss Cornelia ripped out a row in her knitting. She took a deep
breath.
"What about that face Lizzie said you saw last night at the window?"
she asked in a steady voice.
Pages:
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73