‘Well, I warned her,’ I said savagely, drew back and slammed my shoulder against the door. It wasn’t built for such treatment and flew open. We stood, side by side, in the dark little hall.
‘Mrs. Ferris!’ I shouted. ‘Mrs. Ferris!’
Silence.
‘Well, that’s that. These rats work fast. You’d better stay here, Paula, while I look the place over.’
‘You don’t think she changed her mind and bolted?’ I shook my head.
‘Not a chance. She wanted the money too badly. The boy must have tipped them off.’
Leaving her in the hall, I went from room to room. I didn’t find her.
I came back to the hall.
‘Not here. If they haven’t taken her away, they’ve frightened her away.’
I was thinking of the screwed-up figure in the blue nightdress, hanging on the back of the bathroom door. If Mrs. Ferris knew as much as she hinted she did, her life now wasn’t worth a dime.