“I was the ghost. It was part of my joke to frighten the occupants of this house. Not a very good joke, I’ll admit.”
“And you were the one who put bats in my room,” Mrs. Leeds accused.
“Yes, and a garter snake in your bed which you never found.”
“Oh!”
“Of course, Mr. Eckert, your ghostly pranks included playing the organ,” Penny smiled. “I suspected it when I learned Jacob Winters had been a talented musician.”
“I built the pipe organ into the house before my wife died,” Mr. Winters explained. “I haven’t used it a great deal in recent years.”
“You haven’t told us about the tunnel,” Rosanna reminded him. “How did you happen to construct it?”
“I didn’t. The lower branch of the passage was an old mine tunnel. The mine closed down forty years or so ago. The upper passage which connects with the house was built by my grandfather. This house, you know, has been in the Winters’ family for generations. And I hope, upon my death, that it will pass on to another by the same name.”
He looked significantly at Rosanna as he spoke.
Before the conversation could be continued, the police car drove up to the door. Max Laponi was loaded in and taken away. Mr. Nichols went with the police, promising to return to the Winters’ house as soon as he could.