After trying the door again, the girls returned to the second floor. As Penny closed the stairway door she noticed that it had a key. Upon impulse she turned it in the lock and pocketed the key with a smile of satisfaction.
“That should put a stop to the music for a few nights,” she remarked. “I’ll show that ghost I can lock a few doors myself!”
As they reached their own bedroom, Rosanna said that she believed she would lie down for a half hour. The events of the past few days had worn her down, both physically and mentally.
“Do,” Penny urged: “A sleep will refresh you. I think I’ll go downstairs and see if I can discover what plot is brewing.”
She descended the spiral stairway and paused at the library. It was empty. The house was strangely silent. Penny crossed the hall to the living room. Heavy draperies screened the arched doorway. As Penny pulled them aside to enter, she saw Mrs. Leeds standing at the fireplace, her back to the door. Something about her manner aroused Penny’s suspicions. She waited and watched.
Mrs. Leeds had built up a roaring fire on the hearth. She held a paper in her hand. Deliberately, she tore it into a dozen pieces and dropped them into the flames.
Penny hastily entered the room.
Mrs. Leeds wheeled, her cheeks flushing. “How you startled me, Miss Nichols! You surely have a way of coming in quietly.”
“Sorry,” Penny said, walking over to the hearth. “How nice to have a fire, although it is a little warm today.”
“The room seemed damp,” Mrs. Leeds said nervously. “I was cold. I think I’ll go to my room and get a sweater.”