“I wonder what evidence she referred to?” Rosanna mused.
Penny started to speak, then changed her mind. Although Mrs. Leeds had no suspicion that she guessed the truth, she was well aware of the nature of the new evidence. However, she refrained from mentioning the burned will, realizing that Rosanna, in her present depressed state of mind, would be greatly disturbed by the information. If the orphan believed that she no longer had a definite claim to the fortune, she would insist upon leaving Raven Ridge without further delay.
Penny did not intend to quit the scene until she had answered several questions to her satisfaction.
The entire case seemed a trifle fantastic as she reviewed it. First, Rosanna had received the strange letter signed by a fictitious name. Then, although the orphan had lost the key, they had found the door of the Winters’ mansion unlocked. Close upon the heels of their arrival, Mrs. Leeds, her daughter, and Max Laponi appeared. Since then, the house had been disturbed by haunting organ music and one baffling event had crowded upon another.
“It’s all very bewildering,” Penny reflected. “But I believe that everything can be fitted together if only I am able to learn the identity of the mysterious ghost.”
The night closed in dark and windy. Penny and Rosanna sat by the fire, trying to read. They were relieved when Mrs. Leeds and her daughter retired to their rooms shortly after eight o’clock for it gave them an opportunity to talk. At ten o’clock the girls went to their own room. Max Laponi had not yet returned from Andover where he took his meals.
Penny was tired and fell asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow. Hours later she was awakened by Rosanna who was sitting upright in bed.
“What is it?” Penny mumbled drowsily.
Then she knew. The house reverberated with the soft chords of a pipe organ.
Without switching on the electric lights, Penny drew on her dressing gown. She started toward the door, then returned to grope in the drawer of the dresser where she found the key which locked the door leading to the attic floor.