“Then how do you know there was a murder?”
“Because the cellar stairs and the kitchen floor were covered with blood. Big puddles of it. [[23]]And the money and the ten-ring puzzle were gone.”
Tom scratched his head.
“But I don’t get you,” he said, puzzled. “Even if there was a murder, why should the old man’s ghost come here?”
“Because,” I said, putting my voice hollow, “right here in this kitchen is where they cut his throat. This was his home.”
Tom’s eyes bulged. And noticing this, Scoop laughingly clapped a hand on the frightened one’s shoulders.
“Jerry’s trying to scare you, Tom. No one ever saw the old man’s ghost around here.”
“Old Paddy Gorbett did,” I reminded quickly.
“Shucks! Any one who knows old Paddy always believes the opposite to what he tells.”
Tom shrugged and gave a short laugh.