“I’ll get you out of this room somehow,” Penny promised through the peephole. “First, before I go for police, tell me more. Why were you carrying a suitcase that night Louise and I met you on the road?”
“I was running away,” Rhoda Hawthorne replied.
“Yet you returned here.”
“I had to. When I thought about Grandmother alone in the clutches of Father Benedict, I knew I couldn’t desert her. She is putty in his hands!”
“But why didn’t you bring police here yourself, Rhoda?”
“What could I prove? Until tonight when Father Benedict locked me up, I had no real evidence against him.”
“Even now, we haven’t very much,” said Penny. “He’ll deny he imprisoned you unless police take him by surprise and find you here.”
“Grandmother will be worrying about me,” Rhoda said anxiously. “She’s in her room now, sick abed. I’m afraid it’s from eating such vile food.”
“What does the doctor think?”
“No doctor has seen her. Father Benedict won’t allow anyone to call if he can prevent it. He has only one thought—to get his hands on the sapphire and leave here before police catch up with him.”