“For you, obviously?”
“Yes, they told me Mrs. Hawthorne was at the monastery, seriously sick and wanted to see me at once. The story fitted with my own conclusion that despite Highland’s previous statements, Mrs. Hawthorne was here. So I foolishly agreed to accompany them.”
“Then what happened?”
“In the car, speeding out here, I realized I was being foolhardy to return to the monastery without police escort. At an intersection I tried to get out. Winkey slugged me. That’s the last I knew until I found myself in this crypt.”
Rhoda now groped her way to the door of the inner prison room.
“I found the flashlight but it’s broken,” she reported.
“With or without a light, we must get out of here and bring the police!” Penny exclaimed. “We haven’t a chance to free Mr. Ayling and Mr. Merkill ourselves.”
“And you haven’t a chance to get out of here either—not until someone breaks into the house,” Mr. Ayling added. “The only door is the one Highland locked.”
“There is another exit!” Penny recalled. “Mr. Eckenrod showed it to me on the map of this old building. If only we can find it!”
Filled with hope, she began to grope about the walls of the inner room. In the semi-darkness, she could find no break anywhere on the rough stone surface.