Penny’s silence said more plainly than words that she did not believe the keeper.
“So you think I’m lying, eh?” he demanded unpleasantly. “Okay, come in and see for yourselves. I’m breaking a rule to invite you into the tower, but maybe then you’ll be satisfied and quite bothering me. We have work to do here, you know.”
The keeper stepped aside so that the girls might enter.
“My living quarters,” he said curtly. “You see, I have no visitors.”
Decidedly ill at ease, the girls gazed about the little circular room. The walls were lined with built-in cupboards. Nearly all of the furniture had been made with a view to conserving space. As Mr. McCoy had said, there were no visitors—no evidence that Mrs. Deline ever had been there.
“Are you satisfied?” the keeper demanded unpleasantly.
“But we were sure Mrs. Deline came here,” Penny stammered.
“There’s been no one today except early this morning when a government inspector paid me a visit.”
Penny did not believe the man but she deemed it wise to appear to do so.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I guess we have made nuisances of ourselves.”