* * * * *
A little before eight o'clock, Helbeck, coming out of his room, met
Sister Rosa in the passage. She looked a little disturbed.
"Is Miss Fountain there?" asked Helbeck in the voice natural to those who keep house with death. He motioned toward his sister's room.
"I have not seen Miss Fountain since she went out between four and five o'clock," said the nurse.
"She went out for some flowers. As she did not come back to us, we thought that she was tired and had gone straight to bed. But now I have been to see. Miss Fountain is not in her room."
Helbeck stopped short.
"Not in her room! And she went out between four and five o'clock!"
"She told us she was going for some flowers to the otter cliff," said Sister Rosa, with cheeks that were rapidly blanching. "I remember her saying so very plainly. She said you would know where it was."
He stared at her, his face turning to horror. Then he was gone.
* * * * *