Play@YSDC

Friday March 14th, 1930 11.45am.
Main Street, Amesbury, Mass.

At Ivy’s request, they had swung by the precinct and picked up the photographs taken by Carl Waites. They were in a stiff, card-backed envelope in her bag. She couldn’t bring herself to open it to check how they had turned out for fear of triggering a repeat of the episode in the bank vault the previous day.

Alex drove them up-country in one of the departmental cars and they made good time. As they arrived outside Mrs Webster’s house a police saloon pulled up opposite them and an older cop climbed out and walked over to their car.

As he approached, he pulled an envelope from inside his tunic, pulled the seams straight and held it out to Alex. ”Detective Reynolds? Here’s your warrant,” the cop said. ‘I’m not coming in with you but if there’s anything you find that I need to know about, you just holler.” He nodded to Alex, tipped his hat to the rest and then turned back to his car.

"Let's start with the letters in the mailbox," says William.

"Thank you officer, duly noted," Alex says. He nods at William's suggestion.

“Be careful when you go through that mail,” says Ivy, uncharacteristically nervous about opening envelopes all of a sudden.

When William opened the mail box, he found the same letters that he and and Lawrence had seen on their visit the previous day. Six were addressed to Mrs Webster - Emily’s landlady - and two to Emily herself.

There was no sign of any mail that matched that sent to either the bank nor Gerald Fraser’s home. However, judging by the postmarks on the mail that was there, it didn’t look as if it had been touched in over a week. Mrs Webster’s mail was routine; including a church circular, an invoice for the supply of coal and a letter from a sister in Chicago. Emily’s letters consisted of one from her mother and the second from a school friend who was now in service in Kingsburyport.

Of any sanitarium, there was no mention.

"Find anything of interest, William?" Lawrence asks, itching to head into the building and have a look inside.

William tells Lawrence what he found. "No clue yet as to where she was taken," he says. "Let's go inside the house."

As previously, when William tried the front door to the house, it was locked.

"Shall we try the back door?" asks William. "If that's locked too, we'll have to force our way inside, unless someone can pick a lock."

"It's worth a try," Alex says. "I'm not happy about forcing the door, but given the severity of the situation we may have no choice. Still, I would prefer to do it as a last resort."

"Do you think they could have a spare key hidden somewhere?" Lawrence proposes. "The problem is that we'd have to actually find it, if this key I'm thinking of even exists."
He diligently inspects around the front door for any place a key could be hidden.

“It’s save us the indignity of bashing the door down, warrant or no warrant,” sniffs Ivy. “I’ll help.”

If required Spot hidden 65 hard pass,0

A search of the door and its surroundings failed to turn up a spare key but then Ivy spotted a flowerpot that was offset from the mildewed ring that circled its base. She lifted the pot and sat underneath was a key for a mortice lock that appeared to match the front door.

“Voila,” Ivy says, holding up the key with a rare smile.

"Have you done this sort of thing before, Ms. Ripley?" Alex inquires, the hint of an amusement visible on his face.

"Well done," says William. "Let's go inside."

"I'm not just known for my shorthand Detective," Ivy replies to Alex with a wry smirk.

She hands the key over and follows the men inside.

The key fitted the lock as expected and William pushed open the door. He was instantly assailed by the strong smell of rotting fruit, with a decidedly rank undertone.

Lawrence follows William inside, grimacing at the godawful stench hanging in the air. Whatever was in this house, it was not going to be very pleasant, judging from that smell.

"I hope the landlady isn't dead in here," says William, holding his nose. "The smell of rotten fruit may be masking something else. We should track it down first."