During a sweltering August in 1881, one of the members of the Seekers of Enlightenment receives a letter from an old friend, requesting help in solving a family mystery. It will soon become a matter of life or death…
Vic rolled her eyes in exasperation but it wasn’t the time for a likely-to-get-heated discussion as to why she would be just as good, if not better, then the men at following whoever it was had been lurking outside. Sighing, she followed Isolde into the kitchen and looked around.
”Any signs that anyone got in?” she asked, moving across to the window to take a closer look.
Resisting the urge to reply with a flippant comment, Vic said quietly, “We heard a noise. There was someone outside. We’re checking that they didn’t manage to get inside while the men take a look outside,”
The dogs are sniffing around and wagging their tails, showing no particular interest in following Harry or Alexander.
Spoiler:
Harry manages to sneak silently to the wall. Glancing around the corner of the house, his heart thumping, he sees only the gardens, silent apart from the noise of nocturnal insects.
Spoiler:
“Mr. Forby orders everything to be locked up, and locked it is” says Bates, looking worried. “I’d better go out”.
He leaves the kitchen and exits trough the back door.
Vic reaches the entrance hall, but is interrupted by Gertrude, clutching a lantern and looking worried.
“What’s all of this disturbance?” she asks. “Has something happened?”
Meanwhile, Harry and Alexander peer around the garden, but cannot see anything in the shadows. Presently they are joined by Bates and soon after by Old Fred, with the dogs at his heels. Both men are excited and concerned, wanting information.
Harry quickly fills in Bates and Fred. 'We heard a noise and when we arrived downstairs the back door was unlocked, Miss Beauchant noticed someone outside the kitchen window heading around the corner of the house. Curiously the dogs did not seem alarmed. There is no sign of the intruder now but we should search the grounds to be sure. A bit more light on the situation would be helpful'.
”Ground's dry as a bone. We tried that before. Better to wait for daylight, we’d ‘ave more chance then.”
Nonetheless, Bates returns with some lanterns and the companions begin their search. The dogs do not seem to be picking up anything, they simply run around playfully.
'Time to turn in I think, we can search some more in the morning' says Harry. 'Bates, is there any chance you didn't lock the back door? Can it be unlocked from the outside? I think we had better check whether the Forby's are all well if there is a chance someone could have entered the house'.