The third floor was identical to the fourth except for the cover over the hole opening on the second. "There's a big open storage loft below here," I told Morley. And sneezed so hard, I almost killed my lamp. I listened for movement below. Nothing. I lifted the cover. It swung to the side on hinges.
How would we get down? I'd seen no ladders when I'd explored the storage area.
Crafty builders. Right under the hatch was the end of a rack. The shelf supports made neat rungs.
I dropped to the floor. Knowing what to look for, I spotted trapdoors that would take me to every room in the wing.
"Pretty simple," Morley said. "Think it's set up for spying or for escapes?"
"I think it's probably for whatever's to the advantage of the Stantnors. I wonder how it works in the east wing. That layout is different."
"You've already checked this wing, right?"
"Except for the cellar."
"You didn't find any place your girlfriend could be hiding?"
"No."
"You ask the cook about food shortages?"
"No." I should have. She'd have to eat. I thought of her portrait. I'd better get the paintings into the house tonight.
"Let's do this systematically. The cellar first, then the other wing. Seems probable the passages there start in the cellar."
"Yeah." As I recalled the layout, the walls all sat atop one another from the first floor upward.
We descended to the pantry quietly, listened. Nothing. On to the cellar.
It was your typical earthen floor cellar, deeper than my own, where I have to stoop, but vasty, dark and dusty, a wilderness of stone pillars supporting beams that supported joists. At first it seemed mostly empty and dusty and dry—though dry wasn't a surprise. The house sat atop a hill. The builders would have arranged good drainage.
As we moved toward the east end we encountered evidence that an earlier regime had maintained a large wine cellar. Only the racks remained.
"Great place to get rid of bodies," Morley remarked.
"They have their own graveyard for that."
"Somebody sank a couple, three guys in that swamp."
He had a point.
We completed a circuit of the east end finding little but the wine racks, broken furniture, and, near the foot of the steps, sausages and stores hanging so mice couldn't reach them. I sneezed almost continuously.
"That's the easy half," Morley said. We started our circuit of the western end.
That end had less to recommend it or make it interesting, except for the supports and plumbing beneath the fountain. Those would have been of interest mainly to a plumber or engineer. There were no entries to hidden passages.
I said, "We just wasted three quarters of an hour." And sneezed.
"Never a waste when you find something out. Even if it's negative."
"That's my line. You're supposed to grumble about wasted time."
He chuckled. "Must be infecting each other. Let's get out before the spiders gang up."
I grunted, sneezed. Interesting. The cellar was almost vermin-free. Other than spiders there was very little wildlife. I'd have expected a sizable herd of mice.
I recalled the cats. "Can you smell anything? I'm deaf in the nose here."
"What am I supposed to smell?"
"Cat shit."
"What?"
"No mice. If there aren't any, the cats must be on the job. The only cats I've seen are out in the barns. If they're getting in here, there's a way into the basement from the outside."
"Oh." His eyes got a little bigger. He started watching the edges of the light more closely. There was still a draug around somewhere.
He said, "We're not going to find anything here. Let's do the west wing." He was uncomfortable. Usually he's cool as a rock. That creepy house really worked on you.
I was about halfway up to the first floor when I caught the end of a cry. "Oh, damn! What now?"
Don't ever try to run through unfamiliar territory in the dark, even with a lamp. Between us we nearly killed ourselves a half dozen times each before we made it to the great hall.
34
We burst into the light of the hall, where the Stantnors spared no expense on illumination. "What was it?" There was nothing shaking.
"Sounded like it came from here," Morley said. "Looks like we're first to arrive."
"Oh, damn! Not quite. Damn! Damn! Damn!"
Chain had beaten us there. The dragonslayer and his victim had masked him from us at first. He was on the floor, crumpled in a way no man should be. He'd bounced once, some, and had left a big smear. Blood still leaked out of him.
"Looks like he came from the top balcony," Morley said, with an artisan's dispassion. "Tried to land on his feet and didn't quite make it." He glanced up. "He didn't jump. And I'd bet you he didn't trip over the rail. If I was a betting man."
"Wouldn't touch the bet at a thousand to one." The fall wasn't much more than thirty feet. For Chain it must have seemed like a thousand.
Thirty feet is a bad fall, but people have survived it. If they have themselves under control or they're lucky. Chain hadn't been either.
I glimpsed movement on the opposite balcony, whirled. I expected to see my mystery blonde. I saw Jennifer instead, in her nightclothes, at the rail at the end of my hall. She looked down in a sort of daze. She was very pale.
Peters appeared right above us a moment later. "What the hell?" he bellowed, and came bounding downstairs.
"Stay with him," I told Morley. "I'm going up there." I indicated Jennifer.
Black Pete galloped up to Morley as I trotted away, mouthing questions too fast for anybody to shove an answer in sideways.
I was puffing my lungs out when I reached Jennifer, swearing that, when this one was over, I was going to work out every day. Right after I spent a week catching up on my sleep.
She was flushed now, so red she looked like she'd run a mile. She snapped, "Where were you? I've been trying to wake you up for ten minutes."
"Huh?"
She stared at the floor, shivering. "You said... I thought you wanted me to... "
Hell. I'd forgotten. Damned good thing she hadn't come earlier. Especially damned good thing I hadn't given her a key.
Standing there shy and shamefaced and looking vulnerable, in nightclothes that did little to hide the fact that she was one gorgeous hunk of woman, she made me react after all. I got all set to howl at the moon. Only Peters's chatter downstairs kept my mind on business. Part of my mind on business. A small part of my mind.
"What do you know about this?" I jerked a thumb at Chain.
Her eyes got big. "Nothing."
"Come on. You had to see or hear something."
"All right. Don't bully." She eased a little closer, still shivering. Business, boy, mind on business. "I sneaked out of my room about thirty minutes ago. When I got to the end of my hall, Chain and Peters were down by the fountain. They were just sitting there. Like they were waiting for something to happen. I couldn't get to the stairs without them seeing me. So I waited. The more I waited, the more scared I got. I was ready to chicken out when Peters said something to Chain and started upstairs. Chain turned his back, so I hurried up to the fourth floor, before Peters saw me...
"Chain must have seen me when I was sneaking toward the loft stair. He yelled. I went up and over. When I got to your side he was on the fourth floor, going into the hall to my father's suite. I ran down your hall to your door and tried to get you to answer. You didn't. I kept trying. Then I heard that yell. I didn't know what to do. I was scared. I tried to hide in the shadows at the end of the hall until I heard your voice."
"You didn't see anybody but Peters and Chain?"
"No. I told you."
"Huh." I thought a moment. "You'd better get back to your suite. Before anybody else comes out. Peters's questions will be troublesome enough."