Before questioning the next witness, I moved the chairs a little away from the fire. It was very late, and the warmth of the flames was making me drowsy. I needed to stay alert!
For my eleventh interview, I asked a parlor maid to take a seat. She was still holding a few of the boxes she was moving up to Judge's room.
“These are engagement presents”. The maid gestured toward the boxes. “I just wonder if there'll be a wedding now that the groom has been kidnapped!”
I needed to keep rumors to a minimum. “Right now, this is a missing persons case. We are not sure that anyone has been nabbed. There is no ransom note. There is no sign of a struggle. It is as if John Hatherford simply vanished into–“ I stopped midsentence. Through the open double doors, I could see that someone was wandering around the crime scene.
I jumped up and ran to the doors. “You!” I shouted. Whoever it was could be disturbing valuable evidence. “Get away from that plane!”
The person turned. I could see that it was a man. He seemed startled by my call, and he began running away from the crime scene and toward the woods in back of the house.
In my opinion, the only people who run away have something to hide.
I think I am fairly courageous but no fool. This man was easily three times my size. Charles and the chauffeur were waiting to be interviewed.
“We have to stop that man! He might be a suspects!” I called to them. The three of us headed out the door. Moments later, Charles and the chauffeur each had one of the man's arms and were escorting him into the Great Hall. The man had dark curly hair and a mischievous look on his face. It was as if he knew a wonderful secret and was just bursting to share it.
I thought, now we're getting somewhere! A suspect.
The Scotsman
I asked him to take a seat in the chair opposite me, and I began the interview.
“Who are you?” I asked. “John Baird”. It was clear at once from his thick accent that he was Scottish.
“What were you doing by that airplane?”
“Is it not the one? Ence mare I lest”, the man said.
I had no idea what he meant. “I'm sorry”, I said. “But what did you say?”
“Ence mare I am lest, are ye def, laddy?” The man's Scottish accent was so thick, it was difficult for me to make heads or tails of what he was saying. He continued, “Ded ye and the other kiddies enjoy the poppet shew?”
Before I could ask about this odd question, I was interrupted by Mang, who was standing within earshot. “Listen to ze funny vay he iz talking!”
“Please, Mr. Mang, let me complete my interview!” I snapped. I thought I might be getting somewhere with this Scotsman.
Mang
Suddenly, lightning flashed and reflected off the Scotsman's crystal lapel pin–and there was a sparkly flash of blue light! The Scotsman must be the figure I saw appear and vanish in the parlor!
Now I would get some answer!
And then the lights went out. The Great Hall was plunged into total darkness.
People screamed in terror. Near me ther was a loud scuffling sound and a muffled cry as if someone was shouting through a piece of cloth—
“Who is there?” I shouted, but doubted my voice could be heard over the guests as they panicked and tried to find their way out the room.
Just as I thought the screaming was becoming unbearable, the room exploded with light.
Men and women around me stopped yelling. I gaped at the empty seat in front of me.
The Scotsman was gone.
“Where is he?” I asked the man in the fur coat, who had crawled under a table. He shrugged.
From the sounds I had heard when the lights were out, I was betting someone had nabbed the Scotsman. And just as I was getting close to some answers! “What is it?” Judge called from the top of the grand staircase. Spotting me, she rushed down the steps. “What is it?” G. Codd? Why were so many people shouting? Have you found John?”
I quickly told her about the recent events. I started with the Scotsman's appearance by the plane and finished with his mysterious vanishing.
Judge shook her head in confusion. “A Scotsman? Do you think this man iis somehow connected with John's disappearance?”
I shrugged. “Honestly, I don't know what to think. It's what I feel”.
A small smile touched Judge's lips. “Now you sound like your father. A detective's heart is one of his most powerful assets”.
“How are you holding up, Judge?”
Judge put a cooling hand to her forehead. “I finally calmed Mr. Hatherford. A nurse is with him, watching over him while he sleeps. But…I need to do something, G. Codd. Otherwise, I'm going to go crazy with worry”. She took a deep breath. “I need to find out what happened to John”.
If a plan oof action would help Judge get through this, then I was her man. “I think our first step is to find the Scotsman. He was involved in the most recent disappearance. The clues will still be fresh”.
I asked Charles to join us. Together, we organized a few of the guests remaining in the Great Hall into a search party. Twenty of us fanned out across the room, knocking on the floor, looking for hidden trapdoors, and pounding on walls, searching for signs of secret doors. We scoured the Great Hall looking for any sign of what had happened to the Scotsman.
But there was nothing.
The searchers grew bored with a game that offered no immediate reward. They began to scatter. Judge and I met near one of the fireplaces.
Virgil gazing at Asyla
”I'm going to check on Mr. Htherford. I'll be right back”, Judge said. She Was leaving the room when I heard Asyla's sarcastic voice. “This is a great Party, Really swanky!” she was telling Virgil, who gazed at her with dreamy fascination.
They were lounging on one of the fur-covered couches in front of the dying fire. Asyla was picking up party favors, like hats and noisemakers, and throwing them onto the flames. Lazily, she crumpled up a streamer and tossed it toward the fire. The paper bounced off the high back wall of the fireplace and rolled by my feet.
“What are you doing?” I asked Asyla. She ignored me and turning to her boyfriend, said,
“Make him go away, Virgil”.
Obediently, Virgil made a small gesture that I should shoo. But I didn't need him to tell me. I had had enough of Asyla's games and left on my own.
Deciding to update my journal, I took a seat on a nearby sofa.
Now, as I try to stop yawning, a plan of action is taking shape in my head. It might put me in more danger than I've ever encountered.
It's important that I stay awake to work on the plan.
I have to stay aw
Asleep in the Great Hall