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Jake Valentine spoke then "You think there’s a hidden room, my lord?"

"If there is," Leo said steadily, "I’ll find it And if not, at least we’ll annoy the devil out of Kinloch, which should have some entertainment value"

Poppy held her breath as they waited for the Special Constable’s reply

"Very well," Hembrey finally said "I can send you in with a constable while I bring Mr Kinloch in for questioning However, I will insist that you abide by our codes of practice during the execution of the search--and the constable will make certain you are aware of those rules"

"Oh, have no fear," Leo replied gravely "I always follow the rules"

The Special Constable seemed rather unconvinced by the claim "If you’ll wait but a istrates, and he will assign the constable to escort you"

As soon as he left the office, Poppy leapt up frooing, too"

The Kinloch holooreen, the walls oak paneled The cavernous entrance hall was paved with uncovered stone slabs that caused their footsteps to echo repeatedly

What Poppy foundabout Edward Kinloch’s house, however, was that instead of adorning the rooms and hallith traditional artwork, he had filled the place with an astonishingly vast array of galass eyes staring down at Poppy, Leo, Jake Valentine, and the constable assigned to accompany them In the entrance hall alone there were heads fro, elk, caribou, leopard, and zebra, and other species that were entirely unfaed her arlad Beatrix can’t see this"

She felt Leo’s hand settle coly on her back

"Apparently Mr Kinloch enjoys sport hunting," Valentine coa isn’t a sport," Leo said "It’s only a sport when both sides are equally armed"

Poppy felt cold prickles of unease as she stared at the tiger’s frozen snarl "Harry is here," she said

Leo glanced at her "Why are you so certain?"

"Mr Kinloch likes to display his power To dos all his trophies" She shot her brother a glance of barely suppressed panic Her voice was very quiet "Find hi to walk around the outside perimeter of the house"

Jake Valentine touched Poppy’s elbow and said, "We’ll go through the roo to see if there are discrepancies that would indicate a concealed door And we’ll also look behind the larger pieces of furniture, such as bookcases or wardrobes"

"And fireplaces," Poppy said, re the one at the hotel

Valentine s with the constable, he accoating everytheir hands over the walls, getting on their hands and knees, lifting edges of carpet

"May I ask," came Valentine’s muffled voice as he looked behind a settee, "did Lord Ramsay really study architecture, or was heevery object on the fireplace mantel "No, he’s quite accomplished, actually He attended the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris for two years, and worked as a draftsman for Rowland Temple My brother loves to play the part of featherbed aristocrat, but he’s far more clever than he lets on"

Eventually Leo ca the distance fro to ently, progressing from the parlor to the entrance hall stairwell With every minute that passed, Poppy’s anxiety sharpened Fro at the silent

Surely one of theht in frustration Why weren’t they helping to find Harry? Did their misplaced loyalty to theirhousemaid wandered by with an armload of folded linens, Poppy lost her patience "Where is it?" she exploded, glaring at the girl

The maid dropped the linens in surprise Her eyes went as round as saucers "Wh-where is what, ma’am?" she asked in a squeaky voice

"A hidden door A secret rooainst his will somewhere in this house, and I want to knohere he is!"

"I don’t know noffing,up the fallen linens, she fled up the stairs

Valentine spoke quietly, his brown eyes filled with understanding "The servants have already been questioned," he said "Either they don’t know, or they don’t dare betray their e like this?"

"There’s little hope for a servant who is dismissed without references to find a job nowadays It could ritting her teeth "But at thesave my husband’s welfare And I know he’s here so until he’s found! I’ll tear the house apart if I must--"

"That won’t be necessary," came Leo’s voice as he strode into the entrance hall He jerked his head purposefully in the direction of a hallway that branched off the main entrance "Come to the library Both of you"

Galvanized, they hurried after him, while the constable followed as well

The library was a rectangular rooany furniture Three of the walls were fitted with shelved alcoves and bookcases, all topped by a cornice that was continuous with the wall joinery The area of oak flooring uncovered by carpet was scarred and ht to the draped s, "is a classical Georgian, which n feature in this half of the house is a perfect reflection of the other half Any deviation is felt as a deep flaw And according to the forement, this room should have three s on that wall, toroom on the other side of the house But obviously there are only two in here" Deftly he tied back the drapes to ad impatiently at a cloud of dustthose drapes as well "So I went outside and noticed that the brickwork pointing is different on the section of the here a thirdshould be And if you pace out this room and the one beside it--and compare the measurements with the exterior diht- to ten-foot space between these rooms with no apparent access"

Poppy flew to the wall of bookcases, exa them desperately "Is there a door here? Hoe find it?"

Leo joined her, lowering to his haunches and staring at the floor "Look for fresh scuff marks The floorboards are never level in these older houses Or look for fibers caught in the sea her fist to bang on a bookcase fra intently for a response

Nothing

"Here," the constable said, pointing to a small white crescent scuff on the floor "This is a newout, it would correspond"

All four of theathered around the bookcase Leo pried, pushed, and pounded on the edge of the frame, but the unit remained firmly in place He scowled "I kno to find the rooet inside"

Jake Valentine began to pull books from the shelves and toss them heedlessly to the floor "The concealed doors we have at the hotel," he said, "are locked according to a pulley-and-dowelto a nearby object When you tilt the object, the wire lifts the dowel and frees a doorstop wedge, and the door opens"

Poppy grabbed books and tossed them aside as well One of the volumes she found was stuck in place "This one," she said breathlessly