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“Search every cupboard and drawer Gather anything you think pertinent I’ll make a further inspection of those downstairs”

The need to remove himself froht of Miss Vale’s suffering, saw him head out of the door

Back in the dining roo cards, chess pieces, a box of cheroots Nothing to incri fro they wanted rid of quickly

A glance at the worn rug on the floor told him this was not the roo roo one wall Even in the dark, he could see the fra had been

The obvious conclusion entered his mind

Wincote and Layton had carried a body in the rolled rug A person—man or woman—they had kept a prisoner in this house

The question was, for what purpose?

With a nagging ache in his chest telling him he had missed a vital clue, Lawrence wandered back into the hall From the state of the house, the Brethren did not employ servants Or perhaps they’d wrapped their onlyand squashed her into a hackney They did not eat food, either, for the pantry was bare

In a last atte of use, he tried the handle on the door leading to the cellar and found it open Searching the room would prove pointless in the dark, but he descended the steps with the same air of caution

Hellfire!

Lawrence stuht A e bolted to one wall The iron lattice door was like that of a medieval torture chamber Old Rusty The holder of many painful secrets

Thankfully, the cage was empty

He heaved a breath but could not banish the hollow feeling in his chest Harrowing ies bombarded hishi him in the river? Had Mr Vale been the occupant

before him?

Hidden in the less cellar, and with a need to find clues, Lawrence decided to risk lighting a lamp