Page 63 - @ccess3_Readers Book

'Does he keep a cat in there too?' asked Holmes.
'Look!' There was some milk on a plate on top
of the box. 'Now, Miss Stoner,' he said, 'I think
your life is in danger. Tonight, my friend Watson
and I must spend the night in your sister's room,
where you are sleeping at the moment.'

Helen Stoner and I looked at him in surprise.

'Yes, we must,' he went on. 'We'll take a room
in a hotel in the village. When your stepfather
goes to bed, put a light in your sister's
bedroom window and leave it open. Then
go into your old room and we'll get into your
sister's room through the window. We'll wait for
the sound of the whistle and the falling metal.'

'How did my sister die, Mr. Holmes? Do you
know? Please tell me!' said Helen. She put her hand on
Sherlock Holmes's arm.

'I must find out more before I tell you, Miss Stoner. Now
goodbye, and don't be afraid,' replied Sherlock Holmes.

We walked to the village, and Holmes said to me, ‘Tonight
will be dangerous, Watson. Roylott is a very violent man.'
'But if I can help, Holmes, I shall come with you,' I said.

'Thank you, Watson. I'll need your help. Did you see the bell-
rope, and the air-vent? I knew about the air-vent before we
came. Of course, there is a hole between the two rooms. That
explains why Helen's sister could smell Dr Roylott's cigarette.'
'My dear Holmes! How clever of you!' I cried.

'And did you see the bed? It's fixed to the floor. She can't
move it. It must stay under the rope, which is near the air-vent.'

'Holmes!' I cried. 'I begin to understand! What a terrible crime!'
'Yes, this doctor is a very clever man. But we can stop him,
I think, Watson.'

Reader's Book 61