Chapter 26 Chapter 26 Nighttime Distress

Bobby is anxious about Moira's inexplicable disappearance.To imagine Moira being killed with a room full of witnesses was a bit of a stretch.There is also an extremely simple explanation that, no matter how bad the situation is, she may have become a prisoner in the Grange Mansion.Bobby told himself over and over that it would be absurd to jump to conclusions. Bobby did not believe at all that she had left Steverly of her own accord.He was convinced that Moira would never have gone away like that without leaving him an explanation.Besides, she once emphasized that she had nowhere to go.

No, the insidious Nicholson was behind it all.For some unknown reason, Nicholson must have been aware of Moira's activities, and this was his targeted measure.Moira is trapped somewhere within the sinister walls of Grange Mansion, a prisoner with no connection to the outside world. But she may not want to be imprisoned for a long time.Bobby believed what she said implicitly, that her fears were not the result of an active imagination or neuroticism. These words are absolutely true. Nicholson's plan to get rid of his wife failed several times.Now, she's telling someone else about her fears and forcing him to a showdown.He has to act fast or it's over.Does he have the guts to take action?

Bobby believed he would have the guts, he knew for sure that even if the patients heard his wife's screams, they would have no proof.Also, he would think that Frankie was the only one he had to deal with.Chances are he already suspected her, as his irrelevant questions about her "car accident" seemed to indicate. But as Frankie's driver, Bobby didn't believe that he himself would be suspected of being someone other than himself. Yes, Nicholson will act.Moira's body would probably be found somewhere far from Steverley, perhaps soaked in seawater. Otherwise the body might be found under the cliff.Bobby was absolutely convinced that it would look a lot like an "accident," which Nicholson was good at.

But Bobby thought that the planning and the making of such an accident would take time, not a lot, but a certain amount of time.Now that Nicholson has shown his cards, he must move faster than he had hoped.It was reasonable to assume that at least twenty-four hours would have to pass before Nicholson could act. Bobby intended to find Moira if she was still at Grange House before that time was over. After Bobby broke up with Frankie on Brook Street, he began to put his plan into action.He thought it wise to avoid the Seagull drive-thru, which was probably under surveillance.As Hawkins, he believed he remained unsuspected.Now it was Hawkins' turn to go missing.

That night, a young man with a mustache and a cheap dark blue suit came to the noisy town of Ambledever.He settled down at a hotel near the station, registered as George Parker.After settling his luggage, he wandered out of the hotel and negotiated with a motorbike owner about renting a car. At ten o'clock in the evening a motorcyclist wearing a helmet and glasses drove through the village of Staveley and stopped in a clearing not far from the Grange House. Bobby hastily pushed the motorcycle behind the nearby jungle and looked around the road. It was very deserted. Then he walked along the wall to a small door.The door was unlocked as before, and he looked around again, making sure that no one was watching, and slipped in quietly.He put his hand into his jacket pocket, and the protruding part was the revolver he was carrying. Seeing the gun, Bobby felt a lot more at ease.

All was silent in Grange Kew. Bobby grinned to himself, as if recalling those gruesome tales of how villains always kept a hunting dog or some restless beast near their dwellings to deal with intruders. Dr. Nicholson seemed to be content with bolts and locks, and even so, he was being a little negligent here.Bobby did feel it: the little door should never have been left open.For such a villain, he was regrettably sloppy. "Without domesticated pythons," thought Bobby, "without cheetahs, and without electricity grids, this man is disgracefully behind the times." He cheered himself up with these thoughts.Every time he thought of Moira, a strange oppressive feeling seemed to bind his heart tightly.

Her face appeared in the air before his eyes: trembling lips, eyes wide with fear.It was nearby that he first saw her in person.When Bobby recalled how he hugged her and held her up, a rush of excitement ran through his body... Moira—where is she now?What had that evil doctor done to her?If she is still alive... "She must be alive," said Bobby from his tightly closed lips. "I can't think of anything else." He scouted carefully around the house.There were lights in some of the upstairs windows, and one on the ground floor. Bobby crawled towards the window.The curtains covered the windows, but there was a gap in between.Bobby knelt on the window sill, raised his body noiselessly, and peeped through the gap.

He could see a man's arms and shoulders moving as if writing.Soon the man changed his posture, and the side of his body came into view.This man is Dr. Nicholson. This location is very strange.The doctor was completely unaware that he was being watched, and kept writing.A strange thought crept into Bobby's mind: this man was so close that if it weren't for the intervening glass, he could reach out and touch him. For the first time Bobby really saw the man clearly.From the side view, this person has a strong body, a large and eye-catching nose, a protruding jaw, a strong jawline, and clean cheeks.Bobby noticed that his ears were small and lay flat on his head, but the lobes almost reached his cheeks.Such ears, he thought, were said to confer some peculiar character.

The doctor was still writing calmly and unhurriedly, pausing now and then, as if weighing his words, and then going on again.The pen in his hand moved rigidly and smoothly across the paper.He took off his pince-nez once, wiped it and put it on again. Finally, with a sigh, Bobby slid quietly down to the ground.Judging from the situation, Nicholson will have a long time to write.Now is the time to move into this house. If Bobby could force his way in through the upstairs window while the doctor was writing in his study, he could search the building at his leisure in the middle of the night. A window on the upper floor.The tops of the window frames are open and there is no light in the room, presumably no one is in the room at this time.And there is a tree near the window, which seems to be an easy shortcut to achieve the goal.

A minute later Bobby was safely up the tree, and just as he reached out to grab hold of the window frame, the branch he was climbing on snapped ominously.Presently the dead branch snapped, and Bobby fell unexpectedly, headfirst into a clump of hydrangea bushes below, which fortunately prevented him from falling into the cloud. Nicholson's study windows are on the far side of the house.Bobby heard the doctor's call and the window slamming open.Bobby, recovering from the initial shock of the fall, sprang to his feet and broke free from the jungle, across the dark ground in the shade of the trees, and up the path leading to the little door.He didn't go far along the road, and quickly sneaked into the jungle.

He heard a commotion and saw the light move closer to the crushed bushes.Bobby remained still, holding his breath.They may be coming down the road.If so, they found the little door open, and presumably concluded that someone had escaped there, and made no further thorough search. Minutes passed and no one came.After a while, Bobby heard the doctor asking something loudly.He could not hear the question clearly, but he heard the answering voice in a hoarse and terribly uneducated voice. "I've seen it all, it's all right, sir. I've been all over." The sound gradually died away, and the lights went out.People seem to have gone back inside. Bobby came out of hiding very carefully, and appeared on the road, listening.Everything was silent.He took a step or two toward the house. Then something hit him in the back of the neck in the darkness and he threw himself forward... into the darkness.