In the moonlight, she climbed steadily through the wood above the town till she emerged on high moorland at the foot of the Victorian folly Paddy had pointed out to her nearly a week before. She climbed the squat stone tower, blessing the almost full moon that made it possible, and gazed over the landscape. The site had been well chosen. In the moonlight, she could see for miles in all directions. Lindsay unfolded her map and gazed out over the terrain. She soon located her target and set off with regular, easy strides across the darkened landscape. The going was not difficult, for it had been a fairly dry autumn and the ground was soft, but not as boggy as she expected moorland to be at this time of year. The only sounds were the occasional owl, the sudden quiet whispering of small animals in the tussocks of rough grass, and the distant rumble of the odd car engine.

Forty minutes later, she was striding up the drive of Derbyshire House. It was after two by then, and the only lights visible were the dull glow of corridor night-lights. When she reached the main house, she walked all the way round, pausing several times to study the building. Finally, she let herself in by the door near the kitchens, using Paddy’s master key. Once inside, she slipped off her boots and moved silently through the corridors. She climbed the back staircase to the music department, using the tiny pencil torch she always carried in her walking jacket, along with her compass, whistle, and Swiss Army knife. She unlocked the door to the music room and closed it behind her.

Slowly she walked all round the room, not focusing on any one detail but letting her eyes and mind absorb everything around her. At the end of her circuit of the room, she sat down on the teacher’s chair. She closed her eyes and forced herself to recall the scene she had witnessed when she had arrived in answer to Pamela Overton’s ominous summons. Again she conjured up details of the room she had seen then and compared it with what she could see now. Nothing came to mind of any significance at all. She sighed, cursed herself for her incompetence, and got to her feet.

Lindsay locked up the music room behind her and prowled round the rest of the music department. But nothing struck her. She even probed around the recesses of the stage area, but still there was no echo in her mind. In despair, she wandered back down the corridor to the hall.