The staircase twisted sharply to the right and Jon stopped suddenly and switched out the torch. Penny blundered heavily against him, but David took the hint and switched off his light as well. The twins stood still and silent, and the blackness was so intense that Penny could almost feel it.

Under his breath, Jon whispered:

"Quiet. I heard voices. Listen."

Penny strained her ears, but she could hear nothing but the thumping of her own heart so, after a little, Jon moved down three more steps and then stopped again.

"Feel the wall on the right," he whispered. "It's wood. The other side is stone, but this side is wood. I bet we're the other side of a panelled room... Now can you hear voices?" and he gripped Penny's fingers so tightly that she nearly cried out with the pain. They stopped again and this time she did hear the murmur of voices quite distinctly, and Dickie said suddenly, "That's our father's voice. 'Course it is. Can you hear him, Mary?"

"Yes, I can, and I don't like hearing him talking down here."

David replied, "Jon's right. We're on the other side of our parents' room... For goodness sake don't make a row... Do the stairs still go down, Jon?"

"There's a straight bit here," Jon whispered. "Then it looks as if it turns and goes down again... Use your torch to look on the ground for clues, will you, David? There might be something."

"There might be clues in the walls, too," Penny whispered. "There's a thousand hiding-places for a treasure in just this little way, Jon."

"I hope the Ballinger hasn't found it, that's all," her cousin said, "but I s'pose we shall soon hear if she has... Come on, Penny. Let's try the next floor."

"And going down," David murmured behind them. Another twist in the staircase and some more steps down, and again Jon stopped. This time they all heard voices and crowded up to him as he put his ear close against the wooden panelling. He pulled Penny's head close to his mouth:

"Listen," he breathed. "Tell them all to listen without a sound. It's Miss B. and Slinky. They're the other side of this panel."

"I tell you it's not safe," they heard Mr. Grandon say. "They are suspicious already and may well have told Mrs. Warrender of their discoveries."

Penny turned to the others:

"I think we're right downstairs now," she whispered, "and this is Slinky's own room. I've never been in it, but I'm sure that's where we are. Listen! She's speaking now."