Chapter 136: Confidants, Part 15

Michael

James and I exchange baffled looks. Richard hovers, indecisive for the first time since I have seen him. He takes a step or two towards the rear of the hall, then stops and turns, and turns again.

“Richard….” begins James….

“Oh, fuck it!” says Richard. “I saw you two at the club. You’re about to get your own back. Come on.”

Mystified, we follow him to a door towards the back of the house. As he opens it, a chill musty smell billows up….

A cellar?

….. and the laughter becomes louder….

We descend a set of stone steps into a long basement corridor, stone built and vaulted. Doors lead off from either side, the scents of boiler rooms and laundries as we pass. At the end of the hall, a door is slightly ajar, light casting out, drawing a long finger across the stone-flagged floor.

Richard looks first at James, then at me with an expression I can’t read, then pushes the door wide. And from within, shrieking female hilarity spills out, echoing down the corridor.