Mr Holmes has found a reason for Laetitia Langton to want to take revenge on Sir Charles d’Auberley - for stealing one of her brother’s inventions, the ‘Majestic Horse Soother’ - and then forcing Giles Langton to say it was really Herbert’s idea, leading to the curly-headed inventor’s disgrace. Then, as Mr Holmes and Dot talk things through in the ‘upstairs reading room’, they hear a footstep outside the door…
Dot looked at Mr Holmes. Mr Holmes looked at Dot. Then, moving swiftly but in complete silence – it was almost as if he glided across the floor – the detective went to the door of the Upstairs Reading Room and opened it a crack.
He paused and then shut it. He smiled at Dot – but again it was the smile of the hunter!
“The game’s afoot, Dorothea!” he said. “I didn’t see much – but I did see the corner of a dress, going to the floor to the upstairs landing. Your landing! I think we can expect a little show from the attic, in just a moment!”
He turned off the light – it was dim enough in there already – but now it became completely dark. He walked across and drew the heavy curtains back from the big window of the reading room which looked out from the front of the Hall, and drew up the window with a creaking sound.
It was hard to see anything much, even though a little yellow light spilled out from the downstairs windows. It was an almost moonless night – but a breeze had sprung up, and Dot could just see the outline of the trees of Dendringham woods, waving across the dark sky.
The breeze made a rustling sound in the trees – for a mad moment Dot thought she could hear them saying: “It’s coming. It’s coming!”
And then it did!
“A-ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” went the terrible howling, louder than they’d ever heard it before. From downstairs there were shouts and screams, muffled by the floor in between.
The dogs got in on the act too - a furious barking came from the stables as they sounded the alarm. Dot could clearly hear what her Dad always called Wizzie’s “Stand Back! I’m Armed With Teeth!” sound, a long growl followed by four furious, throaty barks.
Didn’t make much difference, though.
“A-ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” came the sound again.
“A-ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Look!” said Mr Holmes suddenly.
And there he was once more – the pale rider of Dendringham Hall, galloping his way across in front of the house. Only this time it was different – because behind him came a strange weird shape, sliding along the ground, leaping up to snap at the horse’s hind legs then falling back again, all the time turning and twisting in a horrible slithering way.
There was something really disgusting about this creature – half wolf, half snake, all monster. For the first time Dot felt really scared. She had to pinch herself to remember it was just some kind of a movie.
“Very interesting!” said Mr Holmes calmly.
Then, suddenly - though it was only half way through its usual ghostly ride across the front of the house - the rider disappeared. So did the lights that had been shining out from the front of the hall. Everything went COMPLETELY dark. Below them, there was more confused shouting – Dot thought she could hear Sir Chares ranting on, and the gentler voice of Lady Sarah trying to calm him.
“What’s happened?” she asked. She was pleased to hear her voice didn’t sound
as trembly as she felt.
“That will be the electricity generator failing again!” said Mr Holmes, tut-tutting. “An unreliable device indeed! Give me gas light any day – not that you can have gas out here in the country, of course!”
He put his funny pipe in his mouth, struck a match and looked down at Dot – the brilliant flare of the match lit his bony face as if it were Halloween.
“But we can deduce something from this breakdown, can we not, Dorothea?”
“Yes!” said Dot (wishing she could tell him all about the movies and knowing she couldn’t.) “The ghostly rider must be made out of something electrical!”
“Exactly!” said Mr Holmes. “And what it is, we are going to find out, this very instant! Upwards and onwards – to the attic floor!”
“But there’s - ” Dot began, but stopped herself just in time realizing she couldn’t tell Mr Holmes that Mr Mouse had found nothing up there. Apart from his country cousins the Scratchet mouse family, that is!
The detective wasn’t listening though. He was going on.
“Because, my dear” he said “If we find a device up there – and Laetitia’s shoes have my Powder of Alum on them – we have solved this case, and caught the culprit!”
