By now I was convinced the room was as free of spirits as it was of prancing horses and marching bands. It seemed Lady Snetton's death could be explained by natural causes, brought on perhaps by the strain of sharing her residence with the vengeful presence of Lord Snetton's first wife.
I crossed to the window and peered through the shutters at the street below, wondering how long it might be before Roberta and I could leave this place and make our way to the underground station.
Tick!
I turned quickly at the sudden noise.
Tock!
It was the metronome! I could see the large hand moving from side to side, slowly at first, but getting faster all the time. Then the middle hand joined in, adding its own noise to the first. And finally, as I crossed the room for a closer look, the smallest needle began to swing to and fro, moving even faster than its companions.
I reached out and turned the device, as Roberta had done the day before. Moving it one way slowed the needles, while moving it the other made them swing like fury, until I worried they would fly off completely. Then, after I'd aligned it once more, the hands began to move so quickly they were but a blur. A haze began to rise from the device, and I felt rising alarm as I detected a smell of burning. I picked the device up, intending to slow the frantic motion with my fingers before locking the hands once more, but the metronome was so hot it burnt my fingers.
Shocked, I let go, and the device clattered on the hard wooden floor. The hands flew off, skating across the polished floorboards, and the metronome spun like a top before finally coming to rest on its side. In a panic at the damage I'd caused, I crouched to pick it up, using my coat for insulation. But when I gathered the thing, it was now as cold as a block of ice!
I set it down on the nearby desk, and could see frost glittering on the face. Then I remembered the missing needles, and I crawled upon hands and knees, seeking beneath various pieces of furniture until I had located all three. The largest had a bend at the very tip, but I straightened it without trouble, and then I returned to the desk and attempted to refit the hands. Each had a square hole bored through its thickest portion, a hole which fitted over the stepped peg protruding from the lowest point of the metronome's face. Once all three were positioned I latched them securely, and replaced the metronome in the bag.
Unfortunately, I did not know whether the metronome had signalled the presence of an ancient, malevolent danger, or whether I had merely set it up incorrectly. And, if I was foolish enough to describe the device's reaction to either the professor or Roberta, they would soon discover that I had been careless enough to damage it.
Caught in a bind of my own making, I decided to remain silent for the time being. And so, after gathering the materials and tools I had brought with me, I took to the stairs and returned to the ground floor.
Roberta was in the corridor, and she was surprised to see me descending the stairs. More surprised still, when she saw the haversack over my shoulder. "Whatever are you doing?" she demanded.
"I was inspecting the bedroom," I whispered, lest our host overhear me.
"There's no need to lower your voice. Lord Snetton just left the house in order to make funeral arrangements."
"Was his mood improved by your ministrations?"
Roberta gave me a look. "He spoke to me of his wife, if that is what you're asking." Then she glanced up the stairs. "I promised his lordship we'd leave immediately, but do you think we ought to…?"
"There is no need, for I found neither evil spirit nor phantasm."
"I am pleased you have already learned the difference between the two," said Roberta.
I kept my silence, for I suspected there was none, and she was merely chiding me after I'd suggested that Lord Snetton had received more attention than perhaps was proper.
"Incidentally, my father will be pleased with the outcome of this visit," said Roberta.
I thought of the damaged metronome. "Are you certain?"
"Most definitely. Lord Snetton agreed to pay us ten pounds the moment he receives an invoice."
"Why, that is wonderful news!"
"Indeed," remarked Roberta. "It was worth a little attentiveness on my part, wouldn't you agree?"
"I'm sorry. I spoke out of turn. I was just…" I hesitated. "I was concerned for you, that is all. There have been two Lady Snettons already, both of whom met untimely ends. I did not want you to… er…"
"Me? Marry?" Roberta laughed. "Mr Jones, you may rest assured I have no intention of chaining myself to any man!"
I did not know how to respond to this, so I indicated the corridor. "Shall we? Your father left already, and I see no reason to remain here a moment longer."
"You feel it also?" Roberta looked up at me searchingly. "A cold, unfriendly chill, like the inside of a tomb?"
"Indeed I do."
"Then let us collect our things and depart this sorrowful house. Hopefully, never to return!"
– — Ω — –
We arrived home an hour later, and it was a relief to step into the now-familiar surroundings of the professor's house. There was no hint of the bone-chilling cold I had experienced at Lord Snetton's, nor the air of
