"RUMBLE!!"
Thunder roared.
Inspector Lestrade shuddered, then snapped his head up and looked around.
The dining room was quiet, but everyone was still there. After Inspector Lestrade had talked them into it, they had all decided to stay together that night. The hotel manager's death had been frightening enough, and the disappearance of a little girl afterward had left everyone even more unsettled.
So they had decided to stay together that night and not go anywhere.
The newlyweds were leaning against each other on the sofa by the wall, while the missing child's parents sat on the other side of the dining table. The mother, perhaps exhausted from crying, was resting silently in her husband's arms. The two maids and the medium had fallen asleep with their heads on the table. Everyone was present. No one was missing.
Inspector Lestrade counted everyone again and breathed a sigh of relief. He was getting old, after all, and really could not handle staying up all night. He had closed his eyes for a brief doze, only to fall asleep. If not for the thunder, he might well have slept straight through until dawn...
"BANG, BANG, BANG-! BANG, BANG, BANG-!"
No, that was not thunder.
Inspector Lestrade immediately tensed. He pricked up his ears and gripped the gun at his waist.
The sound was coming from outside the door!
"BANG, BANG, BANG-! BANG, BANG, BANG-!"
Someone was pounding on the door!
As a veteran policeman, Inspector Lestrade had plenty of experience and recognized what was happening almost instantly. His nerves went taut, all traces of his earlier drowsiness vanishing.
A rainy night, the dead of night, someone pounding on the door.
No one would believe that meant anything good!
Inspector Lestrade rose and cautiously approached the dining room entrance.
"O-officer?"
Only the girl's