Silent Night Read Online Free PDF

they would have to have access to the household to gain access to the household, if you follow me.”
    “I do,” I returned, a trifle acidly. “Your point?”
    “My point is this would entail tremendous effort and the method is completely wrong. Even if someone could manage to sicken several members of the household, the means would be something that induced gastric distress, not something as vague and ungovernable as a simple cold. A tainted dish, poisoned drink—those are the methods one would use, and the easiest means of adulterating food and drink is with an agent that would cause excessive vomiting or—”
    I held up a hand. “No more detail. I beg you.”
    “Very well, but you take my meaning. There are a thousand possible substances which may cause such troubles, but I can think of none that would induce a cold. The beginning of your hypothesis is in tatters, my dear.”
    “What of the rest?” I demanded.
    He shrugged one wide shoulder. “That the ghost is a person in disguise? Occam’s Razor would suggest otherwise.”
    I stared at him, goggle-eyed. “You believe Occam’s Razor would suggest an actual ghost?”
    “No, I believe it would indicate Plum is correct. The maid was intoxicated or half-asleep and imagined the whole thing.”
    I folded my arms over my chest. “Oh, that is just like a man! To credit something inexplicable to the feeble mind of an hysterical woman.”
    He gave me a slow smile. “I think I have proven amply that I, at least, do not believe your sex to be the weaker. On the contrary, my dear, your kind has brought kingdoms to ruin and heroes to their knees. I would not dare to underestimate you.”
    “And yet,” I muttered.
    “And yet, I will point out any flaw in your logic because you are capable of better,” he returned rather more sternly. “You’ve a fine mind when you aren’t haring off in one direction or other.”
    I wrinkled my nose at him. “I still say there is something strange afoot in the Abbey.”
    “You have not considered the most damning argument against your pet theory,” he added, almost as an afterthought.
    “Pray, what is that?”
    “If a thief has gone to the trouble of sickening half the staff and masquerading as a ghost, why on earth would his or her first target be a simple coral ring of no value save the sentimental?”
    I had no reply, and he knew it. He returned to his game, smiling a small, triumphant smile. Of course he was correct. No reasonable thief would go to such lengths and take such risk without just reward.
    But the next morning, when a flawless emerald ring disappeared, it was an entirely different matter altogether.

The Sixth Chapter

    Born a king on Bethlehem plain,
Gold I bring, to crown him again—
King for ever, ceasing never,
Over us all to reign.
    “We Three Kings” Traditional English Carol
    “G ood God, what happened in here? Has Kent attacked at last? I never trust a Kentishman.” Plum appeared in the doorway of the breakfast room smelling of shaving soap and tying his cravat.
    “It was the animals,” Aunt Hermia said faintly. “They got a trifle out of hand.”
    “It looks as if someone staged a steeplechase in the middle of the table,” Plum returned, which was very nearly the truth. Nin, the Siamese, had been very well-behaved where the dormouse was concerned. But Christopher Sly and Peter Simple, being country cats, had taken an entirely different approach. It was their custom to take a morning constitutional around the Abbey to inspect the property and the breakfast room was always included, with the tasty promise of a grilled kipper to share. Unfortunately, they had appeared just as the dormouse had crept down my arm to taste a sliver of toast I had put out for it. As one, Simple and Sly pounced upon the table, startling the dormouse who immediately fled over and around the breakfast things before escaping into the sugar bowl. The cats, furious at being thwarted, stood on the table, tails lashing as