Detail from the front cover of The Boomerang Clue by Agatha Christie.

At Alison’s request, Laura walked to the end of the block and phoned from a call box for a taxi, respecting her friend’s privacy although she did wonder a little about her eccentricity. She fussed over Puss, fed him, took a quick shower, and tumbled into bed. It was already one o’clock in the morning.

When she awoke at seven-thirty, Laura lay for a few minutes going over in her mind her part in the play. Despite her modesty, she had by now learnt virtually all the lines by heart, not only her own but those of the other characters as well.

Alison’s right, she thought, I don’t have many lines in the middle, except for those two long pleading scenes. The last scene of all when the heroine walks out the door beside the hero doesn’t require many words either. I’ll have to work on my body language and put up a good struggle in those ropes.

As she had done the day before, Laura caught a taxi to the block where Alison lived and covered the remaining distance on foot. This morning she approached the house from the park. People had left for work. It was an executive suburb and there were no children in sight. In fact she saw no one.

Alison opened the door as Laura walked up the steps. She was wearing the same clothes as on the night before and looked sleepy and tousled-headed. Laura, on the other hand, looked fresh and bright, though she did not feel it. She wore a different ensemble from that of the day before, a white short sleeved blouse of fine cotton and a full skirt, its purple folds billowing in the morning breeze around legs sheathed in black stockings.

‘Come and have coffee, Lalla. I’m beat after last night.’

‘I’m pretty tired too, but the play must go on,’ laughed Laura. ‘Here, you sit down and I’ll make the coffee.’

The two women exchanged very little conversation as they took their caffeine fix. Alison appeared listless. A few minutes later, they walked into the basement. The chair in which Laura had been bound the previous evening still stood in its place in the middle of the floor.

‘Lalla, I don’t think I’ll get to learn my lines real well this morning, the way I’m feeling. Do you mind if I just read from the script?’

‘That’s okay with me, Ally. It’s a good way to learn, reading over and over. Let’s stick to Act One this morning, because we’ve been working on it last night and it’s fresh in our minds. Now ... I’ve brought some props.’

Laura walked to the kitchen table and upended the bag she was carrying. A bundle of sash cord and cloth fell out.

‘I thought this time you should tie me up and gag me even more realistically, so I bought this at the hardware store on the way over. These other things are remnants of dressmaking silks. They’ll be softer to my mouth than the thick cotton napkin you used last night. That was rough and scratchy, and it dried my mouth out.’

‘I guess you want to start now?’ said Alison reluctantly.

‘Sure. The more practice we get the quicker you’ll learn your lines. It’s not hard,’ added Laura encouragingly, ‘But anything like this needs a lot of work.’

Laura walked to the chair, sat, and arranged her skirt around her knees. She tossed her head so that her golden-brown hair swayed around her shoulders. Alison took up a piece of cord and moved behind her. It was thinner than the cord she had used on Laura the night before.

‘Okay,’ Laura put her arms behind her back. ‘Tie my hands, only this time tie them really tight. I’ll tell you if it gets too uncomfortable.’

Alison set to work. She was not only tired from lack of sleep, but she was in a bad mood as well. And her incipient jealousy of the leading lady combined with the other two feelings impelled her to obey Laura’s instructions to the letter. She turned the cord three times around Laura’s wrists in one direction, made a knot, then drew it very tight with a steady movement. Laura flinched but said nothing, allowing her fingers and hands to stay relaxed and limp. Alison doubled the knot and pulled it as tight as she could so that it would not slip easily. Then she passed the remaining ends of the cord around her willing captive’s wrists in the other direction and tied off another double knot as tight as the first. Laura’s wrists were now bound in a very secure set of crossings.

‘There, Lalla. I don’t think you’ll get out of that in a hurry.’

Laura bit her lip, but she did not ask Alison to loosen the bindings. Instead, she said, ‘Remember your lines, Ally. "Any struggling will be futile. I have you now. There’s no escape." Although, "You’ll not be getting out of that in a hurry," is just as good, it’s not what the author wrote.’

Laura walked to the coffee table and picked up the script.

‘Ally, you’re forgetting that my legs need tying. And then you should truss me into the chair.’

As Alison tied her ankles together, Laura added, ‘We ought to practice this tying-up later and match it to our lines, and get the timing right.’

Alison was beginning to regain some of her good spirits. She was enjoying the power she had over her friend, as on the previous day. ‘I think it can be done quickly in the first scene, and later in the other scenes you can be more neatly tied. There won’t be any untying until the end of the play.’

‘But in that first scene the ropes have to be tight enough for me to struggle against without getting loose. It would look bad if they fell off in front of the audience.’

‘But you don’t have to struggle so much.’ Alison was now tying Laura’s thighs. She folded up her friend’s skirt high enough for the boundary between creamy skin and the tops of the dark stockings to show. One suspender strap was visible.

‘It’s in character for the heroine to struggle. Maybe in the other scenes I can be more reconciled to my fate, and quieter.’

‘You’ll be quiet all right. Do you realise that for most of the time you’re gagged, except for the scenes when you plead with me?’

‘Mm hm.’

‘You know, I’m not sure the director will approve of all the realism. Especially this.’ She snapped the suspender strap. Laura gave a little jump and giggled.

‘I’ll talk to her,’ said Laura with a smile. ‘Anyway, it really helps to get in the mood when the bonds are as realistic as this. It’s good for these rehearsals. But you’re right. We might have to make some concessions on the night.’

Alison moved behind Laura and began to wind a long piece of cord around her waist. It circled her three times and was tied securely to one side against the chair frame, which anchored it firmly. Another much longer cord was then looped over Laura’s torso, tightened just below her breasts, then passed round a few more turns both below and above them. The bindings made Laura’s blouse taut so that the pattern of the black lace bra she was wearing showed through the thin cotton.

‘Is that enough to struggle against?’

‘It ... feels very secure. You’re becoming quite proficient at this.’

‘I’m getting lots of practice.’

‘Okay. Delay the gagging for a moment. Pick up that script and start from, "Any struggling will be futile." We’ll practice that a few times to the close of the scene. Then we’ll consider Act Two.’

*

After the first run, they repeated the scene four more times.

‘You’re becoming proficient at those lines, as well as at tying,’ said Laura approvingly. ‘Now let’s finish this part and go on to the next Act. Take it from, "Your little outburst reminds me that precautions must be taken."’

Alison walked to the kitchen table and selected a square swatch of patterned silk and a longer but narrower piece of the sort used as lining. She stood behind Laura, a little to one side, and leaned over her. ‘"Your little outburst reminds me that I must take precautions."’

Laura parted her lips to prompt Alison over the mistake, but before she could utter a word the rolled up silk was pressed into her mouth where it instantly tangled with her tongue. The beginning of her sentence trailed off into a faint ‘gug’ as all the cloth was pushed in behind her teeth. It’s very effective, having my voice cut off like this, thought Laura as Alison bound the second strip of cloth tightly over her lower face and around her jaw. I’ll keep it in mind when we do the scene again.

Alison, as Aunt Gertrude, made a dramatic kiss-blowing exit, walking as far as the steps, while Laura struggled and grunted through her gag. The thick wedge of silk silenced her as efficiently as the table napkin had done. And the bandage holding it all in place seemed much tighter and just as difficult to dislodge as the thin blue silk scarf used the night before.

They repeated the gagging and departure scene six more times. Alison somehow managed to fluff her lines or to walk in the wrong way, against the stage instructions. Laura was red-faced and breathing hard from her exertions when Allison at last removed the gag. She took a deep breath.

‘We need a break. I certainly do. And it’s just about lunchtime,’ she added, looking at the clock. As Alison undid the multiple knots, Laura looked over her shoulder at her and said, ‘I’ve been thinking, that’s not the only way you can gag me. In a lot of movies they just tie a thick piece of cloth between the heroine’s jaws, sometimes with packing too.’

‘Except that over-the-mouth would look better at a distance, for a theatre audience,’ said Alison, ‘Especially if it’s a shiny material like some of those silks you brought. Shiny duct tape is a favourite in the movies too.’

‘Hmm. But this is a very British Late-Edwardian melodrama. I know they had medical adhesive tape by that time. It’s in some of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. But cloth is less of an anachronism.’

‘We’ll try other ways if you like.’

‘Okay ... Yes. Maybe tape later, just to see what it’s like. But I think the director has in mind that I sit in the darkened half of the stage, screened off from the audience while the other scenes are played in the lighted set.’

‘It will be uncomfortable sitting for so long bound and gagged.’

‘That’s what I was thinking. So it’s a good idea to experiment with different sorts of cloth gags ... I don’t know about tape. We’ll have to practice and work out how best to arrange it, that’s all. I tell you what,’ Laura was now standing and rubbing her arms and her wrists. ‘After lunch why don’t you tie me up again and leave me for awhile. You can go off and swot up on your lines for Act Two. You’re in the drawing-room scenes a lot of the time where the detective does his investigations. And I can find out what it’s like to sit helpless while they’re being performed.’

‘Hmm. The play lasts for almost two hours, and the scenes in the hidden room where you’re held prisoner must come to at least an hour, or more.’

‘More, I think. But we’ll get it right. Now let’s have lunch. I brought some sandwiches so as not to impose on you ... Golly, you tied me up good and tight that time! My arms are stiff.’

‘I’ll do it more lightly then.’

‘No, no. It has to be realistic. If I was really your prisoner I’d have no choice.’

*

ACT TWO, SCENE 1

THE SECRET ROOM. EVENING. TWO HOURS LATER

The room is in darkness. The area gradually illuminates to reveal a figure seated in a chair centre stage. It is DOLORES, her head bowed. She is still bound and gagged. The illumination grows until she is bathed in an island of light. There is a sound at the door stage upper left. DOLORES raises her head wearily and looks back over her shoulder towards the source of the sound. GERTRUDE enters. She is wearing a smart jacket and skirt with a string of pearls at her throat. She struts across to DOLORES and stands before her, her arms folded across her chest.

GERTRUDE: I trust you’re not too uncomfortable Mam’selle Dolores. It was necessary to leave you for some time and, I’m afraid, that shall continue. Unless of course you cooperate. Now, if I remove your gag I hope there will be no hysterics. If you start calling for help, or blubbering, it will go straight back on. Do you understand? (DOLORES nods her head and grunts emphatically). Very well. (GERTRUDE leans forward and unties the gag, dropping it carelessly across her prisoner’s lap).

DOLORES: (Shaking her head and coughing). Oof! (She raises her head and looks directly at GERTRUDE). What do you plan to do with me?

GERTRUDE: That depends a lot on what we agree upon in the next few minutes. I’ll be plain, I don’t want you around to contest the will.

DOLORES: But I am the rightful heir.

GERTRUDE: That’s as may be. I can’t see any evidence for it except your own say-so.

DOLORES: But I have evidence. It’s ... (She stops in mid-sentence in confusion).

GERTRUDE: Really? You said nothing about evidence at the reading. That gives me another motive for keeping you here.

DOLORES: Another motive? I don’t understand.

GERTRUDE: We-ell, your beau Nigel Flannel has something of a roving eye, and at the moment he’s casting it in my direction. I will of course encourage him any way I can. His parents are very rich don’t you know? He will be quite a catch. He’s pretty gormless, but with his assets he makes a good handbag.

DOLORES: I - I don’t believe you! Nigel has wonderful qualities.

GERTRUDE: How long have you known him?

DOLORES: Well, not long, but I’m a good judge of human nature.

GERTRUDE: (Laughing). Good judge indeed! It was as easy as pie to lure you to this little nook. See where your naivete has got you? (She advances menacingly towards DOLORES). I’m not really a very nice person, Mam’selle, as you are no doubt beginning to discover. (She picks up the gag from DOLORES’ lap). I’m leaving you for a while. There are things I have to do apropos a certain gullible swain, and the night is young. In the meantime, you can stew here some more. (GERTRUDE stuffs the gag into DOLORES’ mouth and ties it tightly behind her neck). When I come back, I’ll have some very pertinent questions for you about the, ahh, evidence you say you have. I advise you to be truthful in your replies, or it will go badly for you. There is an oubliette in another part of this old house, and the passage to this room also leads there.

GERTRUDE departs through the door. The lights dim until DOLORES is again bathed in the spotlight. She struggles frantically but to no avail. Fade-out as she lowers her head and gives up struggling.

CURTAIN.

*

After lunch Laura picked up a chair that was smaller and lighter than the one they had been using and arranged herself neatly in it.

‘Okay. Tie my hands. Let’s run quickly through that first scene in Act Two, from where you take the gag out of my mouth.’

The chair had two concentrically curved back frames and Laura’s arms went around them easily. Alison used one piece of cord and, although it was a quicker and much looser tie, Laura found that it was difficult to wriggle her hands against it. Ally’s getting better with even simple knots like this, she thought.

It took half an hour to go over the dialogue. Alison was becoming quicker at remembering, but Laura could not know that her friend was impatient to start on the real tying-up of her captive.

‘Right, that’s enough for that scene, for the time being. Ally, you’re doing really well. But it’s important to swot up on the second half of the play, especially those drawing-room scenes with the others. So tie me up properly now, then go and learn your lines. We’ll use the big chair again. It’s more comfortable, and heavier, so that it shan’t easily tip over when I struggle in it.’

As soon as she was freed from the light-framed chair, Laura walked over to the heavy straight-backed one and took up her place in it while Alison collected an armful of rope from the table.

‘I have another chair with arm-rests,’ said Alison as she began to bind Laura’s wrists behind her at the chair’s back. ‘We could try that some time. The script doesn’t mention what sort of chair to use or how the heroine is tied.’

‘That’s true. It would probably look just as effective if my hands were tied to armrests, or even to the side. But having my arms bound behind me adds that extra something. It makes me look more helpless. And I feel helpless too. But yes, we should try it out.’

‘So we can have some practical suggestions for the director,’ added Alison as she circled Laura’s body with separate ropes from the waist to her shoulders.

‘Yes, and another thing. Although the script says a chair, we could try sitting or reclining on stage, except that it would be harder for the audience in the back to see me I think.’

‘The tie-up would have to be different.’ Alison was busy trussing Laura’s legs and ankles, remembering to anchor the young woman’s ankles to one of the chair legs.

‘They’d see me if I was sitting up.’

‘Sure, Lalla, but you’d have to lie down sometime.’

‘Not necessarily. But I admit the chair would be more comfortable than a wooden floor ... Have you finished already?’ Laura tugged experimentally at the bonds. She could scarcely move. She felt as though she was moulded into the chair, with her back from the base of her spine to her shoulders tightly fixed to the frame.

‘You’re really getting the hang of this tying-up business, Ally.’

‘I’m learning fast, Lalla. Now, is the lovely heroine ready for her gag?’

‘I guess so. It’s a really funny feeling not being able to speak, much less call for help. I keep on trying to get my hands free so I can pull it off.’

‘There’s no need for me to make it so tight.’

‘No ... No, go ahead. I asked for realism, and realism’s what I’m getting, whether I like it or not. And it’s kind of exciting too. I can’t explain it, but I can hardly complain.’

‘And you have no real choice either.’

‘No, I guess not. I’m completely at your mercy.’

‘I’m a lenient jailer. But now, My Lady, I’m going to gag you tightly.’

With those words, Alison pressed a wad of silk into Laura’s mouth. This time she bound a thick strip of similar cloth between her prisoner’s lips instead of over her face. As she made it fast, Alison said, ‘Another piece of cloth over your mouth will help to lock the gag in place. Want to try it out?’

‘Mm hmmm,’ Laura hummed, and inclined her head in resignation.

The cloth was bound very tightly in place. It was only two layers of thin silk folded one upon the other, but it clung with adhesive persistence to the planes of Laura’s face and jaw. Alison straightened up, dusting her hands with a satisfied smirk on her pretty face.

‘Try to get it off, Lalla.’

Laura moved her jaw about and attempted to push against the packing with her tongue, but with no result. She shook her head.

‘Try to call for help.’

Laura complied but could only make a thin throaty squeal.

‘I think that will hold you while I learn my lines.’ Alison walked to the steps. When she reached the top, with a hand on the doorknob, she paused, considering, and looked back at her friend who was straining silently in her bonds. ‘Your half of the stage will be curtained off and in darkness. So I’ll switch off these lights for more realism ... I’ll be back.’

When Alison pressed the switch the room was plunged into partial darkness. When she closed the door the darkness was complete.

*

Laura felt confident as the first few minutes passed. She settled back, testing the cords that held her hands so close together that she could not even turn one wrist against the other, and experimenting with her tongue against the gag. Alison had well and truly trussed her up this time. There was no give in any of the cords that encircled her body and her spine remained fixed to the chair as if it was glued to its back with modeling adhesive.

Gradually the silence of the room and its utter darkness began to play on her nerves. The cellar was well insulated for sound by the thick carpet and the rendering on the walls. Because there were no windows to the outside world and the room was underground, it was quieter than an ordinary room in a house. There was no creaking of wood or pinging of metal expanding or contracting under temperature changes, as she was used to at home when she relaxed to read a mystery thriller with Puss on her lap.

There was no movement in the air. ‘Upstairs’ there were always distant sounds taken for granted by human ears. The lack of them now was a shock. And the darkness was so total. It seemed to press in on her eyeballs, just as the lack of sound pressed against her eardrums. Both sense organs strained to catch the faintest glimmer of sound or susurration of light. Laura felt as though she was smothering in darkness and silence.

She tried to call out to Alison through the gag, her own strangled cries helping to fill the auditory void. She squeezed her eyelids shut and opened them again. Phosphenes teased the optic nerve, like the far distant flicker of lightning or a faint aurora borealis. But the darkness remained. It was as though she was buried alive - Laura told herself she was certainly underground - the full darkness making her feel that she was in a casket, although she knew there was the whole wide space of the room around her. Sweat trickled down her back and from under her armpits. Tears began to sting her eyelids.

Come on, Laura, snap out of it, she told herself. You’re just bound and gagged, in a friend’s dark and comfortable cellar, and in a little while that friend will come and switch on the light and we’ll continue to work through the script. This is worse than what it will be like on the night. On stage there’ll be the glow of footlights and reflected light from the set next door. And I’ll hear the voices of the actors and the sounds of the audience. And I’ll be listening hard for Alison’s cue so I can be ready for my performance as the damsel in distress.

And, if I’m to ever make a career of this acting thing, I’ll have to be prepared to be kidnapped, put in car trunks and closets, and even in coffins, if I’m in a gothic thriller or a mystery drama. This experience is a good rehearsal. And it’s all fantasy; it’s all fiction. And in a movie scene there’ll be at least a dozen people crowded around me standing just out of the camera’s field. If we were rehearsing this on stage, there’d be the rest of the cast ... I’ll just have to sweat it out.

*

When Alison bounced into the room an hour later, Laura was sitting with her head bowed but with her body rigidly upright because of the ropes.

‘Hey, Lalla, I’m getting a grip on these lines,’ Alison burst out exultantly. She walked towards Laura, experiencing a thrill of pleasure at the sight of her friend bound and gagged so completely. ‘I see you’re getting into your part too. You really do make a most appealing and beautiful captive heroine. I ought to keep you here all day.’

Laura stirred and raised her head. Her eyelids fluttered and she groaned softly.

‘Just kidding, Lalla. Here, I’ll get you out of those ropes and that gag for awhile. They must be pretty uncomfortable by now’

As Alison undid the gag and set to work on the ropes, Laura slowly came out of her trance. She felt dazed and confused. The wad of silk slipped slowly from her mouth to fall into her lap, and she licked lips that were dry and chafed from being sealed under the silken bandages for so long.

‘H- How long have I been tied up, Ally? It’s so disorienting in the dark. You’ve no idea! I can’t figure out how the time went. Has it only been a few minutes, or have I been like this for hours?’

‘About one hour actually. There, I’ll finish untying your ankles then I’ll start on your hands.’

‘I read somewhere that in sensory deprivation trials time seems to stand still or something. Oh my goodness, you tied my hands really well this time! I couldn’t move them at all.’

‘That rules out a lot of struggling. Shall I tie you more loosely next time so you can do some serious, and noticeable, struggling? ... There, how does that feel?’

‘My fingers are tingling.’ Laura began slowly to massage her hands and wrists. ‘No, Ally. Next time tie me up just as tight. I’ve got to learn to emote with only my head and my eyes, I can see that.’

‘What shall we do now? It’s half past two and the afternoon’s still young.’

‘Well I need a long drink of water. Then coffee would be great. Do you think you could make it this time? I’m exhausted.’

‘Sure thing.’

Alison produced a jug of iced water and a glass from the refrigerator and placed them on the coffee table. Laura walked a little unsteadily to the easy chair, leaned forward and poured herself a drink while Alison busied herself at the kitchen end of the room. It was Laura’s turn to be exhausted.

‘You know, Ally. Maybe we should try out that chair with armrests you mentioned, just to see whether being tied into it has the same effect as with my arms behind me.’

Alison’s muffled reply came from the kitchen where she was squatting down at a low cupboard searching for the coffee percolator. ‘One thing is that the audience will be able to see your hands and arms. In other words, they’ll see more of you ... Found it! Now we can have percolated coffee instead of instant!’

‘I could show my arms and hands straining at the ropes, couldn’t I? That’s a good idea ... Is there somewhere I can change into fresh clothes? I’m drenched with sweat and my blouse is stuck to me.’

When they finished their coffee - Laura drinking three glasses of water with it - the two women walked up into the house. Laura used the bathroom then changed in Alison’s bedroom. Alison searched out the wooden chair with armrests and carried it down into the cellar. She was busying herself sorting out the lengths of cord when Laura reappeared bright and fresh from a quick shower. She was wearing a light pink cotton blouse with short sleeves and a matching full skirt with a faint floral pattern.

Laura looked at the clock. ‘It’s past three-thirty. Let’s have some quick repeats of that first scene in Act One to consolidate your lines, and experiment with this chair. Then how about early dinner? And after dinner we’ll go over the lines for Act Two that you’ve been learning this afternoon while I was tied up in here.’

‘What about the other scene in Act Two that we haven’t done yet? Leave it for tomorrow?’

‘We can’t do everything in one day, Ally. Well not till we’re more confident with our lines. And I know you’re enjoying this as much as I am. We have all of Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the public holiday. And I’m really tired. I didn’t believe that being tied up and gagged for an hour would take so much out of me.’

‘You were throwing yourself into the part when we started. Maybe you overdid it.’

‘So we’ll go to bed early. And start early tomorrow morning.’

‘Good idea, Lalla. So let’s do dinner right now. I’m famished.’

*

Up in the house, Alison and Laura took a leisurely meal of homemade pizza over glasses of red wine. They rested a while, watched the television news, then returned to the basement. Laura set up the chair with the armrests in the centre of the room, a little way from the straight-backed chair. Alison stood at the table sorting out the ropes.

‘Not so tight this time, Lalla?’

‘No. Just do a stage tie-up, Ally. I want to hear your lines for Act One, okay?’

‘Sure.’

Alison bound Laura’s wrists to the armrests of the chair with only several loops and single doubled knots.

‘When we get to that part in the script, put a Hollywood gag on me.’

‘With packing too?’

‘You might as well. It’s not for long.’

Alison went to the table. ‘You included some large white handkerchiefs with these silks. Let’s try them for contrast. Shall we start?’ Laura nodded. Alison cleared her throat. ‘Stay still, Mam’selle Dolores. Struggling will be futile. I have you now. When you’ve spent a day or three like this you’ll be ready to do my bidding.’

‘A couple of small mistakes there, Ally: "Keep still," and "Any struggling," and you left out, "There’s no escape." ... Aunt Gertrude, what do you think you’re doing?’

‘That will hold you. A judicious application of rope is all it needs to keep you on ice while I make up my mind about you.’

‘Good, Ally. Oh, it’s far too easy to struggle in these little ropes! ... You don’t have to do this. I am who I say I am - Dolores Beaucoeur, the rightful heir to the Boncourt fortune.’

‘A likely story. None of the other guests at the reading knew of you. If you really are the heiress, you’ve kept a low profile. And, for that matter, you don’t have the same name as the deceased. No. I rather think I’ll make some inquiries. And, in the meantime, important that you disappear temporarily. That young man is showing far too much interest in you.’

‘Oh Ally! "Reading of the will," and "low profile for many years," "dear deceased," and "I think it’s important ..." You can’t get away with this. They’ll miss me. And that detective will start asking questions.’

‘I’ll tell them that you decided to visit a village twenty miles away and will be gone for a few days. They have no reason to disbelieve me, especially when they find that your little car is no longer where you left it parked.’

‘Good Ally ... Inspector Rex Barker is investigating the possibility of foul play!’

‘Yes. It won’t look good for you if you can’t be found. That’s a good way to persuade you to make yourself scarce. When I let you go of course.’

‘These ropes are awfully tight! Can’t you loosen them? I promise I shan’t try to escape.’

‘Aha, your mistake Lalla ... "loosen them a little." ... Under the circumstances, you must agree that such a promise is worthless.’

‘You can’t leave me like this! Not in the dark! You can’t be so heartless!’

‘Oh but I can be heartless, Mam’selle Beaucoeur or whoever you are.’

‘Look, I’ll make a bargain with you. I’ll leave first thing tomorrow before anyone is up. I’ll write a note saying I was ill.’

‘Caught you out again Lalla. "... tomorrow morning." ... Passably convincing, my dear Mam’selle. But I’m afraid not convincing enough. Your little outburst reminds me that precautions must be taken.’

Alison bunched up one of the handkerchiefs, pressed it into Laura’s mouth and quickly and tightly bound a second handkerchief over her jaws.

‘I doubt that anyone will hear your cries, but this will make absolutely sure.’

Laura tried to speak, to point out Alison’s two mistakes but the simple gag made her words unintelligible.

‘How’s that, Lalla?’

Laura nodded.

Alison untied the handkerchief and pulled the gag from Laura’s mouth.

‘Oof! I’m sure that with my soft voice I’m really easy to gag. Ally, it’s "I rather doubt" and "through the wainscoting." But sometimes I think that a play’s improved when the actors don’t always stick to the words. And these ropes ...’ Laura slipped her wrists free with a small wriggle. When we practice tomorrow morning it should be full-on, trussed to the chair with my arms behind my back. It’s an important scene. You try to persuade me to tell you where the proof of my legacy is hidden, and I defy you. It leads up to the final scenes in the secret room in Act Three.’

Laura got to her feet.

Alison glanced at the clock. ‘Do you have to go home to feed Puss? It’s getting late.’

‘No. I told a neighbour I was going to be away for a few days. She’s used to feeding Puss, so he’ll be all right. I can sleep down here can’t I? And we’ll make an early start tomorrow.’