Jump Cut by Helen Grant

Author:Helen Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-01T08:25:30+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Four

This time, I am determined to have it out with Mrs Harris. There is no sign of her when I go down to breakfast, so when the woman brings my tea I ask her if she knows where Mrs Harris is.

“If not, I can always go and look for her,” I say.

The woman glances at me, a slight tension in her manner. “I’ll find her for you,” she says.

“Thank you so much.”

I am helping myself to more toast when Mrs Harris appears, sleek in another dark suit and discreet pearls that glow dully.

“Good morning, Ms Garrick. I understand you wanted to see me?”

I put down my knife. “Yes, Mrs Harris.” I eye her, and then I get straight to it. “I wanted to tell you that the person I have heard moving around the corridor actually entered my room last night.”

There is a silence as we contemplate each other.

“Ms Garrick,” she says at last, “Are you quite sure you didn’t dream…? ”

“Quite sure,” I say firmly. “I woke up as the door was being opened. I heard the latch click. And they came right into the room, and felt all over the bed to see if there was anyone in it.”

“Did they touch you?” she asks, and her voice is faint and brittle.

“No.” I shake my head. “I slid out the other side before they could do that.”

I see her swallow. “Did you see who it was?” she asks.

“No, I didn’t. It was pitch dark – after whatever time the landing lights are put out, and before sunrise.”

I am watching her very closely, and it seems to me that she relaxes very slightly when I say that.

“Mrs Harris,” I say, “Who was it?”

The moments stretch out.

At last, she says, “Ms Garrick, I hesitate to say this, but since you press me... Louise, who served your dinner last night, says that you consumed rather a lot of wine.”

I lean back in my chair and stare at her.

“And? I wasn’t so drunk that I was seeing things. And anyway, I didn’t see anything. I heard it, and felt it.”

“Perhaps you were mistaken,” she says quietly.

“I really wasn’t.” I can feel myself getting angry, and make an effort to keep my voice calm. “Yes, I did have some wine with my meal last night. But the only effect of that was that I forgot to lock my door. And quite honestly, Mrs Harris, I shouldn’t have to do that. I should be able to sleep the night without people coming into the room.”

“Of course,” she says.

“Mrs Harris, someone did enter my room.”

We stare at each other. I am determined not to back down, and I guess she sees that in the set of my jaw, the fact that I do not drop my gaze. At last she says, “I can only imagine that one of the other staff may have entered your room by accident, thinking it was theirs, and then realised their mistake and left.”

“The staff?” I repeat. “Do any

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