ROBBINS SPOKE with each of us in turn, preventing any attempt at editing our story during its telling. Not that I would have been tempted to edit very much — the Hellhounds needed to be found and prevented from doing any more harm, and any prevarication would only make that more difficult for the police. But such a thing would never have been permitted in Ruth’s own home, where her master or mistress would certainly have been present for her questioning, to make sure she said nothing to incriminate the household, to shield her from undue aggression on the part of the police, and for the simple necessity of preventing a young woman from being alone in a room with a man. She said nothing in protest, though, and when she emerged from the parlour, where Robbins had planted himself, she appeare
