The grim old house seemed the right abode for evil spirits or uneasy wraiths, and Zizi, fascinated by the still scene continued to gaze backward until a turn of the road hid it from view. Then she became silent, and would vouchsafe no answer to Wise's questions or make any remarks of her own. During the interview between the detective and Elijah Stebbins, she said almost nothing, her big eyes staring at the owner of Black Aspens, until the old man writhed in discomfort. "How did you get in?" she shot at him, as he frankly admitted his harmless tricks to give his tenants their desired interest in his house. "I _was_ in, miss," Stebbins said, nervously twisting his fingers; "I staid there the first night, and 'twas then I moved the old candlestick." "I don't mean that," and Zizi's eyes seemed to bore through to his very brain, "I mean the night you played ghost." "Why,--I--that is,--they left a window open----" "They did not!" Zizi shot at him, "and you know it! How did you get in?" But old Stebbins persisted in his story of entrance by an overlooked window. "There's heaps of windows in that house," he declared. "Land, I could get in any time I wanted to." "Sure you could," retorted Zizi, "but not through a window!" "How, then?" said Stebbins. "That's what I asked you. I know." "You know! _How_ do you know?" "Your mama told my mama and my mama told me!" Zizi's mocking laughter so incensed the old man that he shook with fury. "You don't know!" he cried, "'cause there's nothin' to know! Land! All them folks up there has hunted the place for secret entrances, and I ruther think you have too," and he nodded at Wise. "I have," said Wise, frankly, "and I've discovered none as yet. But, listen here, friend Stebbins, if there is one, I will find it,--and that's all there is about that!" Zizi said nothing, having returned to her taciturn rôle, but the glance she threw at Stebbins, he said afterward, made his blood run cold. "She's a witch-cat!" he declared to his cronies, when telling the tale, "she ain't all human,--or _I'm_ a sinner!" On their way to see Dan Peterson, Wise inquired concerning Zizi's knowledge of a secret way to get into the house. "A small bluff," she said, carelessly. "I dunno how he got in, I'm sure. But I don't believe those people left a window conveniently open, unless--they did it on purpose. Who does the locking up, do you know?" "Mr. Landon, I believe." "Quite so! It's a pity, isn't it Pen, how everything appears to wind around back to that nice Mr. Landon!" "Well, what now?" "Well, if he and Stebbins were in cahoots----" "Hold up, Zizi, don't run away with yourself! You're a day ahead of the fair. Now, are you going to talk, in here at Peterson's, or sit like a bump on a log,--smiling at grief?" "I dunno; which would you?" "Talk," said Wise, succinctly, and Zizi talked. Indeed, she carried on the main part of the conversation, which was exactly what Wise had meant for her to do.