Chapter 6 As Clean as Snow

Introduction

At first she thought she was dreaming. A hotel, here, in the middle of nowhere? Impossible. She closed her eyes and opened them again. Yes, it was true. There it was. A small sign shining in the night:

BATES MOTEL

'I don't believe it,' she said to herself as she drove towards the sign. 'This is my lucky night.'

Marion Crane is a secretary from Phoenix, Arizona. She is in love with Sam Loomis, who lives far away in Fairvale,Texas. She wants to marry him, but Sam cannot marry her because he doesn't have enough money. So Marion steals $40,000 from her boss and drives away with the money to be with Sam. It's a long, dangerous journey and, not far from Fairvale, Marion gets lost. It's dark, it's raining, she's tired and hungry. If she can find somewhere to stay for just one more night, then all her troubles will be over ...

But for Marion, as she drives through the rain towards the small, quiet motel by the side of the Old Highway, the bad dream is only just beginning.

Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) made the film Psycho in 1960. Hollywood believed that the book, by Robert Bloch, was impossible to film, but Hitchcock had different ideas. Working in black and white, he made one of Hollywood's most frightening films ever.

Robert Bloch was born in Chicago in 1917. His first book, The Scarf, came out in 1947. He wrote many mystery and science fiction books and stories for television. He also wrote the films Psycho II (1982) and Twilight Zone:The Movie (1983). He died in Los Angeles in 1994.

Chapter 1 Marion and Sam

In a small, dark hotel room in Phoenix, Arizona, Marion Crane was looking at herself in the mirror. She was worried. Her hair was untidy and she was late getting back to work.

'Don't go, Marion,' said a voice from behind her.

Marion looked in the mirror at the young man who was sitting on the bed. She smiled at him sadly. 'I must get back to the office, Sam,' she said. 'My boss is beginning to get worried about these long lunch-hours.'

'But it's Friday afternoon,' Sam said. 'I don't see you very often. Can't you stay?'

'When we're married,' Marion replied, walking across the room to pick up her handbag.

Sam jumped off the bed and stood behind her. He touched the side of her face softly with the back of his hand. 'Can I see you next week?' he said.

'Why?' she said, not looking at him.Tor another secret lunch, hoping that nobody will see us together in a small, cheap hotel room? It's the same every week.'

She turned to Sam, her eyes shining angrily. And then suddenly they softened. 'Oh, Sam,' she said quietly. She rested her face in his hand as she looked up into his eyes. 'Why can't we get married now? I want to be with you all the time. I want to walk along the street with you so that everyone can see us together.'

This time, Sam walked away. He stood alone by the window and looked down at the hot, dry city. 'We can get married when I've paid off all my father's debts,' he said. 'I only need to pay another $11,000.'

'And how long will that take?'

'Two years, maybe three.'

'Oh, Sam,' Marion cried, throwing the handbag onto the bed and running to hold him. 'I can't wait three years. I don't care about the money.' She kissed his face, but she was almost crying.'I want to be with you. I'll leave my job. I'll come and work in your shop.'

'Marion, please. You must understand. I don't want us to be poor when we get married. I want us to be happy. In three years' time, you'll be my wife — Mrs Sam Loomis. I promise.'

Marion sighed and turned round in his arms to rest her head against his shoulder. 'In three years, I'll be twenty-nine,' she thought unhappily.

Then she suddenly remembered that she was late for work. She left Sam by the window, picked up her bag and walked towards the door. 'I have to go, Sam,' she said again. 'I'm late. Mr Lowery will kill me.'

Chapter 2 Marion's Plan

'I'm sorry I'm late,' Marion called as she hurried into the office.

'Don't worry,' the other secretary said. 'Mr Lowery s having lunch with a customer.'

Marion gave the other woman a tired smile and sat at her desk.'Did anyone phone while I was out?' she asked.

'Just your sister. She says that she's going away for the weekend ...'

Just then Mr Lowery walked in. He was talking to a loud-voiced man in a cowboy hat. Marion immediately looked down and tried to look busy. She knew Tommy Cassidy and she didn't like him. He was an unpleasant, greedy old man who was always talking about money.

Cassidy sat down on Marion's desk and showed her a photograph of his daughter. 'She's eighteen years old,' he said. 'And she's never been unhappy.'

Marion looked at the photograph and then at Cassidy. She didn't like the way that he was looking at her, with his clear, cold eyes and his wet, smiling lips.

'She's getting married next month,' he said, 'and I'm buying her a house.' He took a thick packet of money out of his pocket and waved it in front of Marion's face. '$40,000,' he smiled proudly. 'This will make her happy, won't it?'

Marion looked at the money and smiled politely.

'Are you happy, Marion?' Cassidy asked, still holding the money in front of her.

Marion wanted to stand up and shout at him: 'How can I be happy? I can't get married for three years while Sam works to pay off his father's debts. But you're rich! You can make $11,000 in three weeks. It isn't right!'

But she didn't say any of this, of course. She sat at her desk and smiled sweetly.'I think so, Mr Cassidy,' she said.

'I hope you are,' Cassidy said, putting the money on the desk. 'Remember, Marion. Money can't buy happiness, but it can stop unhappiness.'

He walked away into Mr Lowery's office, but Mr Lowery didn't follow him. He was looking at the money on Marion's desk and seemed worried. 'I don't want that money here over the weekend,' he said to her quietly. 'Take it to the bank after work.'

'Perhaps I can take it now?' Marion asked. 'I've got a terrible headache.'

'Good idea,' Mr Lowery agreed. 'Take the money straight to the bank, then go home and have an early night.'

Marion put the money into a white envelope, put the envelope into her handbag, and left the office.

But she didn't take the money to the bank. A plan was taking shape inside her head. '$40,000 is a lot of money,' she thought. 'With this money, Sam'll be able to pay his debts. Then we'll be able to get married.'

Pleased with this idea, Marion went straight home. She put some clothes into a suitcase, and drove out of Phoenix.

As she was waiting at some traffic-lights for people to cross the road, Marion looked at the bag next to her with the money in it. 'Of course,' she was thinking, 'I can't tell Sam that I stole the money from my boss. I'll, have to think of a good story to tell him ...'

Suddenly one of the people crossing the road stopped in front of her car. It was Mr Lowery. Without thinking, Marion smiled at him and waved. He looked at her seriously, then walked away.

'Oh no!' Marion thought. 'Now he knows I haven't gone home with a headache. If he thinks I'm running away with the money, he'll phone the police. I must hurry. If I can get to Fairvale before Monday, they'll never find me. I'll be safe with

Sam.'

It was a long journey. After driving all night across the desert, Marion began to feel tired. She had to stop. She drove off the highway and parked at the side of a quiet road. 'I'll just rest for half an hour,' she told herself.

But she was more tired than she thought. She lay down in the front of the car and slept until the morning.

Chapter 3 Bates Motel

Marion woke up suddenly. A policeman with a thin mouth and large dark glasses was looking at her through the car window. Without thinking, she sat up and turned the key to start the car. The policeman knocked on the window and told her to stop. Marion opened the window and looked at him nervously.

'Is anything wrong, miss?' the policeman asked.

'No. I was feeling tired so I stopped the car.'

'Why didn't you stay at a hotel? There are lots of hotels near here.'

'I only wanted a rest,' said Marion. 'Why? Have I done anything wrong?'

'No, miss,' the policeman replied, but he wasn't happy. 'Can I see your driving papers please?'

Marion turned away from him and opened her bag. The policeman tried to watch over her shoulder, but he didn't see the white envelope full of money. She hid it carefully under her bag, then handed him her driving papers. He studied them for a minute, gave them back and, without a word, returned to his car.

Marion started her car immediately and drove away. Looking

in her driving mirror, she noticed that the police car wa: following her. She drove slowly so that it could go past, but i stayed behind her. 'Why's he following me?' Marion thought nervously. 'Has Mr Lowery reported me already? If he has, I'll have to sell this car as soon as I can and get another one. I don't want anyone to follow me to Fairvale.'

At last the police car stopped following her, and turned off along another road. About an hour later Marion arrived in a small town. She stopped at a garage and asked about changing her car for another one. While the man from the garage was looking at her old car, Marion walked out into the street to buy a newspaper. Then she noticed the policeman with the dark glasses. He was standing by his car across the road, watching her.

Marion didn't look at him. She bought a newspaper and looked through it quickly. 'Good,' she thought. 'There's nothing in the paper about me or the money. Nobody knows yet. That policeman doesn't know anything. He's just trying to frighten me.'

She went back to the garage and showed the man the car that she wanted.

'Don't you want to try it first?' he asked.

'No thank you,' Marion replied. 'I'm in a hurry. How much will it cost?'

'Your car, and seven hundred dollars.'

Marion went to the washroom and took seven hundred dollars from the white envelope. She came out and gave the money to the man, who looked at her strangely. Then she jumped into her new car.

'Just a minute, miss.'

Marion's heart jumped. She looked round quickly, but it was only another man from the garage. He was carrying her coat and suitcase.

'You left them in your old car,' he explained, putting them in the back of her new one.

As Marion drove away, the policeman crossed the road and stood next to the man from the garage.

'Did she seem strange to you?' the policeman asked. 'Very strange,' the man agreed.

Marion drove across the desert all day, then up into the hills. As it got dark, it began to rain. Tired and hungry, she looked hard through the window for somewhere to stay the night. She couldn't see anything in the heavy rain. No lights along the road, no other cars. 'I think I'm on the wrong road,' she thought. 'If I turn round and find the highway again, I'll soon find a place to stay.'

Suddenly, as she was looking for a good place to turn the car, she saw a light by the side of the road. At first she thought she was dreaming. A hotel, here, in the middle of nowhere? Impossible. She closed her eyes and opened them again. Yes, it was true. A small sign shining in the night: BATES MOTEL

'I don't believe it,' she said to herself as she drove towards the: sign. 'This is my lucky night.'

Chapter 4 Norman

There were no other cars outside the motel, and the office was empty. Marion stood outside the office and waited. Looking up, she saw a large old house on a hill behind the motel. On the first floor of the house she could see a light in a window. There was a shadow moving behind the curtain. The shadow of a woman, Marion thought.

She went back to her car and waited for someone to come. • At last, through the darkness and the rain, she saw someone outside the house. It was a man, and he was running down the hill towards the motel. Marion got out of her car to meet him. He was a young man, tall and thin, with a friendly, boyish face.

'I'm sorry I wasn't in the office,' he smiled.

'Do you have a room?' Marion asked.

'Twelve rooms, all of them empty,' the young man laughed. 'You're wet. Come into the office.'

Inside the office, the young man watched her carefully as she wrote her name in the visitors' book. Not her real name, but: 'MARIE SAMUELS'. Then he thought for a second before choosing a key from the small cupboard behind the desk.

'Room One,' he smiled.'It's next to this office.'

The young man carried Marion's suitcase from the car, and she followed him into her room. He turned on the light, and opened the window.

'It's small, but it's comfortable,' he said. 'And look. There's a shower in the bathroom.'

'Thank you, Mr Bates,' Marion smiled.

'My name's Norman,' he said. 'If you want anything, I'll be in the office.'

'I just want to sleep. But before that, I need to eat.'

'There's a restaurant about ten miles away, outside Fairvale. But I was just thinking ...' he said, lowering his eyes with a shy smile.'It's a long way to Fairvale and it's still raining. Maybe you'd like to have dinner with me instead? Nothing much. Just bread, milk and cheese. But you can come up to my house with me, if you like.'

'You're very kind,' said Marion.

Norman looked up, his eyes shining with excitement. 'I'll be back when everything's ready. With an umbrella!'

Marion closed the door behind him and smiled for the first time in twenty-four hours. 'What an amusing young man,' she thought. 'Just like a little boy.'

But she was tired, and she had important things to thin about. The money, for example. Marion looked round the roor for somewhere to hide it. There wasn't much furniture. Sh decided to put the envelope inside her newspaper and leave i next to the bed.

While she was doing this, she heard a loud voice. It came fron the big house on the hill. She went to the window and listened It was the angry voice of an old woman.

'No, you can't bring strange young girls up to this house.'

'Mother, please ...' Norman replied.

'First you bring them up to the house.Then what? Music after dinner? Holding hands and kissing?'

'Mother, she's just a stranger. She's hungry and it's raining.'

'She's not having food with my son in this house. Do you understand, boy? Are you going to tell her, or shall I come down and tell her?'

' Shut up!' Norman cried. 'Shut up!'

Then everything was silent.

Chapter 5 Mad Things

Marion heard the front door of the big house as it closed. Moments later she left her room and met Norman, who was standing nervously outside her door.

'I made trouble for you. I'm sorry/ Marion said.

'No. It's my mother, that's all. She isn't well today. I'm sorry. I can't take you to the house. I've taken the food into my office. Would you like to come in there?'

Marion followed Norman into a small room behind his office. It was a strange room, full of old clocks and stuffed birds.

Norman watched her quietly as she began to eat. Then said: 'You eat like a bird.'

'Do you know a lot about birds?'

'I don't know much about them. I just like stuffing them.'

'That's a strange thing to do,' said Marion.

'I enjoy it.'

'Is your time so empty?'

'No. I'm very busy. I do everything in the office, I clean the rooms. I look after my mother.'

'Have you got any friends?'

Norman looked surprised at this question. 'A boy's best friend is his mother.'

Marion looked at her bread and cheese. She couldn't think of anything to say. The room was quiet. Just the sound of the clocks.

'It's stopped raining,' Norman said.

Marion smiled politely and continued eating.

'Where are you going?' Norman tried to start the conversation again.

'Somewhere nice,' said Marion.

'What are you pinning- away from?'

This time, Marion was surprised. ' Why do you ask that?'

'Oh, people are always trying to run away from something,' Norman replied. 'But people can never really run away, can they? Sometimes, when my mother talks to me like that, I want to run away. But I know I can't. She's ill.'

'She didn't seem ill to me,' said Marion.

'I mean ill in the head,' said Norman. 'My father died when I was five. She was alone with me. Then a few years ago my mother met this man. She loved him. I think she loved him more than she loved me ...' Norman's eyes darkened as he looked past Marion at the wall. 'When he died,' Norman said slowly, 'and the way that he died ... That's why my mother became ill...'

Marion felt sorry for Norman then. He was like a lost child, spending all his life in a small motel with his mad mother. 'Why don't you leave here?' she asked him.

'If you love someone, you don't leave them.'

'Then why not put her somewhere like ...'

'Like a hospital, you mean?' Norman looked at Marion angrily. 'A hospital for mad people?'

'I'm sorry. I didn't want to be rude.'

'My mother isn't mad,' Norman said, his eyes still burning. Then suddenly, without warning, he became calm again. He smiled. 'I know,' he said, in a soft voice. 'I just hate thinking about it. My mother really isn't dangerous. She doesn't hurt anyone. She just does mad things sometimes. We all do mad things sometimes, don't we?'

His eyes met Marion's and he seemed to look straight into her heart. 'Don't you do mad things too, sometimes?'

'Yes, sometimes,' Marion smiled. She thought about the $40,000 in the newspaper in her room. She did a mad thing yesterday afternoon, when she put Tommy Cassidy's money in her handbag and ran away with it. 'I must take it back,' she thought. 'Tomorrow morning.'

She stood up. 'Thank you for the meal,' she said to Norman. 'I'm tired, and I have a long journey tomorrow. All the way back to Phoenix. You see, I made a bad mistake. I want to go back and put everything right before it's too late.'

Norman gave her a warm smile. 'I've enjoyed talking to you,' he said. Til bring you breakfast in the morning.'

'You'll have to be early,' Marion said.

'I wul, don't worry,' Norman replied. 'Sleep well.'

Chapter 6 As Clean as Snow

Marion went into her room and sat on the bed. 'Yes, it was a stupid idea to steal that money/ she thought. It was like a bad dream. Now, after talking to that strange," sweet young man, she was awake again. 'I'll take the money to the bank first thing on Monday morning,' she thought. 'Nobody will know what I've done. Everything will be all right.'

She stood up. She suddenly felt very strong and happy. She felt wonderful. 'After I have a shower, I'll feel perfect,' she thought. Til be as clean as snow.'

She took off her blouse, her skirt and shoes, and threw them onto the bed. She didn't realise that someone was watching her. There was a hole in the Avail between Marion's room and the one behind Norman's office. Norman was looking through the hole, watching Marion as she undressed.

Before going into the shower, Marion suddenly thought of something. She sat down at a small desk and wrote some numbers on a piece of paper. 'I spent seven hundred dollars of that money today,' she thought. 'I must try to pay that back. But that isn't important now. I'm too tired to think about money. I want a shower.'

She walked into the bathroom and threw the piece of paper into the toilet. Then she took off her other clothes and got int the bath. Pulling the plastic curtain behind her, she turned on th shower.

It was lovely. Beautiful and warm. She closed her eyes. Thi warm water washed down over her body. The bad dream wa over. She was becoming a good, clean girl again ...

Marion didn't hear the bathroom door as it quietly opened She didn't see the old woman who was slowly crossing the floor. She was facing the wall when the woman's hand pulled the plastic curtain open. She turned quickly and could see, through the water in her eyes, a face. A terrible white face with long grey hair and mad, shining eyes. And above the woman's head, in her hand, there was a large, silver knife.

Marion screamed. The woman laughed and brought the knife straight down into her neck. Marion went on screaming as the knife cut into her arms, her throat, her stomach. She tried to fight, but the old woman was too strong. The knife cut deeply into her body, again and again and again. Marion became weaker, her screams became softer. Finally, with a small, strange noise at the back of her throat, Marion dropped to the floor of the bath and lay perfectly still. Water was falling into her face, into her beautiful, frightened eyes. It washed down over her body, red with blood.

Marion Crane was dead.

Chapter 7 The Swamp

Norman felt sick when he saw the blood on his mother's clothes. 'Mother, oh God! Mother! 'he cried. 'Blood! Blood!' He ran down the stairs from his mother's bedroom, out of the

house and down the hill to the motel. He couldn't believe it. His

mother a killer? It wasn't true ...

But when he finally ran into the girl's room, he saw that it was true. The girl was lying in the bath with her eyes still open, dead. And his mother was the killer. He stood outside the bathroom, feeling sick and afraid. He tried to think, but he didn't know what to do.

He thought about calling the police, but then stopped. He mustn't call them. Not now. Because his mother wasn't really a killer. She was sick. You were not a real killer if you were sick in the head.

No, he must stop people from knowing. He had time. The girl was alone. Nobody knew she was there. The best thing to do was to throw away the body. But how?

Then Norman had an idea. He turned off the bedroom light and the shower in the bathroom. Then he took the plastic curtain from the shower and opened it out on the bedroom floor. Next, he took Marion's body out of the bath and pulled her slowly onto the plastic curtain.

After washing the blood from the floor and walls in the bathroom, he picked the body up inside the plastic curtain and carried it out to her car. He went back to the bedroom and put everything that belonged to the girl inside the suitcase. He put that into the car with the body. He looked round the room one last time. He saw the newspaper next to the bed, picked it up and, not knowing about the money inside it, he threw that into the car too.

Then he got into the car and drove away towards a swamp not far from the motel. When he arrived, he got out of the car and pushed it into the swamp. He watched nervously as it slowly went down. It took a long time, but finally it disappeared.

Norman smiled. 'Mother's safe now,' he thought. 'Nobody will ever learn what happened to the girl.'

Chapter 8 Lila

One week later, Sam Loomis was sitting in the office at the back of his shop, writing a letter to Marion. 'Since I saw you last Friday afternoon,' he wrote, 'I've thought a lot about the things that you said. You're right. The money doesn't matter. I want to marry you now

While he was writing, Bob Summerfield, the young man who worked in the shop, called to him: 'Sam, a young woman wants to see you.'

Sam walked into the shop and saw a pretty young woman with fair hair and a small suitcase.

'I'm Lila, Marion's sister,' she said without smiling. 'Is she here?'

'Of course not,' Sam replied.'Is something wrong?'

'I haven't seen her since last Friday,' Lila said, her voice beginning to shake. 'She left home without saying anything. She hasn't even phoned me. Look, if she's here, I want to talk to her. She's in bad trouble.' She began to cry.

Sam told Bob to leave the shop, then turned to Lila. 'Tell me,' he said softly. 'What are you talking about? What kind of trouble is she in?'

'Yes,' said a flat, unfriendly voice from the door behind them. 'Let's all talk about Marion.'

Sam and Lila both turned to see who was talking. A short man with a hat low over his eyes walked slowly into the shop. He was carrying a raincoat over his arm.

'My name's Arbogast,' he said, showing them a card. 'I'm a detective, but I'm not with the police.' He looked hard at Lila and said:'Now Miss Crane, where's Marion?'

'Why do you want to know?' said Sam.

'$40,000,' Arbogast replied.

'I don't understand.'

'Your girlfriend stole $40,000.'

Sam looked at Lila.'Is this true?'

Lila explained everything. She spoke in a cold voice. She si believed that Sam was hiding Marion somewhere. But when s finished, her voice softened. 'Listen, Sam,' she said. 'Her be doesn't want to call the police. He just wants his money back.! if she's here ...'

'She isn't,' Sam said quickly.

'Miss Crane, can I ask you a question?' said Arbogast.

'Why did you come here to Fairvale? Did you know that yoi sister was here?'

'I hoped she was. I wasn't sure.'

Arbogast looked at her and said nothing.

'It's true!' she cried angrily.'Why don't you believe me?'

'I'm just doing my job, Miss Crane.'

'Really?' said Sam. 'Then have you phoned any hospitals пег Phoenix? Maybe she's had an accident.'

'That's not possible,' Arbogast replied. 'Her boss saw her ii her car last Friday. She was driving out of Phoenix with th money.'

Then Arbogast looked at Lila. He gave her a warm, friendl; smile to show that he finally believed her. 'I think she's here, Mis Crane,' he said. 'Maybe not here with her boyfriend, but she' somewhere near Fairvale. I can feel it. Don't worry,' he said touching his hat and walking towards the door. 'ГЦ find her.'

Chapter 9 A Few Questions

The next day Arbogast visited all the hotels near Fairvale. He showed everyone a picture of Marion. 'Have you seen this girl?' he asked them. The answer was always 'No.'

At last, as he was driving along the Old Highway outside Fairvale, he saw a small motel by the side of the road.

'Maybe I'll be lucky with this one,' he thought. 'I've tried all the others.'

Arbogast left the road and drove up to the motel. Norman Bates was sitting outside his office in the evening sun, reading a magazine. He stood up and smiled as Arbogast got out of his car.

'I almost missed you,'Arbogast said.

'I forgot to turn on the sign,' Norman replied.'Do you want a room?'

'No thanks. I only want to ask a few questions.'

'What sort of questions?' asked Norman, turning to go into his office.

'I'm trying to find a girl,' said Arbogast, following him. 'My name's Arbogast. I'm a detective.'

'Oh really?' Norman tried to smile calmly.'A girl?'

'Her name's Marion Crane,' Arbogast explained. 'She's from Phoenix. She disappeared last Friday and her family are very worried.' He showed Norman the photograph.'Have you seen her?'

Norman shook his head without looking.

'Maybe she stopped here about a week ago?'

'No. I haven't had any visitors for more than two weeks. Business has been bad since they moved the highway.'

'Can I see your book?'

Norman gave him the book from under the desk without speaking. He watched as Arbogast took out an envelope and studied the names in the book.

'Ah.'Arbogast's finger stopped at the name of Marie Samuels from Los Angeles. 'You see? She was here last Saturday night. Look. The writing is the same as on this envelope.'

'So?' Norman said in a weak voice.

'The writing on this envelope belongs to Miss Crane.'

Norman opened his mouth to speak, but his mouth was dry and he couldn't think of the right words. Finally he said: 'It' difficult sometimes.'

Arbogast looked at Norman.'What's difficult?'

'Remembering things.'

'I know, I know,'Arbogast said softly, trying not to frighten him.

'You know, I wasn't lying, mister. I just forgot about last week.'

'I understand.'

Arbogast's friendliness seemed to make Norman calmer. He smiled, and asked to see the photograph again. This time he studied it carefully.

'Oh yes,' he said. 'I remember now. It was raining. This girl arrived late at night. She was tired and went straight to bed. She left early the next morning.'

'Did she meet anybody here?'

'No, she was alone.'

'Did she phone anybody?'

'No.'

'How do you know?'

Norman shut his eyes. It was happening again. His face was burning and he couldn't think of an answer. Finally he said: 'She was tired. She said she wanted to go straight to bed because she had a long journey the next morning. And now, Mr Arbogast, I'm very busy. I have to go.'

'One more question, please,'Arbogast said as Norman began to walk away. 'Is she still here?'

'No, she isn't. I told you before. If you don't believe me, I'll show you all the rooms.'

'No, that's all right,'Arbogast smiled.

He followed Norman outside. It was dark now. He looked up at the house on the hill and noticed a light in a window.

'Is anyone at home?' he asked, as Norman was walking away.

Norman turned round and smiled. 'No.'

'But there's someone sitting by that window.'Arbogast pointed at the house.

'Oh, that's my mother. She's ill.'

V Arbogast looked hard at Norman for a moment, then said: 'Did that girl offer you a lot of money?'

'What do you mean?'

'To hide her here, maybe?'

'Look mister, if you think I kidnapped her or something ...'

'I'm not saying that. But perhaps she offered you money and asked you not to tell anyone? Maybe she told you some stupid story

'Mr Arbogast, I'm not stupid,' Norman said.

'No, of course you're not. But sometimes it's just too easy to believe a pretty girl.'

'Even if I'm stupid, my mother isn't,' Norman was getting excited again. 'My mother didn't believe anything she said.'

'So your mother met her?'Arbogast looked surprised.'Can I meet your mother too? I'd like to talk to her.'

'No you can't. I told you. She's sick.'

Arbogast wanted to talk to the mother, but there was something strong and icy about Norman now. He decided not to push him. Til come back later,' he thought. 'After I've phoned the girl's sister and told her what I know.'