1I told my mother about the locked door.

2'Is it a secret?

3'I don't know,' said my mother. 'It doesn't matter. Mr Ross can have locked rooms if he wants them.'

4'I think he does have secrets,' 1 said. 'There's something strange about him. There's something strange about this island. Somebody isn't telling us something. Something important.'

5My mother laughed. 'Stop playing detective, Carol,' she said.

6Two days later there was a storm in the middle of the night.

7I was hot and I couldn't sleep. I got out of bed, went across to the window and looked out at the night. Black clouds hurried across the sky, and the trees moved wildly in the wind. The rain made a loud noise on the window.

8I opened my window and put my head out into the wind and the rain. I looked at the other windows in the house.

9Most of them were dark. But one window had a light in it.

10'Somebody isn't sleeping,' I thought. 'Which room is that?'

11There were six windows between my window and the room with the light.

12'And there are six doors between my room and the locked door!' I thought. 'That light is in the locked room.

13Somebody's in there!'

14I put on my dressing-gown and went out of my room.

15The house was dark, and at first I couldn't see very well.

16I walked along the passage and turned the corner.

17There it was, the locked room. And there was a light under the door!

18I went nearer and heard noises.

19'Somebody's moving about in the locked room,' I thought. 'Who is it?

20Then the light went off and the door opened.

21I was afraid to move.

22Somebody came out of the room, and into the dark passage. Lightning suddenly lit up the house, and I saw who it was.

23'It's Mr Ross!' I thought. 'What was he doing in that room in the middle of the night?'

24I didn't move and he didn't see me. He locked the door of the room carefully. He didn't put the key in his pocket, but hid it in the plant pot next to the door.

25'He's coming along here,' I thought. 'I must get back to my room.'

26And I ran back along the passage.

27Mr Ross heard me. 'Who's that?' he called.

28I didn't answer, but ran into my room and closed the door.

29He came along the passage and stopped outside my door. Then he walked past and went on down the stairs.

30I took off my dressing-gown and went back to bed. I was shaking because I was afraid.

31'Now I know how to get into the locked room,' I thought. 'But what's in there?'

32There was no storm in the morning, but it was still raining. I got up early and worked on the farm. There were eggs from the chickens and I put them in boxes. I helped to milk the cows and then took them out to the field.

33Later, I went back into the house for breakfast. 'Did you sleep all right last night?' asked Mrs Duncan. 'Or did the storm wake you up?'

34'I. . . slept all right,' I said. I didn't want to tell her about the light in the locked room, or about Mr Ross.

35After breakfast, I went back upstairs. Mr Ross was talking on the telephone in his office. My mother was working at her desk. I knew that Mrs Duncan was in the kitchen and that Mr Duncan was working in the garden.

36'Where's Mrs Ross?

37I thought.

38Then I looked out of the window and saw her with Tony Duncan. They were walking to the boat.

39'He's taking her out in the boat,' I thought. 'Perhaps she's going to Edinburgh.'

40The boat moved away from the island and I waited until it was out at sea. Then I opened the door of my room.

41There was nobody in the passage and I ran along to the locked room. The key was still in the plant pot and I took it out. My hand was shaking.

42Then I unlocked the door.