The rain fell hard on Blackwood-on-Sea.
Nora Kane parked her car outside Marlowe House.
The old house stood alone on the cliff.
A young officer was waiting by the door.
"I'm Tom Reed," he said. "Thank you for coming."
"Tell me what happened," Nora said.
"A woman is . Her name is Ivy Sorel."
"She lives here alone, and she is a ."
"She disappeared on Friday night."
"Who called the police?" Nora asked.
"Her , Mrs. Bell. Ivy did not answer her door for two days."
They went inside together.
The front door had been from the inside.
"How did she leave a house?" Tom said.
Nora did not answer. She looked around the room.
The living room was clean and very quiet.
On the table stood two cups of tea.
Both cups were cold.
"Two cups," Nora said softly. "So she was not alone."
Tom wrote it down in his notebook.
Upstairs, they found her .
Paint and brushes covered the floor.
On the stood an painting.
It showed the grey sea and a in a red coat.
"Who is that?" Tom asked.
"I don't know yet," Nora said. "But she does."
Nora walked closer to the window.
The town lights shone far below.
Then she looked down at the floor.
Near the , a single drop of blood had dried on the wood.