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21
Then
,
just
when
things
were
looking
very
serious
for
Frank
,
the
report
on
the
Riddles
'
bodies
came
back
and
changed
everything
.
22
The
police
had
never
read
an
odder
report
.
A
team
of
doctors
had
examined
the
bodies
and
had
concluded
that
none
of
the
Riddles
had
been
poisoned
,
stabbed
,
shot
,
strangles
,
suffocated
,
or
(
as
far
as
they
could
tell
)
harmed
at
all
.
23
In
fact
(
the
report
continued
,
in
a
tone
of
unmistakable
bewilderment
)
,
the
Riddles
all
appeared
to
be
in
perfect
health
-
apart
from
the
fact
that
they
were
all
dead
.
The
doctors
did
note
(
as
though
determined
to
find
something
wrong
with
the
bodies
)
that
each
of
the
Riddles
had
a
look
of
terror
upon
his
or
her
face
-
but
as
the
frustrated
police
said
,
whoever
heard
of
three
people
being
frightened
to
death
?
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24
As
there
was
no
proof
that
the
Riddles
had
been
murdered
at
all
,
the
police
were
forced
to
let
Frank
go
.
The
Riddles
were
buried
in
the
Little
Hangleton
churchyard
,
and
their
graves
remained
objects
of
curiosity
for
a
while
.
To
everyone
's
surprise
,
and
amid
a
cloud
of
suspicion
,
Frank
Bryce
returned
to
his
cottage
on
the
grounds
of
the
Riddle
House
.
25
"
As
far
as
I
'm
concerned
,
he
killed
them
,
and
I
do
n't
care
what
the
police
say
,
"
said
Dot
in
the
Hanged
Man
.
"
And
if
he
had
any
decency
,
he
'd
leave
here
,
knowing
as
how
we
knows
he
did
it
.
"
26
But
Frank
did
not
leave
.
He
stayed
to
tend
the
garden
for
the
next
family
who
lived
in
the
Riddle
House
,
and
then
the
next
-
for
neither
family
stayed
long
.
Perhaps
it
was
partly
because
of
Frank
that
the
new
owners
said
there
was
a
nasty
feeling
about
the
place
,
which
,
in
the
absence
of
inhabitants
,
started
to
fall
into
disrepair
.
27
The
wealthy
man
who
owned
the
Riddle
House
these
days
neither
lived
there
nor
put
it
to
any
use
;
they
said
in
the
village
that
he
kept
it
for
"
tax
reasons
,
"
though
nobody
was
very
clear
what
these
might
be
.
The
wealthy
owner
continued
to
pay
Frank
to
do
the
gardening
,
however
.
Frank
was
nearing
his
seventy-seventh
birthday
now
,
very
deaf
,
his
bad
leg
stiffer
than
ever
,
but
could
be
seen
pottering
around
the
flower
beds
in
fine
weather
,
even
though
the
weeds
were
starting
to
creep
up
on
him
,
try
as
he
might
to
suppress
them
.
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28
Weeds
were
not
the
only
things
Frank
had
to
contend
with
either
.
Boys
from
the
village
made
a
habit
of
throwing
stones
through
the
windows
of
the
Riddle
House
.
They
rode
their
bicycles
over
the
lawns
Frank
worked
so
hard
to
keep
smooth
.
Once
or
twice
,
they
broke
into
the
old
house
for
a
dare
.
They
knew
that
old
Frank
's
devotion
to
the
house
and
the
grounds
amounted
almost
to
an
obsession
,
and
it
amused
them
to
see
him
limping
across
the
garden
,
brandishing
his
stick
and
yelling
croakily
at
them
.
Frank
,
for
his
part
,
believed
the
boys
tormented
him
because
they
,
like
their
parents
and
grandparents
,
though
him
a
murderer
.
So
when
Frank
awoke
one
night
in
August
and
saw
something
very
odd
up
at
the
old
house
,
he
merely
assumed
that
the
boys
had
gone
one
step
further
in
their
attempts
to
punish
him
.
29
It
was
Frank
's
bad
leg
that
woke
him
;
it
was
paining
him
worse
than
ever
in
his
old
age
.
He
got
up
and
limped
downstairs
into
the
kitchen
with
the
idea
of
refilling
his
hot-water
bottle
to
ease
the
stiffness
in
his
knee
.
Standing
at
the
sink
,
filling
the
kettle
,
he
looked
up
at
the
Riddle
House
and
saw
lights
glimmering
in
its
upper
windows
.
Frank
knew
at
once
what
was
going
on
.
The
boys
had
broken
into
the
house
again
,
and
judging
by
the
flickering
quality
of
the
light
,
they
had
started
a
fire
.
30
Frank
had
no
telephone
,
in
any
case
,
he
had
deeply
mistrusted
the
police
ever
since
they
had
taken
him
in
for
questioning
about
the
Riddles
'
deaths
.
He
put
down
the
kettle
at
once
,
hurried
back
upstairs
as
fast
as
his
bad
leg
would
allow
,
and
was
soon
back
in
his
kitchen
,
fully
dressed
and
removing
a
rusty
old
key
from
its
hook
by
the
door
.
He
picked
up
his
walking
stick
,
which
was
propped
against
the
wall
,
and
set
off
into
the
night
.