TWENTY-SIX
I made my way up the overgrown path of number 23 Commercial Street. It seemed to me that the house had not been occupied for some time. The door was boarded up as were the downstairs windows. However, on closer inspection, I noticed that one of the boards across the window at the left-hand side of the door seemed to be hanging loose. So it proved to be. With just a gentle movement I was able to swing the board to one side, creating a gap big enough for me to gain entry to the house, a feat managed easily as the window pane behind the planking was missing. It lay in shattered shards on the floor inside.
In a trice I was standing in a dark, damp and rank smelling chamber. I lit a match and the decaying room sprang into flickering relief. This had been the sitting room, I guessed
