The fact that he doesn't even ask her to clarify implies he doesn't take her seriously and simply wants to move on.Slowly Billy remembers that they both disappeared when they were out travelling. This would make Billy feel superior to her and, thus, not in any danger. Maybe she's just crazier than he first thought. He continues making conversation like everything is fine.īilly seems to be chalking this revelation up to the "dotty" manner he noted earlier. I think this is the point where the reader thinks Billy should definitely get out of there. Why doesn't Billy react when she says the other two men are still upstairs?
The tea tasted of bitter almonds, which implies it contained cyanide.Ĥ. Temple didn't have a blemish on his body. The sanitized scent Billy notices from her is related to her taxidermy. Her insistence that Billy sign the guestbook before bed implies he wouldn't be able to do it later. She was worrying about something selfish. She says she was beginning to worry about Billy's arrival when she didn't even know he was coming. The landlady is very choosy about her boarders-she only takes in young, handsome men like Billy. What are the warning signs that Billy's in a dangerous situation? When Billy goes down to the warm and cozy living-room, he thinks he's a "lucky fellow." Turns out he's one of the unluckiest fellows in the area in the last two years.ģ. When telling Billy that by law he has to sign the guestbook, she says "we don’t want to go breaking any laws at this stage in the proceedings, do we?" Her concern for obeying the law is funny, knowing what she's planning. 
The landlady has a bed prepared for Billy with a hot water bottle, and tells him he can light the gas fire, but she knows he won't be using any of these things. It looks like the best place on the street, but turns out to be the worst. The bright spot with its vase of chrysanthemums catches his eye. The line of houses have peeling paint and cracked, blotchy façades. The illuminated window of the "Bed And Breakfast" looks much nicer than the surroundings. He doesn't look deeper into whether they're accomplishing much. He's impressed by the important people at Head Office who are "absolutely fantastically brisk all the time", and adopts this attitude himself. We're alerted early on to the fact that Billy, in his young naivety, accepts things at face value. 
This makes it necessary that there be a gap between how things seem and how they really are. We'd question Billy's intelligence, and there'd be no mystery or surprise for us. Obviously, she couldn't be presented this way throughout the story. The landlady turns out to be a sinister character. She smiles gently at him and says no, only him. Billy asks if there have been any other guests in the past three years.
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