[
 {
  "chunk": 218,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The narrator explains he was sworn to secrecy until the client's death; early one morning the investigator wakes him.",
  "predicament": "A chronicler has kept a promise of silence for years and now must decide whether to tell the story."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 219,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "A terrified young woman in black has arrived early; she says she shivers not from cold but fear.",
  "predicament": "A frightened visitor arrives before dawn, too afraid to wait, to beg strangers for help."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 220,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "Her face is haggard and grey; the investigator reads her early journey from her ticket and mud splashes.",
  "predicament": "A frightened young woman is startled when a stranger reads her whole journey from small signs."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 221,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "She has no one to help her but a fiancé who can do little; she offers to pay once she marries and controls her own money.",
  "predicament": "A frightened young woman with no money of her own asks for help she can only repay once she is free."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 222,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "Her fears are so vague that even her fiancé thinks them nerves; she lives with her stepfather in an old ruined family house.",
  "predicament": "A person whose fears rest on small signs is gently dismissed as nervous by the very person she should trust."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 223,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The family fortune is gone; the stepfather made a career abroad but killed a servant in rage and was imprisoned.",
  "predicament": "A young woman lives under the roof of a relative with a violent past and a ruined fortune."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 224,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The mother's money passes to the stepfather unless the daughters marry; he has become a violent recluse, feared by the village.",
  "predicament": "A young woman depends on a violent relative who controls her money and loses it if she marries."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 225,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "He threw a smith into a stream; the daughter paid to hush it up; he keeps wild animals and wanderers on his land, and the sisters lived in fear.",
  "predicament": "A young woman pays to cover up a violent relative's attacks, and lives in fear under his roof."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 226,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "Her twin sister died two years ago, a fortnight before her wedding; she describes the three bedrooms along one corridor.",
  "predicament": "A young woman whose sister died just before her wedding tells a stranger exactly how the house is laid out."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 227,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The night of her death her sister asked if she had heard a whistle at night; they locked their doors for fear of the animals.",
  "predicament": "Two sisters, too afraid to sleep unlocked, share a small uneasy sign of danger and dismiss it."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 228,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "She heard her sister scream, a whistle and a clang; the sister staggered out, cried about a speckled band, pointed toward the stepfather's room, and died.",
  "predicament": "A young woman watches her sister die in terror, pointing toward the relative neither dared to accuse."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 229,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The inquiry found the room sealed and no cause of death; she believes her sister died of fright.",
  "predicament": "A death no one can explain is put down to fright, and the only witness cannot swear to what she heard."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 230,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "She is now engaged; forced by repairs to sleep in her dead sister's bed, she heard the same whistle and fled at dawn.",
  "predicament": "A young woman, newly engaged, finds herself in the very place and danger that killed her sister before her wedding."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 231,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The investigator reveals bruises on her wrist; she excuses her stepfather; they plan to inspect the rooms while he is away.",
  "predicament": "A frightened young woman shields the violent relative who hurt her, even while asking for help against him."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 232,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "After she leaves, the investigator lays out a tentative theory involving the wanderers and a falling bar; both see objections.",
  "predicament": "An investigator has a theory that fits most of the facts and knows it does not fit them all."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 233,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The stepfather bursts in, demanding what his stepdaughter said; the investigator answers with small talk.",
  "predicament": "A violent man traces his stepdaughter to her helpers and demands to know what she told them."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 234,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "He bends a poker and threatens the investigator, who straightens it after he leaves and worries for the young woman.",
  "predicament": "A violent man threatens the people helping his victim, and they fear he will take it out on her."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 235,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The will shows each daughter's marriage would cut the stepfather's income badly, giving him a strong motive.",
  "predicament": "An investigator finds that a guardian stands to lose most of his income if his ward marries."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 236,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "They travel into the country and see the old house; a driver points them to the young woman on the path.",
  "predicament": "Helpers arrive quietly near a dangerous house, trying not to be noticed by anyone who might talk."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 237,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The young woman is terrified to learn her stepfather followed her; the investigator promises to protect her.",
  "predicament": "A young woman learns her violent guardian followed her in secret, and fears what he will do tonight."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 238,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "He examines the outside; she believes the repairs were an excuse to move her into her sister's room.",
  "predicament": "A young woman suspects her guardian invented an excuse to move her into the room where her sister died."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 239,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The shutters cannot be forced from outside; inside, he studies the room and a new bell-rope by the bed.",
  "predicament": "An investigator finds his theory will not work and must look again at the room with fresh eyes."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 240,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The bell-rope is a dummy fixed near a ventilator that opens into the stepfather's room; both were added recently.",
  "predicament": "An investigator finds small recent changes in a victim's room that make no sense unless someone intended harm."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 241,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "In the stepfather's room he finds a safe, a saucer of milk, a chair stood on, and a lash tied in a loop.",
  "predicament": "An investigator searches a suspect's private room and finds innocent-looking things that together point to murder."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 242,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The investigator, grim, tells her to signal them from her window, then hide in her old room.",
  "predicament": "An investigator tells a threatened person her life depends on following his instructions exactly tonight."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 243,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "He will not name the cause yet; from the inn they watch the stepfather return in a rage.",
  "predicament": "A frightened person begs for the truth about her sister's death, and her helper will not speak without proof."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 244,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The investigator explains he deduced the ventilator and notes the bed is clamped to the floor.",
  "predicament": "An investigator explains that a victim's bed was fixed in place so that she could never move out of harm's way."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 245,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The narrator begins to see a horrible plan; at the signal they set out in the dark.",
  "predicament": "Helpers realise a cold, clever relative has been trying to kill his ward by a method no one could trace."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 246,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "They enter the grounds; a wild animal startles them; inside they sit in the dark, armed, in silence.",
  "predicament": "Two people keep a silent armed watch in a victim's room, knowing any sound could warn a killer."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 247,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "After hours of waiting a lantern gleams through the ventilator and a hiss is heard; the investigator strikes at the rope.",
  "predicament": "Watchers waiting in the dark for a hidden killer finally hear it coming and must strike without seeing."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 248,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "A terrible scream rings out from the next room; the investigator says it is all over.",
  "predicament": "A person who struck at a hidden danger hears it find its master instead."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 249,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The stepfather sits dead, bitten by the snake he trained; the investigator returns it to the safe.",
  "predicament": "A schemer who planned a hidden death for another is killed by his own weapon."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 250,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "They take the young woman to her aunt; the inquiry blames a dangerous pet.",
  "predicament": "The truth about a guardian's death is quietly left out of the official finding, sparing everyone."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 251,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "The investigator admits he first reasoned wrongly, then explains how the snake was trained to crawl down the rope.",
  "predicament": "An investigator admits his first theory was wrong and explains how he corrected it in time."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 252,
  "story": 7,
  "summary": "He explains the rest, and admits he is indirectly responsible for the stepfather's death, without regret.",
  "predicament": "An investigator admits he caused a killer's death, and says it will not trouble his conscience."
 }
]