Chapter 12: "The Strangler"

⁠​​​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​⁠Where was Elma? What was the cause of her inexplicable disappearance into the gloomy forest while we had slept?

I returned to the hotel where I had stayed on my arrival, a comfortable place called the Phoenix, and lunched there alone. Both Felix, the Finn, and my host, the wood-cutter, had received their douceurs and left, but to the last-named I had given instructions to return home at once and re