Nude . . . si muore—The Young, the Evil and the Savage
trunk in vain, the cellar is plunged into darkness by the sudden slamming of the door, and Betty Anne knows she is not alone. Seeing the face of the other person, she is relieved . . . until she is strangled to death. She is discovered missing at bedtime and the remaining students are confined to their rooms for the night. Learning that La Forêt was the last to see Betty Anne, Miss Tranfield questions him and follows his lead to the cellar; the girl is nowhere to be found. Despite the heightened se- curity, Lucille manages to sneak out to the Insect House where, while waiting for her lover, she discovers Betty Anne’s dead body concealed in an armoire. By the time Richard turns up, the corpse has vanished. Richard calms Lucille, but sends her back to her room for the present, agreeing to meet her at the swimming pool at 3:00 a.m. To explain her absence from her room, and to cool off from the hot night, Lucille goes to the shower room, un- aware that she is being furtively watched by La Forêt from a tree out- side the window. Mrs. Clay discovers her and orders her back to her room immediately after her shower, but Lucille is discouraged from actually showering by a rustling in the tree. She leaves the water running, but another student, Cynthia, happens along and decides to take advantage of the wa- ter—only to be strangled by a shad- owy figure on the other side of the shower curtain. When the body is first discovered, shrouded in the shower curtain, it is thought that Lucille was the victim. It is the second attempt on her life, the second time a young woman has died for being where Lucille was supposed to be.
Arriving at St. Hilda’s to investigate
the murder are Inspector Durand and Sgt. Perrier. Jill reports La Forêt’s peep- ing to Mrs. Clay, who advises her to inform the police. Meanwhile, in his cabin on the grounds, La Forêt prepares for the inevitable visit from the authori- ties by burning his collection of erotica, with tears in his eyes. Suddenly the door opens, and as the gardener pleads his innocence, his visitor buries a scythe in his chest.
Durand questions Jill, who shows keen interest in joining the investigation
