Chapters 17 and 18 Summary

Rhoda Dawes accompanies Anne Meredith to London. Anne is taking Major Despard's advice and is seeking counsel of a solicitor. While Anne and Major Despard are occupied, Rhoda vacillates intensely before finally deciding to call on Mrs. Oliver. Mrs. Oliver's home is not exactly what Rhoda expects, yet she is still star-struck with the older woman's celebrity. Mrs. Oliver remarks that Anne seems to have taken Major Despard's assistance with more alacrity than she did Mrs. Oliver's. This statement brings a yowl of protest from Rhoda. She tells Mrs. Oliver that Anne had once been working in a home where a woman had accidentally taken poison and then died. By dismissing Anne's former rudeness with this story, Rhoda makes Mrs. Oliver see that Anne does have a past secret that could have caused her to have killed Shaitana.

Anne meets Mrs...