question_answer

Matilda reached the top of the stairs, stopped for a few moments to catch her breath and then knocked on the door. There was no answer. She frowned and knocked again. "“Lazy slut of a girl",” she muttered under her breath and pushed the door open.

Matilda stood frozen for a moment and then she opened her mouth and began to scream. The girl lay on the carpet, staring at the ceiling with wide open eyes. A wasp was hovering over her face. Matilda did not dare go near her but she was certain the girl was dead. "“Oh! Mother of god, preserve us from evil",” she cried, clutching the door. She put a hand on her mouth to stop herself from screaming again. "“Help me, O lord. Sweet Jesus, protect me!"” she chanted. Her head was spinning and she could hardly breathe. She noticed, in a blur, that all the lights were switched on in the bedroom and sunlight danced on the dead girl’s face. Matilda crossed herself quickly and ran out. She stumbled down the stairs, landing at Mary’'s feet in a heap.

“"Calm. We must all stay calm. I must call Dr Bay",” Mary heard Helen'’s voice repeating over and over again from somewhere in the house. She was not sure whom she was talking to since they were all in the library, huddled like refugees seeking shelter. She could not believe what had happened. Matilda had come running down the stairs which had amazed all of them since they had never seen the old ayah move so fast. Then she had said in a strangled voice, "“The girl is...she is dead...god bless us all...she is dead, completely dead and gone to heaven.”"

In the confusion Mary could not remember who had run upstairs with her but when they went into the room, Helen was standing near the bed, looking at the dead girl. “"All over. It is all over now",” she had said softly and moved towards the dead girl, as though she was going to pick her up.

“"We must not touch her",” Mary said and Helen moved back. Now as she heard Helen'’s voice repeating its incantation, she tried her best to remember who had followed her upstairs. This person had shut the door behind her silently as she stood staring at the dead girl and then switched the lights off. Who had been standing behind her? Was it Matilda?

Mary forced herself to think back but her mind seemed to have erased that moment. All she could remember was the brightly lit room suddenly going dark as someone switched the lights off and a strange, sweet pungent smell in the room as if someone had burnt roses. The sunlight was trembling on the walls and a wasp was droning over the girl'’s face.

"“We must call the police at once. William should inform them. We must do that now",” Mary said, dragging Helen out of the room. She remembered suddenly that Helen had picked up something from the floor. What was it? Then the lights came on again.

Mary remembers Helen picking up something from the floor. What was it?

A) A suicide note  

B) Murder weapon

C) A piece of flower

D) Not given in the passage