The Adventure of the Travertine Nose - Murder at Castle Rackrent

You manage to convince Basil that there's no need to tell Lady Rackrent about the stolen paintings that WERE in the house and are now missing. Getting out of Castle Rackrent feels like the most urgent thing at the moment. Having already faced so many dangers, you are very leery to trust anyone. But, as Basil pointed out, you are essentially on an island. Without lowering the drawbridge, you will have to swim for it. Sneaking out is going to be a very hard and a very wet business. Still, here you are packing your things in the privacy of your suite.
There's a quiet rap on the door.
"Almost ready, then?" Basil asks in a whisper.
"Just about."
"I hate all this cloak and dagger stuff," he repeats.
"I do too, but I don't think we can trust her."
"I agree with you. I'm just concerned about how we're going to get out of here without her help. We don't know for a fact that Roy and Ray are even gone."
You shiver. That's something you hadn't thought of. They might be hiding somewhere in the castle or on the grounds. And you know that they know that you know. Not a good place to be.
"Let's just make a move."
Basil grabs your valise in his free hand. Apparently you're only responsible for a hatbox. The ancient oak on the landing groans as the two of you tiptoe to the head of the stairs. The main door, gigantic and heavy, will have to scrape open across the flagstone floor in order to free you. Then you will be facing the problem of the moat.
"Shall we ask the new maid if she knows how to lower the drawbridge?" you ask.
"Why would she? She's been consumed with cooking all morning. You see the way Lady Rackrent eats. Anyway, she may go straight to Lady Rackrent to ask her."
"True." Getting wet seems to be on the cards. "You don't think there's anything in the moat?" you ask.
"You mean like a sea serpent?"
If you're honest, that is just what you meant. You raise your eyebrows in response.
"I think there's a hell of a lot of prehistoric green scum that we'll never get off our skin, but nothing that can severe a leg."
"Great."
You are padding down the sides of the carpeted stairs; the sides seem to be the less creaky. Still, your heart nearly stops when you arrive at the foot and see Lady Rackrent emerging from the parlor. She appears to have tarted herself up for her 'sitting' (which you are determined will not take place) and is wearing a quantity of crimson lipstick and lavender eyeshadow that compete in grotesqueness to the generous decollete she is displaying. Gruesome. Plenty of diamonds danging from her ears and getting lost in the swell of flash between her neckline and the place you would expect to find a chin on any other person.
"How's this dear?" she asks, her smile dropping when she sees the valises and the hatbox. "Oh my dears, you aren't planning on leaving me so soon?"
Basil falters. You are completely mute.
"Lady Rackrent, I have just been called away on the most pressing business at the museum. I'm afraid we must leave you for a day or two."
"Funny," she grins, "I didn't hear the telephone. And there's one in every room."
"It's the fact that I wasn't called that is reason for concern, as I was awaiting a very important update."
"I see." Her eyes are almost black; dilated like a cat's. "But I cannot part with either of you just yet, I'm afraid."
"I'm afraid you must..."
"I will not!" she cuts in. Her voice has changed. Her posture has changed. Instead of looking like a mountain of bread pudding, she suddenly looks like a brick wall. "Come in here, my dears."
Something in her tone produces a knot the size of an anchor in your stomach. You can't move. Basil takes you gently by the arm and whispers, "Don't worry. I'm thinking of Plan B. Do not panic."
Do not panic? You are essentially being held hostage. Lady Rackrent herds the two of you into the parlor and closes the door behind her. Grover, the stuffed ferret laying stiffly on his side atop the sofa. A stuffed dog, a spaniel it seems, is propped beside it.
"This is Pigdog," she says, following your gaze. "He has been deceased for seven years, but he's still my darling. I would like him in my portrait as well. You can paint a little sparkle in his eye, can't you?"
"Lady Rackrent!" you blurt, almost hysterically. "We really must be going. I'm afraid I won't be able to paint your portrait after all."
"Shut up, you little fool!" she snaps. "You are going nowhere."
Basil puffs his chest out and stands between you and Lady Rackrent. "I am afraid we have overstayed our welcome," he announces, shifting you toward the door with his chest.
"Stay where you are." Lady Rackrent has produced a small pistol from out of her substantial folds. "Make a move and I'll kill you both right here."
The gig is up, well and truly.A strange feeling of peacefulness comes over you. Now, you know. You're going to die, but at least the terrible suspense is over.
"Do you think I'm a fool?" she sneers.
Neither of you answer. Instead basil asks, "Where are Roy and Ray?"
"They're gone," she laughs. "And yet they're here." The sound of her laughter is more than unnerving.
Basil makes a last ditch effort to coerce Lady Rackrent. "Gone? But then, I have the most distressing news for you. We were going for the police so that the problem might be rectified before you had to learn of it. I'm afraid Roy and Ray have been using the Castle to store stolen paintings."
She doesn't take the bait, instead she laughs. "Do you really think those two idiots would know a Matisse from a mattress?" She has the pistol trained on Basil's chest. Sidling toward the paneled passage, the gun still raised, she depresses the hidden mechanism and the shelf spins open, revealing not only the passageway, but the bodies of Roy and Ray slumped in a pool of blood. You screech and Lady Rackrent redirects the pistol at you. "Shut up!" she warns. "I can't have that fool maid rushing in here, although I imagine she will sooner or later."
You get the sense that Basil is straining to lunge at Lady Rackrent but she is too far away.
"You," she snarls, waving the pistol at Basil again. "You get in there and drag those bodies further inside. I can't have them stinking up my parlor. And you," she's pointing at you again, "You stay here and start my portrait." She's already propped up an easel with a canvas of extraordinary dimensions. You apparently intends that you be working on the portrait for a very long time.
You exchange quick glances with Basil. Slowly, he moves forward, at Lady Rackrent's urging. As he passes you he whispers, "Follow me in there as soon as I'm in. Be quick."
"What did you say?" Lady Rackrent trills. The way her arm is vibrating with rage while it holds the pistol is a worrying sight.
"He said good luck," you snark back, moving toward to easel. Basil is making a show of stepping over the bodies of Roy and Ray. Is he buying you time?

What will you do? The situation is desperate. Dangerous though it is, should you make a dash for it inside the narrow passage and hope Lady Rackrent is not a good shot? Choose 'A'

Or are you going to stall for a few minutes and try to think of something less dangerous? After all, if you're both inside and she blocks that trap door in your room, you'll be trapped inside a tomb anyway. Best to defy Basil and start racking your own brain for ideas. Choose 'B'.