End on a Hook

The night was warm, there was no fog in the garden, and I felt happy. After cheese, I watched the Trifles and the Pennystocks say their good-byes and leave, and my parents send Miss Truehart away in a hansom. Lady Drollery and Sir John were soon in bed themselves, after a quick look into the nursery to be reassured I was sleeping soundly. The last light out in the house was Horrocks’s, in the small room in the corner of the building where he slept.

I yawned. I had grown sleepy, but the excitement of the evening was still in me and I did not wish to retire. As I had often done before, I crawled inside the thicket to rest for a few minutes, lay down, looked up through the holly leaves at the stars and moon of the night sky one last time, and closed my eyes.

And died.

* * *

I also try to end — each bit and each chapter — on a hook. Above is the end of chapter one of The Case of the Devil’s Interval. In this case, I also like how the hook at the end of the chapter fulfills the hook at the beginning of the chapter, without, of course, destroying the mystery.