# The Missing Witness explained — The Leavenworth Case > Chapter companion for The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katharine Green. ## What happens The narrator is woken by Q disguised as a tramp, who gives him a note revealing that Hannah is hiding in a specific room in Mrs. Belden's house. After a tense breakfast, a ruse lures Mrs. Belden away, and the narrator forces his way into the locked room, only to find Hannah dead. ## Themes in this chapter ### Secrecy and Truth Hannah's hidden location and the narrator's forced entry underscore the tension between concealed knowledge and the pursuit of truth. ### Appearance vs. Reality The tramp is revealed to be Q in disguise, and Hannah's seemingly peaceful sleep turns out to be death. ## Character check-ins ### The Narrator Receives Q's note, waits anxiously, then breaks into Hannah's room and discovers her dead. ### Q Disguised as a tramp, delivers a note revealing Hannah's location and arranges to get Mrs. Belden out of the house. ### Hannah Found dead in a locked back room, having apparently died in her sleep. ### Amy Belden Lured away from the house by a false report of a neighbor's fit, allowing the narrator to search for Hannah. ## Key lines > I fled and cried out death. The narrator quotes Milton's line about fleeing in terror of death. _Sets a somber tone for the chapter's discovery._ > She is here; I have seen her; in the room marked with a cross in the accompanying plan. Q's note confirms Hannah's location in a specific room. _Key clue leading to the confrontation._ > Great God! when did life ever look like that? What sleep ever wore such pallid hues, such accusing fixedness? The narrator realizes Hannah is dead, not asleep. _Climactic moment of horror and revelation._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_leavenworth_case_se/chapters/xxix-the-missing-witness - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_leavenworth_case_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_leavenworth_case_se/chapters