“For that matter, I can’t say I know how thorough they were,” you continue. “I mean, look at these floors. They’re pretty thin. If there’s a second layer – well, you wouldn’t get a greatrat hiding in there, they’re too big.” You glance briefly at Bert. “But regular old rats? That’s plenty of space for ’em to run around. We’d hear them if they were close by, but they’d probably hear us coming first and then scurry off to hide.”
Another quick glance at Bert. He scratches his ear, in a particular way you recognize from rehearsals. It’s what they do for projection tests, when other actors sit in various seats that might be problem spots, and give the signal if the speaker’s voice is reaching them clearly.
In short – he’s saying he got your message. Now you need to give him space to get his out.
“Well, they seem to take their jobs pretty seriously,” Earrings replies.
“Don’t know about that,” Bert says. “Here they’ve got the two of you standing around doing nothing, when there’s plenty to be done. Even if they don’t want you wandering, there’s bound to be something useful you can do. Hells, if nothing else you could be looking for rat-holes.” He turns around and points. “I saw one right at the base of that wall there, still open. Looks a bit old, but a hole’s a hole.”
“Well, it’s not like we can plug them up,” Necklace grumbles. “They didn’t exactly give us a carpentry set.”
“Oh, for crying out loud,” you say, in fake exasperation as you walk over to the hole Bert pointed out. “Look, nobody’s asking you to do full-on pest control or repairs. Just put some stuff over it. Maybe a bell, so if something slips through, it’ll…” You duck close to the ground and say the next part a little loudly. “…raise an alarm.”
You should indicate where the alarm is, though. Just in case she has trouble figuring it out.
You can simply explain to the Slippers about the kind of alarms that were set up in here, as inspiration for the alarms they should be setting up