The landlady is a short story written by Ronald Dahl in 1959. The story is about a 17-year-old boy, named Billy Weaver. Billy is on a business trip to Bath. He arrives with the train from London at 9 o´clock in the evening. When he arrives, he asks a man on the street, if he knows any cheap hotels close to them. The man recommends a hotel called The Bell and Dragon. Later when Billy finds The Bell and Dragon he sees across the street a Bed and Breakfast, he goes the window to look inside the little house. He sees a parrot and a dog, and thinks that, animals is a good sign. He decides to press the doorbell, to hear if there is any room for him, but before he had time to take his finger away from the buttom, a forty-five to fifty-year-old woman opened the door and welcomes him inside. Inside the house Billy looks inside the landlady´s guestbook, where he only sees two names; Christopher Mulholland and Gregory W. Temple. He is sure he knows both name, but he can’t figure out from where. Billy and the Landlady sit down for a cup of tea in the sofa, but what Billy doesn’t know, is she has put poison in his tea, Billy refers the taste as “bitter almonds” which is a poison. Billy asks; “I suppose that he left fairly recently” (Referring to Mr Mulholland) then she tells him that he is still here, and so is Mr. Temple. She then tells him that both the parrot and the dog are dead and stuffed. The story ends with Billy having drunk his poisoned tea, and asking the Landlady if there haven’t been any other guests in the last two or three years, where she answer “no my dear” “just you”.
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