Blushing angrily, you set to work, knocking on the walls to see if any sound hollow. After a while the cook's laughing subsides, and he peers at you. "How does knocking on walls get rid of ghosts?" he asks. "We've already had the priest from up the street in here, and he couldn't seem to do anything."
"Well," you admit, "I'm not sure how to get rid of the ghost, but it might have something to do with a man who came through here about a month ago and got arrested. Nereia says that he kept asking her about secret tunnels and rooms under the inn, so I thought I'd start there. It's the only clue I've got."
The cook shrugs his shoulders and turns back to his work. You continue knocking on the walls.
"You know, that guy that got arrested, he really liked my food," he says after a few more minutes. "In fact, he used to come in here and tell me how good it was, and leave me big tips. Seemed like an awfully nice man to me."
"Sometimes criminals can be very nice to people," you observe. You have even knocked at the backs of the cupboards, and so far you've had no luck.
"You know, he was very fond of wine." The cook stops in the middle of chopping up a carrot. "I took him down to the cellar one day." He stares at you. "Say, if there really is a hidden tunnel in this place, that's where I'd start looking for it."
"That sounds like a good idea," you agree. "Where is it?"
He leads you to the pantry, and moves a barrel of pickles. There, sure enough, is a handle in the floor. With a heave, he pulls it up, revealing a narrow staircase leading down into the dark. A musty smell wafts up, the air disturbing a spider web and making it float into the kitchen.
"There you go," the cook says happily. "It's all yours. Don't break any of the wine bottles, though, or I'll have your hide."
You nod, light your lantern, swallow hard, and head down the steps.
The lantern light bounces around the walls, creating moving shadows, illuminating the narrow passage. The cobwebs here aren't as bad as you feared. The cook or someone apparently passes through here fairly often. You can walk without stooping, though the top is just higher than your head. You feel a small amount of satisfaction thinking about the cook trying to get through here in a hurry.
You move along slowly, examining the brickwork for any signs of a hidden panel or door. There are plenty of loose bricks, but none of them seem to open a secret passage when pressed or pulled.
You reach the wine cellar, and begin searching in there, too. After an hour, you still haven't found anything that looks like a false wall or a hidden door. Discouraged and tired, you lean against one of the wine racks. To your surprise, it swings backward, and you discover that the rack you leaned against rotates. Behind it, there is another tunnel. It is festooned with cobwebs, and you see the remains of a dead rat in the doorway.
Excited but scared, you grab your lantern again and push the rack until you are standing on the other side of the wall.
You're standing in a short hallway, which widens out in front of you. Three closed doors lead off it at the farthest end.