In the novel The Hollow, Mrs Elsie Patterson is the older sister of Gerda Christow. After the murder of John Christow, Elsie comes to London to stay with her sister and help look after the children. Elsie Patterson is described as "tall and spare with an energetic manner". A practical person, she knew just how to take care of a family which had just had a bereavement. After the inquest, she said she would be taking Gerda and the children to Baxhill is order to avoid the journalists who were crowding around Harley Street. Either Elsie lived in Bexhill herself or else she thought of the seaside resort as a good place to get away to.,
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