.htaccess in directory tree

I am using .htaccess for basic authentication and have a few copies in
my absolute directory tree controlling access to several virtual domains.

The problem - one of them, probably misplaced, is blocking an access and
I cannot identify it.

If there is a dir tree for ex.
/usr/htdocs/a/b/c/d/e/index.html with authentication at ./e/index.html
removing ./e/.htaccess should remove the authentication. If it doesn't
then is safe to assume another file in the dirtree ? and shouldn't it be
confined directly to one of the following:

/usr/htdocs/.htaccess
/usr/htdocs/a/.htaccess
/usr/htdocs/a/b/.htaccess
/usr/htdocs/a/b/c/.htaccess
/usr/htdocs/a/b/c/d/.htaccess
/usr/htdocs/a/b/c/d/e/.htaccess

Thanks

-- Adam --