“Oh, please!” begged Arden. “Just where did you see her? Tell us! Is she really dead?”
“I didn’t go near her,” he said breathlessly. “I don’t want to get mixed up in no murder case. But she sure looked dead to me—lying flat on her back—in a red dress—or something—and pale—pale as——” He looked toward his retreating companions, now some distance down the road, and then, with a frightened glance up at the old Hall, he turned again and ran away.
“Well, what do you think of this?” demanded Sim. “Shall we go in?” She turned to Dorothy as though asking her permission.
“I—er—why, of course!” the visitor decided, perhaps a bit hesitantly. “If there’s anything wrong we ought to notify the police. Yes, we must do that.”
It was a bold decision. It rather pleased Arden and her chums.
CHAPTER V
Baffled
Still, no one wanted to be the first to enter, and they stood on the step, frightened but intensely curious.
Arden gave Terry a little push, hinting that she should lead, but Terry sidestepped. Sim sneaked around the others until she was on the edge of the step, nearer the car.
“Do you think it could be so terrible?” she questioned.
“We ought to find out. Besides, if it’s someone dead—” Dorothy stopped—“it couldn’t hurt us anyway.”