“But they’re always rich or important,” returned Mr. Gay. “No: that’s one of the blessings of being poor—nobody would kidnap Elsie Grant unless he knew that she had the ruby necklace. Then the criminal would be much more likely to steal it and let her go.”
“That’s what I think,” agreed Mary Louise.... “What are you going to do now?”
“There’s nothing more I can do. I suppose you are planning to go over to the hospital to see Miss Grant?”
“Yes, for a few minutes after breakfast. Then—Daddy—” Mary Louise hesitated: she didn’t want her father to laugh at her next request, but she just had to ask him—“would you be willing to go on a search with me through Cooper’s woods? It’s just possible that all our detective work may be wrong and my unsuspecting mother right. Elsie might be lost in Cooper’s woods!”
“I’m not going to smile,” replied her father. “Because I think your suggestion is a very good one. Elsie may even be guilty of the thefts—and have the necklace and the gold pieces with her—and still be lost or hiding in those woods. I’ll be glad to go with you.”
Mary Louise’s brown eyes sparkled. What a good sport her father was!
“Don’t let’s take the car, Daddy,” she urged. “At least, not any farther than Dark Cedars. I’d like to set out from the back of Miss Grant’s yard and try to trace Elsie’s steps—with Silky to help us. If I get her old calico dress and shoes and let him sniff them, I think he’d understand.”
Mr. Gay gazed at his daughter admiringly.
“Mary Lou, that is an idea!” he cried. “You’re a better detective than I am.”
She blushed at the praise.