“I will, dear,” returned Mrs. Gay, smiling to herself at the idea of taking orders from her small son. But the boy was proving himself both practical and businesslike in the management of the whole affair.
“I wonder whether Adelaide Ditmar will open her dining room today as she planned,” remarked Jane.
A lump came into Mrs. Gay’s throat, but she managed to reply calmly:
“I think so. She has all her food bought, and besides, the people are expecting it. Mrs. Reed told me last night that Sue and Mabel are both going to help her—if—if—Mary Lou doesn’t come back in time. You had better tell Hattie Adams to come down to the Ditmars’ as soon as she can, though I don’t believe Adelaide is planning to serve lunch.”
Jane nodded, and finished her breakfast. After she and Freckles and the little dog had gone, the people from the other bungalows began to arrive at the Gays’, to start upon a new search for the missing girl. Horace Ditmar sent them off in various directions while he and several of the older women stayed behind to help and to advise Mrs. Gay.
At nine-thirty a small red car drove into Shady Nook and stopped at the Gays’ bungalow. Three plainclothes men got out, displaying their badges for identification.
“We want the whole story,” they said. “So far we know nothing—except that Mary Louise Gay, of Riverside and Shady Nook, is missing.”
“We don’t know much more ourselves,” sighed Mrs. Gay. Then she proceeded to tell the story of the girl’s disappearance the preceding afternoon.
“As far as we know, the last person who saw her alive is Rebecca Adams, a feeble-minded woman who lives over at a farm where we know that Mary Louise started to go. Nobody saw her after that.”
“Have you any suspicions at all?” inquired the detective.