CHAPTER V
Freckles’ Story
“What in the world are you doing?” asked Jane when she came out on the porch the following morning to find her chum studiously poring over a notebook. “You must think school has begun!”
Mary Louise looked up.
“It’s harder than school—but it’s more fun,” she replied. “I’m working on the mystery of the fires.”
“Mystery? You really don’t think the Flicks’ Inn was just an accident?”
“No, I don’t. If it were the first fire, I might believe that. But with the Hunters’ a week or so ago, the whole thing looks sinister to me. I’m frightened, Jane. Ours may be the next. We haven’t any insurance to speak of. Besides, something dreadful might happen to Mother. People are burned to death sometimes, you know.”
“Yes, that’s true,” replied Jane seriously. “But what are you going to do?”
“Treat it just like a case, as I did Dark Cedars. List all the possible suspects and search the neighborhood for desperate characters.”
“Such as gypsies?”
“No, not gypsies. They wouldn’t have any motive this time. But somebody must have a motive—unless it’s a crazy person who is responsible.”