“I think it’s a mess. But I don’t believe anybody’s guilty. Probably just some careless servant girl.”
“I don’t know. I’m going over to see Mr. Flick this morning. I’ll have a good reason now that Freckles is sort of involved.
“Now I’ll read you my list of suspects and their motives, and you tell me what you think and whether you can add any names:
“‘Horace Ditmar—motive, to make work for himself.
“‘Mr. Flick and Cliff Hunter—owners, to collect insurance.
“‘Tramp and queer-looking woman—firebugs.
“‘Careless servants—and
“‘The boys.’... Now, can you think of anybody else?”
“It looks like Mr. Ditmar to me—or else the careless servants,” replied Jane. “I’d never believe it was Cliff Hunter. Or Mr. Flick. Why, Mr. Flick was making money this summer—he’d be a fool to set his place on fire. Besides, he was at the picnic. How could he?”
“Things like that can be arranged,” replied Mary Louise, thinking of David McCall’s accusation. “That tramp, for instance, might have been bribed.”