CHAPTER VII
The Crazy Woman
Jane went off early after lunch in Cliff Hunter’s canoe, and Mary Louise sat on the porch waiting for David McCall. She was still angry at him for the way he had accused Cliff to her the night before, but a promise is a promise, and she meant to see him. If she had had a chance to go swimming that morning, she might have tried to break the date.
He came along about half-past two, smiling shyly, as if he were not quite sure how he stood with Mary Louise.
“You’re not still mad at me, Mary Lou, are you?” he asked, looking straight into her eyes.
“Yes, I am,” replied the girl. “I’m disappointed that a boy with your brains can’t reason more intelligently. The finest detective in the world wouldn’t be sure that one certain person was guilty of a crime until he had made some investigations.”
“But it’s so obvious, Mary Lou! Hunter holds a big mortgage on one place and big fire insurance on another. He can’t sell either of them, and he needs the money. So he sets them both on fire and collects that way! What could be simpler?”
“There are lots of other people, besides Cliff, who profited from those two fires. In fact,” concluded Mary Louise, “the thing that worries me is that there are so many suspects. It’s terribly confusing.”
David opened his eyes wide in amazement.
“I don’t see who——” he began.
“Oh, don’t you!” snapped the girl. “Then just listen to this bunch of names!” She opened her notebook and read him the list: