“We’re going to want dinner in an hour or so,” Max told the clerk. “But first we want to see whether we can locate a girl who was here late last winter. Did a young woman named Margaret Detweiler ever register here?”
The clerk obligingly looked through his book. But the name was not there.
“She’s tall and slender and very dark,” said Mary Louise. “Has wavy hair and an olive complexion.”
The clerk shook his head.
“No, I don’t remember seein’ anybody like that around. Not many strangers come here—except automobile parties sometimes, stoppin’ to eat.”
“Are there any empty houses she might have rented?” was Mary Louise’s next question.
“None rented as I know of. There’s some abandoned houses around, places where people sometimes come just for the summer.”
“Where?”
The clerk gave the directions.
“Now one more question. Where does the postmaster live? For of course the postoffice is closed on Sunday.”