“There now!” gasped Mrs. Leslie. “What a strange girl she is after all. What do you think is the matter, Mary?”
“I think she has a clue and is following it up. All I am wondering is where she got it in such a short time and if she will tell us all about it later on. It is certainly interesting to have a person like Josie to rent a room from us, isn’t it Mother?”
“I should say so; but I wish she wouldn’t be so sudden,” sighed Mrs. Leslie. “I think she ought to tell me what her clue is because I am sure I could help her.”
Mary smiled. She was not so sure. Up to the present her mother had been more of a hinderance than a help to their little lodger. As for suddenness; nobody could have been more sudden than that lady in accepting without question the opinion of old Major Simpson merely because he had come from her county and had presented her with a pink parasol when she was quite a tiny girl.
To a clever girl like Josie, it was an easy matter to find out the name of the reporter on the yellow journal who had spread himself so lavishly on the shoplifting story. First to the newspaper office where, it being a morning paper, the business of the day had not begun. The office was open, however, and a janitor was lazily sweeping the floor and grumbling because the one who took care of a daily newspaper office had no Sunday to speak of. The man at a desk agreed with him as did also the telephone girl whose business it was to handle the private switchboard.
“May I speak with the city editor?” Josie asked meekly.
“Not in yet!” growled the man at the desk. “Anything I can do?”
“Oh, please, if you will be so kind—I want the name and address of the reporter who had the shoplifting story in the paper this morning.”
“Whatcher want with it? It’s against the policy of the paper to divulge names and addresses. The management holds itself responsible for all stories published in its columns and the management has not come down yet.”
“I merely wanted to give the man a chance on another scoop, but since you are evidently not desirous of scoops I’ll look up the other paper.”