“Don’t be so impatient,” said Paul. “Wait. We’ll tell you everything.”
They came to Ken’s garage and sat down on boxes. Paul related what had happened. Several times Ken gasped in astonishment. When the story was finally ended, Paul commented, “But what puzzles me is how all the incidents fit together. The fires, Mr. Grey, Jack getting bumped on the head, Captain Bob, where do all these facts fit in?”
“As far as Captain Bob is concerned, you can leave him out of it,” commented Jack. “No matter what it is all about, I’m quite sure he is an innocent party.”
“Yes,” said Ken. “As chief of the fire department he naturally would be interested in why there are an unusually large number of fires.”
“All right, suppose we agree that Captain Bob is out of it,” said Paul, “what about all the other facts. How does Mr. Grey fit in, for example?”
“Yes, how does he fit in?” asked Ken. “Isn’t it possible that what you stumbled on today has nothing to do with all the other incidents?”
“It may sound all right,” remarked Jack, “but I don’t think so. For example, by now I am convinced that the fellow who hit me came out of that cellar.”
“But why should he run away?” questioned Paul. “Why couldn’t he have made you a prisoner, as that would be a more natural thing to do?”
“Perhaps,” argued Jack. “But if he had, he would have had to take me down in the cellar. Now suppose he blindfolds me, still I might hear something they say. I might escape and inform the police. My opinion is that he hit me and ran away, hoping that the blow on the head would scare me so that I would never return.”
His two companions nodded. “Suppose we accept that as the real reason. Where does everything else fit in? What are they doing with a printing press down there? They shouldn’t have to hide that.”