“Sure. How would we have come here if we hadn’t heard the noise?” asked Frank in turn.
The two men from police headquarters drew aside and held a whispered consultation. Then the chief of the two came back.
“Mrs. Parsons, how long after the two men left did these young fellows come in here to turn you loose? How did they get in?”
“How would she know the answer to the last question?” asked Frank. “We found the rear door open, and we broke down the pantry door, as you can see by looking at it.”
“You have been in this house several times as the guest of Mrs. Parsons, have you not?” asked the policeman. “When she entertained you while you were at high school?”
“Oh, officer,” cried the widow. “What do you mean? Frank Allen could have had nothing to do with this!”
CHAPTER IV
WHEN FIRE LIGHTS THE SKY
The accusation, hardly to be called veiled, rather startled Frank Allen. Lanky, close chum of Frank’s that he was, moved as if to strike the policeman, but refrained on sober second thought, since it would certainly have placed him in a bad light.
“You are inclined to jump at conclusions without much thought,” remarked Frank quietly, though in that quietness there was the glint and swish of a rapier blade. “We thought you were coming up here to help find the thieves and not to waste time making wild accusations.”