Vicki walked back toward her own hotel, wondering. A total of six days unaccounted for! A great deal could happen in six days. Especially during the course of an intensive search—That brought another question to mind. Why had neither the presumed Lucy nor Mr. Dorn ever mentioned Mrs. Heath or Graves, the painter, or the Reverend Mr. Hall? Lucy Rowe was closely associated with these three people, yet the Bryants had never been informed of their existence.
“Even if Lucy in New York hadn’t wanted Mr. Dorn to know about these three people,” Vicki thought, “Dorn could have found about them on his own, just as I did.”
Her mistrust of Dorn grew. Either the lawyer had made an inadequate, misleading investigation—or he had discovered the existence of Mrs. Heath, Gravy, Mr. Hall, but was not telling the Bryants about them for some reason. The reason was sadly obvious. Dorn—Dorn and the alleged Lucy together—did not want to give the Bryants the names and addresses of three persons who could help the grandparents find the true Lucy.
“Yet that may not be true at all. I’m only speculating,” Vicki reminded herself. “Before I can believe anything, or say anything to the Bryants, I must get proof—more facts.”
Even more urgent than proof was the need—assuming the Lucy in New York to be an impostor—to find the true Lucy Rowe. Was she the girl seen at Pine Top? If not, who was that light-brown-haired girl? “I promised myself to fly back to Pine Top,” Vicki thought. “It seems the time is now.”
Returning to her hotel room, she picked up the telephone, called Novato Airport, and reserved the Cessna 150 for tomorrow. Perhaps she would discover something of real importance back there in the hills.
CHAPTER IX
Secrets at Midnight
Timing was important. Vicki had figured her flight from San Francisco in the Cessna 150 to bring her in over Pine Top just about dusk. With nightfall, and the story she planned to tell, she hoped to have to stay overnight at the hidden house. She hoped to give Mrs. Heath no choice, no chance decently to send her away. During the night there should be time and privacy to talk with Lucy, or whoever the girl really was—provided Mrs. Heath did not intrude on them.
It was a bold plan, not foolproof by any means. Vicki had sense enough to be scared.