“You see,” Mr. Blake pointed out, “we identified the patient. She’s better. She knows her own name, and Mrs. Meredith is sure of it. She is Francine Dow!”
CHAPTER XXI
Explained
The silence that followed Mr. Blake’s announcement was like the moment after lightning strikes, when a clap of thunder is expected. It would come with the whole explanation. But at first Judy couldn’t believe it.
“I don’t understand this at all,” she heard herself saying. “You couldn’t have made a mistake, Irene?”
“No, Judy. Irene identified her. There’s no mistake unless Clarence Lawson made it when he snatched the wrong girl. Do you think that could be what happened?” Peter asked the other FBI agent.
“It’s worth an investigation,” Mr. Blake replied. “This woman is Francine Dow all right. She was on her way to the theater when she was hurt.”
“Do you mean—you can’t mean that she never arrived! Then who was that up there on the stage? Someone played the part of Sleeping Beauty. Did you know it wasn’t the guest star you invited?” Judy asked, turning to Irene in bewilderment.
“No, I didn’t,” she admitted. “I did think she’d kept her youth and beauty amazingly. But the right make-up can make a person look very young. I couldn’t see what was going on backstage from where I was standing. Afterwards, when I saw the reviews, I suspected there had been a last-minute substitute. But I still don’t know who she was.”
“Doesn’t anybody know?”