Lois and Lorraine were there. Arthur Farringdon-Pett hovered protectively behind his sister and his recent bride. Judy’s young neighbor, Holly Potter, said, “I like your friend Clarissa, Judy. I met her at school.”
“Did you?” One question was answered. “I introduced her to Horace and Honey,” Holly continued, and the answer came to another question. Judy felt more secure, suddenly, as she noticed another quiet guest. He was David Trent from the field office of the FBI.
“Everybody has been so friendly,” Mrs. Valentine was telling him. “We’ve decided to join the little neighborhood church here until my husband has a call. You know, of course, that he is a minister of the gospel?”
“So I understand.”
The gray-haired woman moved uncomfortably in her chair.
“I wonder what is keeping him. He promised to stop in and meet some of the young people. He has plans for a youth organization—”
“His plans, whatever they are, will never be carried out.” Mr. Trent brought out his credentials, and the conversation ended abruptly just as Peter entered the room and took the woman firmly by the arm.
“You’re G-men!” she gasped, looking from one of them to the other. She was not looking for a way to escape. She could see that there was none.
Afterwards, when Judy remembered the scene, the one thing that stood out clearly in her mind was the fact that Blackberry had been insulted to see a stranger sitting in his chair and that he had jumped into it and settled himself to sleep before the excitement was fairly over.
