“Judy!” The exclamation came from Pauline, very suddenly as if she had just thought of something. “I know what we ought to do. We ought to visit Mr. Lawson. If he really is the thief I’d like to know about it. I could pretend I wanted to make a donation or something. Shall we try it?”
Judy hesitated. She didn’t like that sort of pretending, though sometimes it was the best strategy. Also, Peter had asked her to stay out of trouble, and this would be walking right into it. But it could very easily be her chance to help him.
“How do we get there?” she asked. “Is it very far?”
“I’m hungry. Let’s eat something first,” Flo suggested.
The three girls had lunch in the same restaurant where they first met Clarissa. They asked the cashier about her, but he claimed he remembered no such scene as they described.
“No one goes away from this restaurant angry,” he told them. “Do you see that?” He pointed to a decorated sign bearing the words: Our Aim is to Please the Best People in the World, Our Customers.
“But this girl tried to cheat you,” Pauline protested.
“She was a customer. She was still one of the best people,” he replied without a change of expression.
“You might as well talk to a statue,” Flo whispered. “Come on.”
“It’s only a few blocks to the house where Mr. Lawson lives,” Pauline told them. “It isn’t as cold and blustery today as it was yesterday. We can walk.”