“Yes, for the present. We want to do all we can to save her from embarrassment until we have an explanation. I feel sure that, whatever it is, it will be—like Irene—satisfactory.”
“I’m glad you believe in her, Dale,” Judy said. She hoped, with all her heart, that Irene would prove herself worthy of his loyalty.
At the police station the sergeant on night duty at the desk did not take their story very seriously. He had a great many such cases, he explained, most of which solved themselves. His questions, however, suggested terrifying possibilities. Did she have any enemies, any rejected suitors, any hostile relatives? Was she wearing any valuable jewels? How much money did she have in her purse?
Judy thought it was about ten dollars.
“Ten dollars could take that girl a long way,” the officer said significantly. “What about publicity on the case? We broadcast a general alarm for missing persons every evening over the radio.”
Undecided, the girls appealed to Dale. “What do you think?”
“That’s another day. If she’s not home by then, by all means, yes. Anything to find her.”
“We’ll do our best for you. I’ll assign the case to the Detective Bureau right away, but be sure and telephone at once when she comes home. And take my word for it, she’ll show up before morning,” the sergeant prophesied as they turned to go.
“He probably thinks she’s only out on a party,” Pauline said later.
“But he doesn’t know Irene,” Judy reminded her. “She’s not the kind of girl police officers are used to dealing with.”