“Backing out, nothing! If we learn anything important,” Horace declared, “we can beat your car in Arthur’s airplane.”
CHAPTER XVII
THE ONLY ANSWER
And yet Judy felt that no one had heard, that it was all up to her. Even Dale Meredith seemed not to be helping, and Pauline.... How much did Pauline care? Neither of them had attempted to follow Judy’s suggestion that they write down every possible clue. Instead they talked—talked until midnight, almost—when she was trying so hard to think.
Then Mary came in. Mary usually came in when Pauline stayed up too late. The cocoa that she served was a signal for Dale to leave and the girls to retire.
Pauline drank her cocoa quickly and walked with him to the door. When it closed behind him she still stood there, her head pressed against the panels.
“You’re tired,” Judy told her. “I’ll take this cocoa into my room and let you sleep.”
“Aren’t you going to drink it?”
Judy shook her head. “Not with Irene gone. It would make me sleepy too, and I’ve simply got to think.”