“Yes, but Burt has a great deal of pride. The police never should have arrested him.”
“I certainly agree with you,” declared Penny, for she could not envision young Ottman as a saboteur. “Can’t your brother prove where he was last night at the time of the explosion?”
“That’s just it.” Sara looked troubled as she reached to take the newspaper. “He refuses to offer any alibi.”
“But you must know yourself where your brother spent his time.”
“I wish I did. He left here about seven o’clock and didn’t return home until early this morning—just a half hour before the police came to arrest him.”
“Oh!”
“All the same, Burt had no connection with the dynamiting,” Sara said quickly. “He frequently stays out late at night. I’ve never questioned him, for it was none of my affair.”
Penny scarcely knew what to reply. “I can understand now why you’re provoked at me,” she said after a moment. “But I assure you I had no intention of involving your brother with the police. I certainly never gave them his description.”
Sara smiled and in a charming gesture extended her hand.
“I’m sorry I talked as I did to you,” she apologized. “Forget it, will you?”