Nearing the pier, they met Jane and Connie coming along the beach.
“Has there been an accident?” Vevi asked the two Brownies.
“That’s what we want to find out,” Connie answered.
The four children hastened on, reaching the end of the pier where so many grownups had gathered. In the center of the crowd they saw a middle-aged woman in a white suit talking excitedly to the lifeguard, Barney Fulsom.
“It happened while I was in the little curio shop,” she told the guard. “Why, I wasn’t gone ten minutes. When I came out, I saw a man walking away from the car. I thought nothing of it until I discovered that the glove compartment had been opened.”
“What was taken, Mrs. Allison?” the guard asked her.
“My coin purse. I shouldn’t have left it there with the car unlocked—that I realize. But I barely turned my back.”
“How much did you lose, Mrs. Allison?”
“A ten dollar bill and odd change. The little purse was brown leather set off with gold initials A.W.A.”
By this time Vevi, Connie, Jane and Jamie had drawn in close to hear what was being said. Also in the crowd were Mrs. Williams, Miss Gordon, Sunny and Rosemary.