Penny picked up a stick and poked the dying embers. She could find only a charred piece of the doll left on the fire. Flames soon consumed it.
“There, it’s gone!” she exclaimed. “Take my advice, Lorinda, and forget this entire incident. Don’t tell your mother, Celeste, or anyone.”
Lorinda scrambled up, brushing sand from her slacks.
“All right, I’ll do as you say,” she agreed. “This shall be our secret. At any rate, by burning the doll, I should have put an end to its evil.”
Extinguishing the few remaining flames by covering them with sand, the girls slowly climbed the steps. Penny inquired whether or not the police had called at the mansion. Lorinda told her that they had spent nearly two hours questioning Mrs. Rhett.
“By the way,” Penny remarked as they approached the house, “do you know Albert Potts?”
“My stepfather’s secretary? I’ve met him a few times. Why?”
“He was quite a favorite with your stepfather, I suppose?”
“A favorite?” Lorinda chuckled. “On the contrary, he couldn’t stand him! Potts was always at his elbow, trying to tell him what to do, and what not to do. In his way he was efficient—too efficient, if you know what I mean.”
“I do,” agreed Penny. “That was why I was surprised to learn he had been granted a substantial salary increase after your stepfather disappeared.”