“Gee whiz, mister—a—,” Skippy stammered, “we was sound asleep n’ all of a sudden we heard you poundin’ on the door an’....”
“Shut up and answer my question! What’s the idea of the bed against the door? What’s the idea of Frost gone? The lock picked and the room ransacked?”
“We didn’t touch nothin’ but the ladder, mister,” Skippy answered, feeling more courage. “We don’t know nothin’ bout the lock—it was like that when we come upstairs looking for a ladder. We wanted sump’n to do so we thought we’d go up in the attic n’ look round ’cause it’s fun on a rainy night an’....”
“Where’s Frost gone?” It was like the roar of a lion.
Skippy cringed inwardly but he managed to smile in Devlin’s face. “He just went, that’s all. He said he left a note explainin’ things an’ he said somethin’ about losin’ his keys an’ he was lookin’ all round for ’em. Then he went upstairs n’ he was up a long time an’ then he come down.”
“A lot of good you are!” Devlin rumbled deep in his throat. “What’s the matter with you, Fallon—can’t you talk any more, eh?”
“The kid’s tellin’ what happened, Dev——”
It was out!
Devlin glared. “Who told you to call me that?”
“Timmy told us Frost called you that.” Nickie too, was quite calm now.