“Why?”
“Something happened while her brother was here. He left under a sort of shadow. Was shipped off to Santiago.”
“You mean he almost got a bob-tail?”
“Well, not quite. But I heard things were terribly mixed up in his work. He was Chief Pharmacist’s Mate like your dad.”
“I wonder what was wrong?”
“That’s what I haven’t been able to find out. But on several occasions I heard him and Lieutenant Cary having rather hot arguments. I could never get to the root of their trouble.”
“Then you think Lieutenant Cary had something to do with Dawson’s leaving the hospital?”
“I’m convinced of it.”
“Did you know him very well?”
“I wasn’t there long before he left, but I liked him an awful lot.”