  Judy wanted to tell the nurse that this was an extreme emergency. But was it? A girl had vanished. Still the fact remained that she might have slipped out of the theater on purpose. “Peter will help us figure out what really happened,” declared Judy. “Oh, I hope he’s well enough to be—interested. Right now I’m more concerned with what happened to him.” “Will he be allowed to tell you?” Irene asked. “I don’t know. So much of his work is secret. That’s the hardest part,” Judy continued, a little break in her voice. “I never know what dangers he’s facing. Usually he tries to make a joke of it when I ask him. But this time I can’t help thinking—” Irene’s hand closed gently over Judy’s. “Don’t think of what might have been. Just be glad he’s here with good nurses to take care of him.” “I am glad. I’m glad Clarissa’s here, too—if that patient is Clarissa. I’d like to think she didn’t trick us, but how could the accident have happened?” Judy wondered. “And where was she going in a cab?” “It almost makes a person believe in phantoms, doesn’t it?” Irene asked. “Clarissa was so—naÏve is the word. And now if she’s hurt—Oh, Judy! Why are we always getting mixed up in other people’s troubles? We have enough of our own.” “The way I look at it, other people’s troubles are our troubles. Peter feels that way, too,” Judy continued thoughtfully. “He says what hurts one of us hurts all the rest. We can’t isolate ourselves and pretend trouble doesn’t exist. We have to fight the good fight with fidelity, bravery, and integrity. That’s the motto of the FBI, and if anybody has those three qualities, it’s Peter. He’s faithful, brave, and I never knew anybody as honest and sincere and—and—” Judy was in tears, suddenly. The strain of waiting had been too much. A nurse, hurrying in, reassured her that Peter’s condition was not serious. “He is asking for you,” she added in the usual composed manner of hospital nurses. “Will you come?” Would she come? Judy wondered how she kept her feet from flying down the corridor. At the door of Peter’s room she paused, a nameless fear coming over her. “You go in first,” she begged of the nurse, who had preceded her. “I’m not sure I look all right.” “You look fine,” the nurse interrupted with a smile. “He’s seen enough of me. It’s you he wants. Go in to him just as you are, Mrs. Dobbs. I think it would be better if you went in alone.” Irene was quick to understand. “I’ll go out and tell Dale—” “Tell him not to wait,” Judy said. “I’ll be here all day. I’ll come out to Long Island this evening—by train.” The slight hesitation in Judy’s voice did not betray her. She dreaded that train ride. But she felt she had to take herself in hand. Peter was depending on her. A hospital attendant spoke to Judy as she entered the large, cheerful room where Peter was lying flat in bed with a bottle of transparent liquid suspended above his bed. “Watch the intravenous. He mustn’t move his arm.” “I understand,” Judy replied. “My father is a doctor. I’ll see that nothing goes wrong.” Her voice was determinedly cheerful. The young attendant left, closing the door softly. Judy was alone with Peter. For a moment she was all choked up with emotion and didn’t know what to say. He smiled a little, wryly, and glanced toward the bottle that was feeding liquid nourishment into his veins. “Careful there,” he warned as she bent over to kiss him. “That’s my breakfast there in the bottle. A funny way to eat!” “I’ll be careful,” she promised. “I’ll sit on the other side of the bed. Which shoulder was it?” “The left.” “Then I’ll sit on the right. You want me to stay here, don’t you?” “Yes, I want you.” Peter’s strong fingers closed over her outstretched hand. “Judy, it was my big chance, and I muffed it. I let him get away.” “Don’t try to talk about it—unless you want to,” Judy told him gently. “You’re still very weak. You must save your strength.” “You’re right.” He was quiet for a moment just looking at Judy as if he could never see enough of her. “You’re always—so brave,” he said at last. Judy didn’t feel very brave. She felt like bursting into tears again. Little by little she heard how Peter had been brought to the hospital unconscious from loss of blood. They had given him a transfusion before the operation. That was why it had taken so long. Removing the bullet, he said, was a simple matter. It had been imbedded in the flesh close to his shoulder blade. “I’ll be as good as new in a day or so,” he assured Judy, who sat beside his bed, ready to listen whenever he felt like talking. “My partner cornered most of the gang. They were better organized than we thought. We trailed this man—” “What man?” Judy asked when Peter paused. “His name’s Clarence Lawson. I can tell you about it now. It’s public knowledge. The public has to be warned against such characters,” he continued. “It all started when a woman came into our New York office and said her church had never received a donation she had given a man who claimed to be on the Ways and Means Committee. He’d enlisted her sympathy and talked her into donating quite a substantial sum to what she thought was the building fund. Lawson had joined the church and gained the confidence of a number of influential people.” “That’s what you call the confidence game, isn’t it?” asked Judy. “Did you catch up with this—this Lawson?” “Well, almost. We trailed him and overheard some of his plans. Then we made some quick plans of our own. Did you ever hear the story of the three little pigs?” “Of course,” Judy replied, puzzled. “Are you joking? What do the three little pigs have to do with it?” “The third pig, if you will remember, got to the orchard ahead of the wolf. Well,” Peter continued, “that was what we planned to do. We were there, but the wolf was early, too. So he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house in, and he shot up the poor little pigs.” “Where was this house?” asked Judy. “Or aren’t you allowed to tell?” “I can tell you where it wasn’t—” Peter sighed tiredly. “No need,” Judy told him gently. “Stay quiet for a while, and I’ll tell you a story. We met a girl, and Pauline thinks she was playing the confidence game, too. Anyway, she made us sorry for her, and we each gave her five dollars so she could take the train home to West Virginia.” “Did she take it?” “The train? I don’t know. She took the money, if that’s what you mean. She also accepted our invitation to Irene’s show. I wish you could have seen it, Peter. Irene was marvelous as the good fairy, and her guest star, Francine Dow, made a beautiful Sleeping Beauty. The witch was a little frightening, though. She swooped in and seemed to cast an evil spell over the audience. Then Clarissa—” “Clarissa?” “She’s the girl I was telling you about,” Judy said. “She’s here in the hospital, I think. Peter, would you like to rest while I find out if the patient they brought here really is Clarissa? If I speak to the nurse who recognized Irene, I’m sure they’ll let me see her.” “Is Irene here?” Peter questioned, pain as well as puzzlement in his blue eyes as they searched Judy’s face. “She was. Oh, Peter! I hope I’m not tiring you, talking so much!” Judy exclaimed. “One of the nurses stopped Irene on the way in and said a patient had been asking for her. We thought of Clarissa right away. You see, if she met with an accident, it would explain her disappearance. I did tell you she vanished, didn’t I? We never saw her leave the theater, but I suppose she could have slipped out during the show and afterwards changed her mind and tried to come back.” “She could have slipped out with no intention of coming back. I doubt if you’ll find her here in the hospital,” Peter said, “but it will do no harm to try. I can see you’re deep in another mystery. I wish I could help you solve it.” “You can, Peter. You’ll be well soon,” Judy told him hopefully. “Then we can help each other.” “I wish you wouldn’t try to help me this time, Angel.” Peter’s voice was grave. “I’m in trouble—serious trouble, and I’d rather you kept out of it.” |
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