 CHAPTER XVIII. RETURN. OF THE MYSTERY OF THE FIERS by Edith Lavelle. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gay looked up disconsolently as the green car approached. Suddenly their expressions of listlessness changed to incredulity, then to rapture. Mary Louise was home. In another second the girl had flown up the steps and was hugging both parents at once. Mrs. Gay could only gasp in her happiness. It was Mr. Gay who asked his daughter whether she was unhurt and unharmed. I'm fine, returned Mary Louise joyfully, and oh, so happy! Darling, murmured her mother, her voice choked with emotion. Now praise these wonderful boys, insisted the girl, my rescuers! Max and Norman tried to look modest and to waive aside their accomplishment with a gesture. But Mr. Gay sieged their hands in a fervor of gratitude. I can't find words to tell you what it means to us, he said. You two boys have succeeded, where four professional detectives failed. It's marvelous! Oh, it wasn't anything at all, except persistence on our part, explained Max. The real credit goes to Mary Louise. It was a swell idea she had. What idea? She demanded Mr. Gay, signalling for help, with semaphore flags, just as we all used to do in the scouts. But where were you, Mary Lou? Asked her father. Sit down and tell us all about it. First, tell me whether you were hungry, put in her mother. No, not specially, replied Mary Louise. They fed us pretty well at the insane asylum. It was fun to watch your parents startled expressions at this announcement. Fun now that the experience was all over. In asylum? They both repeated in horror, and then for the first time they noticed her blue calico dress. Mary Louise nodded and proceeded to tell her story, briefly and quickly, for she remembered that she wanted to catch the two criminals. Has Mr. Frazier run away, too? She inquired, when she had finished. No, he's over at his hotel, replied Mr. Gay. I saw him this morning. You must arrest him, Daddy! cried the girl. He was the cause of the three fires at Shady Nook. I know it! But how do you know Mary Lou? Asked her father. What proof have you? I overheard him and Tom Adams talking in the hotel garage. They didn't actually mention fires, but I'm sure they meant them. I have their conversation down in my notebook. I left it in my desk. It's probably still there. Suppose, suggested Mr. Gay, that you tell us the story of your suspicions and clues from the beginning. While I'm getting lunch, added Mrs. Gay, Mary Louise ran into her bedroom and found the little notebook. I'll just change my dress, she called laughingly, and be with you in a minute, but tell me where Jane and Freckles are. Out hunting for you with Silky, was the reply. A couple of minutes later she returned to the porch, looking more like herself in her own modern clothing. She sat down on the swing and opened her notebook. I first suspected Tom Adams the day after Flix Inn burned down. She began. All of the people of Shady Nook were over on the little island that night on a picnic, and Hattie Adams told me she expected to have Tom take her. But he wasn't anywhere to be found, and the boys saw a big fellow in the woods who answered his description. But I sort of gave up the idea of his being guilty when I heard he had lost some work by Flix Inn burning down. He threw me off the track for a while. I really suspected his feeble-minded sister, Rebecca. Then the Smith's house caught fire, and Rebecca gave us a warning. So I suspected her all the more. Finding that pack of clipped cards in the can of water didn't prove a thing to me. I never believed he was guilty. It was absurd to arrest him, commented Mr. Gay. The blundering idiot who caused it! Mary Louise's laugh ran out merrily. You and Jane will have to get together, Dad. You agree so perfectly about David McCall. Never did care for the fellow, her father muttered. Give me men with brains and sense. He looked admiringly at Max and Norman. But get on with your story, Mary Lou. It was the day after the Smith's fire that I really seriously suspected Tom Adams, she continued. I trailed him to the store at Four Corners and found him gambling. He told a man that he'd pay him a hundred dollars, which he expected to collect immediately, and that set me thinking. Why? inquired Max, because a fireman doesn't earn a hundred dollars so easily, especially from tight wads like Frasier. Everybody knows that man pays miserable wages. Then besides that I overheard Tom Adams explaining a card trick, and that fact made me guess that he had gotten hold of one of Cliff's decks of cards, and either accidentally or purposely dropped them at the Smith's. Mr. Gay nodded approvingly. He loved to watch the logical working of his daughter's mind. So I began to put two and two together, she went on. Somebody was paying Tom a lot of money. Lots more than a hundred dollars I learned for doing something. What I asked myself could the job be except setting those houses on fire, and who wanted them burned down except Frasier, or possibly Horace Dittmar, who, as you know, is an architect? So you narrowed your suspects down to two people, besides Tom Adams? inquired Mr. Gay admiringly. Yes, and when Adelaide Dittmar got that threat I was positive Frasier was responsible. He wanted the business, and he was doing everything he could to get it. But even then I had no proof. So what did you do? asked Max. And why did Tom Adams suspect that you knew anything? It was all because of this conversation, answered Mary Louise, opening her notebook. I overheard it near Frasier's garage, and then I was stupid enough to let them see me. I even told them I was going over to the farm to talk to Hattie. That was a mistake, remarked Mr. Gay. A mistake I paid for pretty dearly, agreed the girl. But it's all right now, so it really doesn't matter. Now let me read to the conversation between Frasier and Tom Adams on the afternoon I was taken away. Quickly, in the words of the two men, she read to her listeners of Tom's demand for money and Mr. Frasier's reluctant compliance with his claims. When she had finished, she looked eagerly at her father. Isn't Frasier guilty? She asked. Of course he's guilty, agreed the detective, but he won't ever admit it. He'll squirm out of it because we haven't got proof in so many words. He'll say he was talking about something entirely different to Tom Adams. But can't he be arrested? persisted Mary Louise, a note of disappointment creeping into her voice. I don't see how, until we find Tom Adams. He'll establish Frasier's guilt all right. I can't see Adams shouldering the blame alone. Mary Louise frowned. She hated the idea of the hotelkeeper's freedom, even though it might be only temporary. But suddenly her face lighted up with inspiration. I have it, she cried. He can be arrested for signing that paper confining me to the insane asylum. Can't he, dad? Mr. Gay looked startled. What paper? He demanded. Mary Louise explained that, since the commitment had to be signed by two relatives of the patient, Mr. Frasier had posed as her cousin. That was enough, Mr. Gay said immediately. All that they needed as evidence was the paper itself. They would drive over to the institution that afternoon and secure it. Luncheon was indeed a happy meal in the gay household that day. Although Freckles and Jane did not return, the two boys and Mary Louise kept up a constant banter of laughter and merriment. Mr. and Mrs. Gay were quieter, but a light of rapture shone in their eyes. Just at the conclusion of the meal, Mrs. Hunter and Cliff arrived, prepared to enter a house of misery and fear. They could not believe their ears as they heard the gaity from within. Mary Lou cried Cliff incredulously. Cliff? exclaimed the girl, jumping up and running to the screen door. You are free! And you're home! returned the young man, seizing both of her hands. In spite of his arrest, Clifford Hunter was the same carefree young person. In a few minutes he was showing his card tricks to Max and Norman, delighted to find a new audience. When the whole story had been retold to the hunters, with the caution that they say nothing of it to Mr. Frasian, Mary Louise and the three boys walked around the little resort to tell everybody there of the glad names. Then she and her father and Max took the car and drove to the Adams Farm. Mr. Gay thought it would be wise to take old Mr. Adams with them to visit the asylum. And Mary Louise thought it would be interesting to bring Rebecca, just to let Miss Stone and the other attendants meet the real Rebecca Adams. With Max at the wheel they had no difficulty in finding the asylum. What fun it was, Mary Louise thought, to pass through those iron gates now, knowing that she was safe. Yet instinctively she reached for her father's hand and held it securely as the car proceeded up the long dryway. The same doctor and the same head nurse came out to receive them, as upon Mary Louise's first visit. Mr. Gay displayed his badge at once and explained his errand. The woman nodded and hurried into the office for the paper. While she was gone, Rebecca Adams, growing restless, stepped out of the car, lugging her heavy water pitcher in her arms. At the same moment Miss Stone, Mary Louise's special nurse, came out of the building. Miss Stone, I want you to meet the real Rebecca Adams, said Mary Louise with a twinkle in her eye. Rebecca turned eagerly to the nurse. Can you show me where there is a well of clear water? She asked immediately. Yes, replied Miss Stone gravely. Back of the building. We have a fine well. Oh! cried the woman in ecstasy. At last! She looked over at her father, and there were tears of earnestness in her eyes. Let me stay here, father. This is my home. The more I want to live, her voice grew more whistful. A well of clear water, she repeated. Please take me to it, kind lady. Perhaps it is for the best, agreed old Mr. Adams. There's nobody to take good care of Rebecca at home now that her mother's dead, and I'm crippled up with rheumatism. She can stay if she wants to. And so, at her own request, Rebecca Adams took up her life at the quiet institution, and the rest of the party, with the paper, which was to be used as evidence against Frazier in their hands, drove back to shady nook. Mary Louise went into her bedrooms and put on her prettiest dress, awaiting the arrival of Jane and Freckles, and her friends. What a glorious evening it was going to be for them all! CHAPTER XIX CONCLUSION The Mystery of the Fires by Edith Lavelle This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Mary Louise was putting the last dabs of powder on her nose, when she heard a car stop at the porch steps. Coming through the screened window of her bedroom, she immediately decided that it must be the detectives. Yes, and oh joy of joys, they had Tom Adams with them. In another moment the men were out of the car and up on the porch where her father joined them. Congratulations! exclaimed Mr. Gay. I see that you've got Tom Adams. I remember him now. Yes, answered one of the men, but he won't admit a thing about your daughter. He says he never saw Mary Louise after she went back to the tennis court that afternoon. On what grounds could you arrest him then? demanded Mr. Gay. He stole a car on his way to the West. Mary Louise repressed a giggle and turned away from the window. Her father evidently meant to find out what he could before he announced his daughter's return. You have a sister, Rebecca, haven't you, Adams? He inquired. The young man nodded. Yes, she's feeble-minded. Why? We know that Mary Louise saw her the afternoon she disappeared. Rebecca told us so. And she also said that you came home that afternoon just as my daughter started to leave the farm. Rebecca's mind wanders a lot, muttered Tom. She don't know what she's talking about half the time. He shifted his feet uneasily. You have been thinking of putting Rebecca into an asylum? persisted Mr. Gay. Yeah, we considered it. Why? Because she's in one now, announced Mr. Gay calmly, of her own free will. An asylum about twenty miles from here. A Dr. Federer, I believe, is the head of the institution. He paused and gazed intently at Tom. The young man's jaw dropped. His face grew white, and his hands trembled. Mr. Gay burst out laughing, and Mary Louise came to the screen door. Hello, Tom, she said quietly. The young man started as if he had seen a ghost, but he managed to stammer a reply. Hello, Miss Gay, he said. All three of the plainclothes men stepped forward in amazement. You found her gay? They demanded of Mary Louise's father. No, answered Mr. Gay. To be frank, I didn't. Two of her young friends from Riverside did. She was confined in an insane asylum about twenty miles from Shady Nook, under the name of Rebecca Adams. All of Tom's friends fell away from him at this announcement. He knew his game was up. His limbs grew weak. He groveled at the men's feet. Don't send me to the chair! He cried. I didn't harm her. She's all right, ain't she? We'll let the judge and the jury decide that, replied Mr. Gay. Now, suppose you sit down there and tell us the truth, Adams. You might as well, for we know most of it already. The young man crawled into his seat, but he made no attempt to tell his story. We know that you burned three houses here at Shady Nook, said Mr. Gay. We know, too, that you did it because you were bribed by Frasier. Didn't he pay you a certain sum of money to start those fires? Yes, he did, acknowledged Tom. He gave me five hundred dollars. Why did he want them burned down? Asked one of the plainclothes men. He figured that he'd get five hundred, at least, from the hunters during the summer, entertaining their friends and all. Then Flix Fire turned out to be better business yet. All the folks from Shady Nook, except the Dipmars, began eating at the hotel once Ian was gone. And Smith, burning down, brought all them children and servants and even the mom paw over to the royal. Did Frasier expect to burn any more cottages? That was the next question. No, he wasn't planning on it, only when Mrs. Dipmars started up a boarding house and took his business away from him. That made him sore. But I wasn't going to do no more dirty work. I figured I'd just get my money and clear out. I never did expect to burn Dipmars, only threaten them. Well, what made you do that dreadful thing to marry Louise? Demanded Mr. Gay. I wanted to get rid of her till I made my getaway Frasier, and me, was scared she was on to something, and would send for you and you'd figure it all out, Mr. Gay. Frasier thought if I was gone he'd be safe. He'd just deny everything. The idea of calling Mary Louise Rebecca just popped into my head when she told us she was going over to the farm to see Hattie that afternoon. I knew Hattie and Dad was off to the fair, so I jumped in my car and run over to the asylum and made the arrangements. We just got back in time to never. One of the men stood up. Detective Gay, he said, I think you and I had better go over and arrest Frasier now. These other two men can take charge of Adams. He turned to Mary Louise, who is still standing in the doorway. Is there any question you want to ask this criminal, Miss Gay, before we take him away? Yes, answered Mary Louise, stepping through the doorway. I would like to know how that pack of cards came to be dropped at the smiths, the night of their fire, how Tom happened to have them in his possession. The young man flushed. One day I was watching Hunter do a trick on the hotel porch. I noticed he put the cards in his coat pocket. Later on he hung the coat over the back of a chair while he went off to play tennis, so I sneaked up and took him out of his pocket, too used to show the trick to the boys. I thought they was marked, but they wasn't. Hunter sure is clever at tricks. Then, when I heard people was suspected him of burning his own cottage down for the insurance, I thought it might as well help that suspicion along. So I dropped his pack of cards into that can of water at the smiths. And sure enough it worked. Mary Louise's eyes were filled with contempt, but she did not put her feelings into words. Instead she nodded to the detectives. And the men all left the porch. Fifteen minutes later Frazier's arrest was accomplished, and the three plain-clothes men started for Albany, with both criminals in their custody. Mary Louise and her parents watched them go with a sigh of relief. "'That's that!' said her father with a smile. "'Now if only Jane and Freckles would come,' added her mother, "'we could be perfectly happy. It's time to go to dinner. In a couple of minutes Mrs. Gay's wish was granted. Around the road half a dozen young people came running, for they had just heard the wonderful news that Mary Louise was back. Silky reached his mistress first, then Freckles arrived, with Jane and four of the boys close behind. Never if she lived to be a hundred would Mary Louise forget that wonderful dinner at the Ditmars. The joy of being back home again, the happiness of her friends, the companionship of her father—oh, everything seemed perfect that night to the lovely brown-eyed girl. And not least of it all, was the satisfaction of knowing that the mystery of the fires was solved at last. Shady Nook was safe again for everybody, to enjoy for many, many summers to come. End of Chapter 19 Recording by April 6090, California, United States of America. End of The Mystery of the Fires by Edith Lavelle