CHAPTER XXIII On the Water Trail
Mrs. Landry told Ida to invite the visitor to sit on the front porchwhile the dessert was being eaten.
"If I asked her into the front room she would probably hear what yougirls talk about," said Terry's mother, "and you are sure to talk, Iknow."
"You can't blame us in these circumstances," said Sim.
"No, I can't." Mrs. Landry smiled understandingly. "But why should apolicewoman come here for this child?"
"We're going to find out very soon," declared Arden.
The dessert was eaten in record time, and then, after a whisperedconference, it was decided that Mrs. Landry should first interview thecaller alone and, if necessary, call in the girls.
"Though, if she wants us to help her catch poor Melissa, what shall wedo?" whispered Terry.
"We won't tell her a thing," decided Sim. "Why should we make moretrouble for the poor child?"
"Even if she took Dimitri's pin?" suggested Arden.
"We don't know that she took it--we don't even know, for sure, that it ishis pin," said Terry while her mother went out on the porch. "We couldn'tprove it in court."
"I suppose not," agreed Arden. "Though I, myself, believe it is his. Now,be careful," she warned. "Don't let on that we know anything aboutMelissa, or have just seen her, unless we have to."
The others agreed to this. They could hear the murmuring talk betweenMrs. Landry and the caller. Presently Terry's mother came into the diningroom, where the girls were still sitting, to say:
"It isn't anything to worry about. Good news, rather than bad."
"About Dimitri?" asked Arden eagerly.
"No. It's all Melissa. You had better hear this woman's story. Shedoesn't want to arrest the poor child, so you can talk freely to her. Andshe isn't a policewoman. She is from a private detective agency, though."
"It's almost as bad," said Terry. "Why is a detective agency interestedin Melissa?"
"You had better hear the whole story," suggested Mrs. Landry. "Come, andI will introduce you."
The three girls trailed after her out to the porch. The woman was as Idahad described her. She looked determined and efficient but not unkind,nor like one who would, as Arden remarked later, "hound a poor girl todeath."
"This is my daughter," said Mrs. Landry, presenting Terry, "and her twocollege chums who are spending the summer with her. Miss Blake and MissWestover."
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Emma Tash, and I'm from the Torrance PrivateDetective Agency in New York. I was sent down here by my chief to findout something about a girl named Melissa Clayton. As we always do inthese cases, we make some inquiries of friends and neighbors before goingdirectly to the parties themselves.
"I stopped in the village, and I found out that you people are friendlywith this girl. Do you mind telling me something about her?"
"With the understanding," put in Mrs. Landry, "that there is no harmintended to Melissa."
"Oh, now," Emma Tash was quick to say, "I told you that at the start."
"Perhaps you wouldn't mind repeating it for the benefit of my daughterand her friends," suggested Terry's mother.
"Not at all. I'll put my cards on the table, so to speak, and you canjudge how much you want to tell me. This Melissa Clayton, according tothe case as it comes to me, has an elderly aunt, her mother's sister, whois quite wealthy. This aunt, a widow named Mrs. Lulu Benlon, has for along time wanted to befriend this girl, but Melissa's father refuses tolet anything be done for her."
"Just like him!" murmured Arden.
"I heard something like that in the village," went on Emma Tash. "Butwe'll come to him later. Anyhow, the firm I am with has been hired to seeif something can't be done now. It seems that several times, in yearspast, Mrs. Benlon tried to do something for Melissa but was prevented.After being turned down more than once, she gave up. Now Mrs. Benlon isailing. She's afraid she is going to die soon, but before that she wantsto make another effort to help Melissa."
"Couldn't she leave her money in a will?" asked Sim.
"Yes, that was talked of, but Mrs. Benlon is queer," said Emma Tash. "Shewants to be sure Melissa will get the benefit of her help, and if sheleft her money there is no telling that Melissa would ever get it. Mrs.Benlon, it seems, wants the satisfaction of knowing, herself, that whatshe does will really benefit the girl."
"She's probably wise there," said Mrs. Landry.
"Yes, I guess so," the detective investigator admitted. "So that's whyI'm here. Mrs. Benlon has offered to take Melissa out of what, from allaccounts, is a poor sort of a home and give her a good one--even send herto school to be educated. But Mrs. Benlon doesn't want George Clayton tohave anything of her bounty. It seems that he wasn't kind to his wife,who was Mrs. Benlon's younger sister.
"As I get the story, it was a sort of runaway match; marry in haste andrepent all the rest of your life. Anyhow, Melissa's mother died soonafter the girl's birth, and she had been brought up in a hand-to-mouthsort of way ever since, according to Mrs. Benlon. But if it can bebrought about there is a happier time ahead for Melissa. Now that youknow what I want, will you help me?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Arden, and her chums nodded in agreement.
"What do you want us to do?" asked Terry.
"Tell me all you can about this girl and her father and, if you can,suggest how I can best get in communication with them," said Emma Tash.
"That last part isn't going to be easy," said Terry. "George Clayton is aqueer man; ugly too, I'm afraid."
"That bears out what I have heard," said the investigator. "But theremust be some way. Perhaps you can help me. But first tell me all youcan--that is, all you want me to know."
This last clause was a saving one for the girls. They felt, under it,that they need not mention the pin nor any possible connection Melissamight have with the houseboat. Dimitri Uzlov need not be brought in, northe fact that he was not to be found. The girls could still keep tothemselves, as far as Emma Tash was concerned, the secret of the manmissing at Marshlands.
With this in mind, Terry, Arden, and Sim, by turns, assisted with a wordfrom Mrs. Landry now and then, told about Melissa Clayton and her father.
"They live in a sort of shack on the edge of the bay, not far from themarsh," said Terry. "You can get to it by a long winding road out of thevillage, but the best way is to go by boat."
"Then I'll go that way," said the woman detective determinedly.
"I don't believe you'll get very close to the Clayton shack if youapproach openly by boat," said Terry. "George Clayton is a suspiciousman, and if he's home he'll probably order you off his premises."
"He may not be home," said Emma Tash. "If he isn't, so much the better. Ican talk to Melissa alone. She ought to be old enough to make up her mindto leave her poverty for a better home with her aunt."
"That's just it," said Arden. "I think Melissa is rather simple-minded,to state it gently. Do you think you would be justified in inducing thatsort of a person to do something her father would oppose?"
"Oh, no, I wouldn't do that for anything," was the quick answer. "If Ifind her that kind of a girl I will report back to my office and we'llget legal advice. But Mrs. Benlon thinks she owes a duty to her niece,and she wants to carry it out as soon as she can."
"Here's an idea," said Sim suddenly. "What about going crabbing?"
"Going crabbing!" exclaimed Arden, not seeing the relevancy of theremark. "What in the world for?"
"We have to take the water trail to the Clayton shack," went on Sim."Now, if we pretend to be crabbing we can gradually work our way towardit without exciting suspicion. Melissa may be outside or even out in aboat herself, crabbing or fishing. Her father may be out lifting hislobster pots. In that case Miss Tash can see the girl and talk with her.Melissa won't be afraid if she sees us."
"Say, that's a good idea!" declared Terry.
"But you know," said Arden, "we have to wait here for----"
She
did not finish, though her chums knew whom she meant.
"Oh, I don't want to take you away," Emma Tash hastened to assure thegirls. "I could go by myself."
"I think it would be better if some of the girls went with you,"suggested Mrs. Landry. "Melissa would feel much more confidence."
"I suppose she would, as I'm a stranger to her. But I hate to be abother."
"No bother at all," said Terry. "One of us can go with you, and the restof us can stay here to receive our expected visitor. He may not comeafter all," she added.
"Oh, I think he will," said Arden.
"Then you two stay here," suggested Terry quickly. "I will go in our boatwith this lady. We'll do some crabbing. It will be the best way."
"And if our friend comes," said Sim, "we'll hold him until you get back,Terry."
"Yes, do that."