Winter Park was a short drive from Orlando. A neat, pleasant village with the unmistakable atmosphere of a college town. Shayne went directly to the registrar’s office where he obtained, without difficulty, directions for finding the dormitory where Lois Dongan roomed. An obliging student assistant also checked Lois’ schedule for him, and he learned that the freshman was at that moment attending her last class of the day which would be over in about fifteen minutes.
He went back to his car and drove the short distance to the dormitory, parked outside in the shade and settled himself comfortably with a cigarette behind the wheel, hoping Lois would appear as soon as her last class ended.
Boys and girls passed on that sidewalk as he waited, some gaily chattering groups of three or four, but mostly in couples. The girls young and buoyant in short skirts and bright scarves on their heads, the boys young and grave in unpressed slacks and T-shirts.
It was the extreme youth of all of them that Shayne noted particularly. They looked like high-school kids to him. Yet he knew they must all be seventeen or older. It seemed to him that these were mere children compared to the seventeen-year-olds of his day. He, for instance, had been on his own for two years at that age, doing a man’s work and drawing a man’s pay. Many of the girls he had gone to school with had been married at eighteen, settled matrons by the time they reached voting age.
It was a distinct pleasure to watch them passing by, and he tried not to think of Jeanette Henderson as having been one of them only a month ago. And Jean, too. She would be a Junior, he assumed. He wondered idly how she had obtained leave from her classes to go on a cruise in the Gulf, and mentally noted that as one more question he should ask.
Twenty minutes had passed and he was working on his third cigarette when a group of eight or ten girls appeared from the direction of the college, and turned opposite his car onto the walk leading into the dormitory. Shayne slid from under the wheel and overtook them in long strides, calling as he approached, “Are any of you girls Lois Dongan?”
They paused in a group and turned to look at him curiously, and one girl detached herself from the others and said, “I’m Lois. Who’re you?”
She smiled as she spoke, which took away any hint of impudence, and Shayne smiled back, liking her at once. She was taller than most of her companions, and had a pleasant, well-tanned face. She was solidly fleshed without any excess fat, and stood flatly on low-heeled shoes with a nice look of candid curiosity in her brown eyes. A sensible girl and a trustworthy one, Shayne decided immediately, recalling Professor Henderson’s statement that she lived on a farm beyond Brockton. She had a self-reliant air of confidence that pleased him. He took off his hat and explained, “My name is Michael Shayne, Miss Dongan. Professor Henderson in Orlando suggested you might be able to answer a few questions for me.”
The professor’s name brought a slight cloud to her sunny features, though her eyes were as candidly curious as before. After lingering glances at the tall, red-headed stranger, the other girls withdrew and went on toward the building.
“What sort of questions?” Lois asked quietly.
“About Jeanette. I understand you were her best friend.”
The girl’s underlip trembled almost imperceptibly. “What… do you want to know about Jeanette?”
“Could we sit in my car while we talk? It won’t be quite so public,” Shayne urged as another group of girls came down the walk toward them.
She compressed her lips and then nodded. They went side by side to his car and Shayne opened the door on the right for her to get in. He went around to the other side, and saw her studying him intently as he got under the wheel.
“Shayne?” There was a question and a slight tremor of fear in her voice. “Michael Shayne. Aren’t you a private detective from Miami? I’m sure I’ve seen your picture in the papers.”
Shayne said, “That’s right, Lois. I’m investigating Jeanette’s… accident.”
She caught her underlip between her teeth and turned to look straight ahead through the windshield. In a moment, she asked in a strained voice, “What is there to investigate?”
“That,” said Shayne, “is what I hoped you’d be able to tell me.”
“She had an accident. She died,” said Lois in the same strained voice. “What else is there?”
“There was another fatal accident near Brockton last week. Perhaps you heard about it. A young lawyer from Orlando named Randolph Harris.”
Watching her profile carefully, Shayne thought he detected a faint expression of relief on her face. She turned to look at him and there was only curiosity on her face now. “I remember reading about it. What has that to do with Jeanette?”
“Weren’t they rather good friends?” Shayne asked bluntly.
Her “No,” was very positive. “I don’t think she even knew him,” Lois amended. “Wasn’t he quite old? A State’s Attorney or something?”
“He was all of twenty-six,” Shayne told her drily. “Did you know all of Jeanette’s friends?”
“I think so. All of her friends anyway.”
“Did she have many?”
“Scads. She was one of the most popular girls in the freshman class.”
“Had you known her long?”
“Ever since first year high-school. We used to live near Orlando until we moved to a farm near Diston two years ago.”
“And she was on her way to visit you there when it happened?”
There was the slightest indication of hesitancy before Lois answer firmly, “Yes. It was mid-term vacation beginning the fifteenth of last month.”
“Did you ever hear of the Brockton Sanitarium, Lois?”
This time there was no hesitancy in her reply. “That’s where they took Jeanette after the accident, wasn’t it? That’s the first I ever heard of it.”
“When did you first learn about Jeanette’s accident?”
“Early the next morning. Professor Henderson telephoned.” Lois shuddered and bit her underlip again. “I just couldn’t believe it at first. Not Jeanette. She was so… so vital if you know what I mean. So full of the joy of life. She was… wonderful,” she added softly.
“Hadn’t you been worried about her not reaching your house?” Shayne put in fast. “After all, you expected her the preceding evening.” He was guessing on this point, but it seemed reasonable to assume that a seventeen-year-old girl driving her own car would plan to arrive at her destination at a reasonable hour.
She was taken off base by the unexpected question and stammered, “I… I was surprised of course when she didn’t come and didn’t come. But I thought something had delayed her.”
“And you just went calmly to sleep that night,” asked Shayne harshly, “without bothering to call her home to see if she had left on schedule?”
Lois’ chin was set and her eyes flashed angrily as she faced Shayne again. “What right have you to ask me these questions? I had nothing to do with her accident.”
Shayne hesitated a moment, assaying the temperament of the girl beside him. His first impression remained strong. A sensible and trustworthy girl. And loyal to her friend’s memory. If she were concealing anything derogatory, wild horses wouldn’t drag it from her unless she were given a good reason for revealing it.
He said, “I don’t blame you, Lois, but I’m not just snooping for the fun of it. You know Jean Henderson, don’t you?”
“Of course. What about her?”
“I’m afraid she’s in trouble, Lois.”
Amazement and utter disbelief spread over the young girl’s face. She cried, “Jean? I don’t believe it. She’s not the type. She doesn’t… why I just don’t believe it.”
“I don’t know what type,” said Shayne wearily, “you expect to get into trouble, Lois. But I assure you that Jean is. And Brockton is the focal point again.”
“I thought Jean had gone on a cruise with the Larches in Apalachicola.”
“Her father also thinks that,” Shayne told her grimly. “But I saw Jean in Brockton last night. She’s in danger. In deadly danger, Lois. I’m working in the dark and I need any tiny bit of information I can get.”
“But what’s she doing in Brockton?”
“I don’t know. What,” asked Shayne deliberately, “was her younger sister doing in Brockton a month ago?”
“But I’ve told you. She was on her way to visit me.” The girl’s voice was pleading. She avoided Shayne’s eyes, nervously twisting her fingers together in her lap.
“And I don’t believe you,” Shayne told her promptly. “I’m convinced Jean’s presence in Brockton has some connection with her sister’s accident.” He was going out on a limb with that statement, but he had to convince the girl somehow and it was no time for half measures. “I tell you Jean is in danger and you’re the only one who can help me save her.”
There was a little silence after Shayne’s purposefully melodramatic statement. Lois’ face was working and she swallowed back a sob before saying in a low voice, “I don’t see… how it can possibly help Jean for me to tell you. I just don’t see how…”
“Tell me,” said Shayne gently, “and let me decide, Lois. In strict confidence,” he went on. “You’ve bottled it up too long. Jeanette is dead now. But her sister is still alive. Think of her father. He’s lost one daughter already…”
“I… I don’t know.” Blinding tears streamed down Lois’ cheeks. She turned slowly, her girlish face a mask of fright and bewilderment.
Shayne put his right arm tightly about her shaking shoulders and she convulsively buried her face against his shoulder and wept uncontrollably. He held her tightly until the sobbing subsided, then got a clean handkerchief from his left hip pocket and pressed it into her hand.
He said, “Dry your eyes, Lois,” and got out a pack of cigarettes as she drew away shakily and dabbed the handkerchief at her wet cheeks. He held the pack out without looking at her and asked impersonally,
“Want one?”
“N-no thanks. I–I don’t smoke.”
He lit one for himself and went on without looking at her. “What happened to Jeanette may not have a thing in the world to do with Jean. But I have to be sure, Lois. What did happen that night?”
“Why, she had an accident and was killed. You know that. Not right off, but she died during an emergency operation. They said she never recovered consciousness.”
“I know all that, but… tell me the whole truth, Lois.”
“I will.” She spoke thinly, wetting her lips and staring straight ahead through the windshield. “She really wasn’t going to visit me. Except the last couple of days. It was something we fixed up. So her father and Jean wouldn’t know.”
“Wouldn’t know what, Lois?”
“That she was… well, that she was going off for a few days with… with a man. She didn’t tell me outright who it was, but I guessed and she didn’t deny it when I did. Because she had this sweetheart, you see. She was terribly in love with him and they were engaged but her father thought she was too young to be engaged and she was afraid to tell him. And he didn’t like for her to go around with Will. He wouldn’t let him come to their house to see her. It was all so thrilling and romantic. They were sort of going to elope, she said. But she was under-age and couldn’t get married yet. And she had a theory that every couple should… you know…” Lois’ cheeks blazed crimson but she forced herself to turn and meet Shayne’s grave eyes defiantly. “… well, sleep together before they got married. That way, they’d know, you see. Whether they were really suited or not. Anyhow, that’s what Jeanette thought, and she begged me to help her. So I did. She told her father she was coming to visit me all through the vacation and I promised not to give her away.”
“Where did they plan to go?” Shayne asked carefully.
“I don’t know. She didn’t tell me, except they had some place picked out where they’d pretend to be married and no one would ever know.”
“Were they going to take her car?”
“I don’t know. I guess so. I don’t think Will has one of his own.”
Shayne drew in a long breath. “So he was probably with her in the car when it happened.”
“I… I guess maybe he was,” she agreed miserably.
“And you didn’t tell anyone this?”
“Why should I have?” she demanded wildly. “It was done when I first heard. Jeanette was dead. Nothing in the world would change that. I felt so sorry for Professor Henderson. He just adored the ground Jeanette walked on. She was so much like her mother who died three years ago. I couldn’t tell him the truth. Promise me you won’t.”
Shayne said, “I promised that whatever you told me would be in strict confidence. I agree that Professor Henderson must never know if it can possibly be avoided. Now tell me this, Lois. Did Jean know anything about her younger sister’s plan?”
“Gosh no! I’m sure she didn’t. I don’t think she even really knew about Jeanette being engaged. Jeanette wouldn’t dare tell her. Not that Jean’s a prude or anything. She’s just older and… different, sort of. She wouldn’t have understood and she certainly wouldn’t have approved. She would have done something to prevent it if she had known. I just don’t understand about her now,” faltered Lois. “What kind of danger is she in? Why is she in Brockton? Does Professor Henderson know about it?”
“Not yet. He isn’t going to know if I can help it until Jean is safely home. Who is the Will, Jeanette was engaged to?”
“Will… Lomax,” she said unwillingly. “Does he… will you have to tell him I told you?”
Shayne shook his head. “No reason at all for him to know where I got my information. Is he in college here?”
“Oh, no. He’s a town boy. I don’t know him really. I only saw him twice. Jean always slipped off alone when she went out on a date with him.”
“Where will I find him?”
“He lives here in town. I don’t know just where. I’m afraid he has a sort of wild reputation. He’s pretty old,” she confided. “About twenty-two or three, I guess. And he’s got a motorcycle and is a member of some sort of club that go around on their cycles. Jeanette told about riding on it behind him a couple of times on trips and what a thrill it was.”
Shayne said, “I’ll find him in a town the size of Winter Park.” He lifted a big hand and put it on Lois’ shoulder and squeezed gently. “You’ve been wonderful. And a big help. Go on now and try to forget all about it. Don’t worry about having betrayed Jeanette’s confidence. If she were alive, I’m sure she would have done the same for her sister.”
He leaned over behind her and unlatched the door on her side. “When you get engaged to some lucky man, try not to be too impatient. There are long, long years ahead for… what Jeanette didn’t want to wait for.” He felt choked up and paternal as the young girl responded to his advice with a wistful smile and slowly got out. He watched her walk slowly up the pathway toward the dormitory with bowed head, and then pulled away fast to begin his search for Will Lomax.