The Case of the Vanishing Boy Read Online Free PDF Page A

little church talked to later. The kid ran down through those woods by the park, and I figured he might stop at the church when he got caught in the rain.”
    Sergeant Bricker paused a moment, then said accusingly, “Now kindly tell me why you say he isn’t the Riggs boy, when he told Father Dancy that Riggs was his name!”
    â€œBecause,” Heron Rhodes said gently, “he really isn’t the Riggs boy at all, in spite of what he told the priest. My sister and I examined him, and we know. We are medical specialists. The boy is confused, and he’s obviously been through a shocking ordeal of some kind. And it’s just as obvious that there’s nothing criminal or dangerous about him.”
    â€œBut he attacked a guard and stole—”
    â€œSelf-preservation. I also once attacked a guard and appropriated certain articles in order to stay alive. Sergeant, there’s something rotten behind this I don’t like. I don’t like it at all! If you can’t smell a fish by this time—”
    â€œOh, I smell a fish all right—and he’s lying right in yonder in that big bed! The kid’s probably faking it! They warned me about him—said he was as smart and sly as they come. They said—”
    â€œSergeant, forget what they said. Just listen to me—”
    â€œYou listen to me! I don’t want to be hard-headed, but you two are stuck out here in the country, lost in your research, and you don’t know what’s going on in the world. If you could see some of the lousy punks I’ve had to handle—and they all look so innocent that butter wouldn’t melt in their dirty mouths. I’m trying to tell you you’ve got a monster on your hands. If you’re fools enough to keep him for the night, don’t blame me for what happens!”
    There came the angry thump of retreating footsteps, followed by the explosive slam of the heavy front door. Seconds later Jan heard a car motor start up and roar away down the lane.
    Heron Rhodes called, “Jan, come on out. Everybody back to the conference table. We’ve work to do!”
    It was getting late and Jan had been on the edge of exhaustion, but the jangling shock of Sergeant Bricker’s visit had driven away all thought of rest. As he took his seat in the kitchen he looked uneasily at Ginny, and was rewarded by a quick smile. The smile suddenly astounded him, for he had momentarily forgotten she was blind.
    â€œBut I’m not really blind,” she reminded him, instantly picking up his thought. “I’m just able to see in a different way. We—we’re all sort of different here, as you’ll find out, so, well—you tell him, Aunt Heck.”
    â€œShe’s trying to say that you’re one of us,” Hecuba told him. “And you are, my dear. You fill a void that—”
    She was interrupted by Heron Rhodes saying, “First, I want everybody’s impressions. Then we’ll—hey, where in double tarnation is Otis?”
    â€œComin’” said Otis, hurrying into the kitchen and climbing upon his double cushions. “I was just tryin’ to see the van.”
    â€œEh? What van?”
    â€œThe white one,” the small boy said matter-of-factly, blinking owlishly at nothing as if looking into the distance. “It was down at the end of the lane, sort of waiting. It’s gone now.”
    â€œI’ll bet it wasn’t the bakery van,” Hecuba Rhodes commented, with a lift of her eyebrows.
    â€œNaw. It was the same one that was waiting at the station when Ginny came with Jan.”
    Heron Rhodes scowled and drummed on the table with his long fingers. “I don’t like this,” he muttered. “I don’t like it one little bit. Ginny, what did you pick up from Bricker?”
    â€œSomething about a favor, Pops. Oh, he’s honest. I mean, he wouldn’t take a bribe. But he’s been made