“If we climb up over this way, the hill isn’t so steep, and I can bring the car around,” Nelson offered. “Then it’s back to Echo. I had a feeling that I hadn’t seen the last of that burg.”
4. Echo
DESPITE ITS SMALL SIZE, ECHO HAD A COMMUnity hospital, toward which Nelson was directed. Now that the first shock was wearing off, Mr. Prentice admitted to feeling some bruises. As Ted and Nelson waited in the corridor, he was given an emergency examination. Then he came out into the corridor to tell them the results.
“Nothing broken, but the doctor wants me to stay overnight as a precautionary measure. That seems overly cautious to me, but of course it’s their job to be careful. He’s telephoning the sheriff’s office right now, and they’ll probably send a man out. Don’t leave until you’ve talked to him, since he’ll want to get your account of the accident, too.”
“Anything we can do, about the car or anything else?” Ted volunteered.
“No, Ted, I don’t think so. There’s a garage here in Echo, and I’ll telephone while I’m waiting and make the necessary arrangements. And I’ll have to cancel my appointment with my attorney in Forestdale. He’s Mr. Waring. Do you know him?”
The boys nodded.
“He wanted to go over my testimony for the hearing tomorrow, but I guess we probably won’t make it now. That’s all right by me. I surely haven’t anything to hide. I just hope the whole truth comes out. By the way, Ted, is it all right for me to give him your name, just in case he should want more information about the accident, or anything else you might be able to help with?”
“Of course, Mr. Prentice. I just wish we could do something more for you. It doesn’t seem right to leave you here alone in the hospital.”
“Nonsense. I owe you boys a great deal already, and don’t think I don’t appreciate it.”
Fortunately he knew better than to offer them a reward, and so saved the boys the embarrassment of refusing. While Mr. Prentice made his calls, Ted, in another phone booth, called the Town Crier office, explaining the delay. Once he was certain neither of the boys was injured, Mr. Dobson asked them to stay in Echo as long as they could help Mr. Prentice.
When the policeman arrived on a motorcycle, Mr. Prentice was being formally admitted to the hospital, so the officer spoke with the boys first. Ted really had very little to tell, having seen nothing until the car had already left the road. Nelson’s account was a little more complete. He knew the color of the other car, and thought he knew the make, but admitted he wasn’t positive about it. He didn’t have the license number, of course. And though Nelson made it clear that the other car was at fault, he said nothing to indicate that the incident had been deliberate. Ted had already advised him it would be better not to make any wild charges he couldn’t support. Anyway, leaving the scene of an accident was already a serious enough charge.
The boys would have liked to see Mr. Prentice once more before leaving, but the officer was with him now, and a hospital attendant told them the patient could have no more visitors until evening. Rather reluctantly they set out for Forestdale.
“I didn’t see much sense at first in the two cars sticking together,” Nelson remarked, “but this time it was pretty useful—like the buddy system at camp.”
“You still think it was done deliberately?” Ted inquired.
Nelson nodded. “All I can tell you is what I saw, and that’s the way it looked to me. What about you, Ted?”
“I might believe it if I could see any sense to it. I don’t see how it accomplished anything.”
“Oh, a man like Mr. Prentice must have dozens of enemies. And if this was one of them, he played it mighty rough. You knew he was going to Forestdale, so I suppose other people could have known it, too.”
“Yes, I expect so. It was mentioned in the paper that he had an appointment in Stanton Thursday morning, and of course he had a court hearing in Forestdale Friday morning, so the time he would be making the trip could be pinned down quite accurately. But if it were deliberate, do you think the car could have followed us all the way from Stanton?”
“No, I don’t. Traffic was pretty light, and I could often see long, empty stretches back of me. I think that car must have picked us up in Echo.”
At the office a dozen odd jobs awaited Ted, and Nelson was also given a few errands which kept him hopping. Mr. Dobson and Miss Monroe had further questions about the accident, which Ted readily answered.
“You think he’ll be able to get to the hearing tomorrow morning?” asked the editor.
“He said he would, and the doctor seemed to think so, too.”
“How’d you like to cover the hearing for the paper, Ted?” inquired Mr. Dobson suddenly.
Ted was hardly surprised, but very much pleased. “Fine! But I thought you’d want to handle it yourself, Mr. Dobson.”
“I did plan on it, but I find a number of different things have come up, and it’ll be better for me to be here at the office where I can keep my finger on them. You needn’t report here in the morning, but if you should find a break around the middle of the morning, call in. I’d like to be posted on how things are going.”
Although Mr. Dobson undoubtedly was busy, Ted knew he must have had confidence in Ted’s judgment or else he would have arranged to get there himself. So, for Ted, the working day ended on a happy note, in spite of their troubles. Nelson, too, admitted he was satisfied with his day’s work.
“If Mr. Prentice had been alone, he might have been trapped there for hours before someone found him. I’m glad we could help him.”
Because of the pressure of their holiday schedule, Ted was obliged to take some work home from the office with him. He sat down to it soon after supper, but had not proceeded very far before the telephone rang.
“Ted, this is Mr. Waring, Mr. Prentice’s attorney.”
“Yes, Mr. Waring. Mr. Prentice told me you might call.”
“I’ve just had a long talk with Mr. Prentice by telephone, and I’ve had some bad news.”
“Is he worse?” asked Ted anxiously.
“Oh, no, he’s all right—physically. But that accident has put us in a bad hole, and he’s worried about it. Did he tell you that he was carrying a microfilm of union records?”
“Well, yes, I think he did mention it,” Ted recollected.
“Do you happen to know where he carried it?”
“No, he didn’t say.”
“It was in the door pocket—the door opposite the driver’s seat. Later he checked with the garage, and they couldn’t find it. He thinks it must have been thrown out of the car.”
“I thought the doors were jammed shut.”
“Apparently not. He thinks the right-hand door was sprung open as the car careened over, but that it finally
