The oncoming vehicle left Jane Darcy momentarily blind from its lights, fortunately the driver was fast on the brakes and had been paying attention; as they skid to a stop and swerved to the side.
“Jane, Jane is that you?” Called a familiar voice; Jane soon identified it as Margaret’s father, Mr. Sullivan.
The old gentleman had gotten out of the car, followed by Margaret; Jane’s chum whom she had left in the dark outside of Sadie’s house.
“We’ve been looking all over for you!” Margaret cried.
“How glad I am to see you!” Jane Darcy sighed with relief.
“Jane you look dreadful! There are sticks in your hair, your skirt is torn, and my goodness, what is that you’re holding?” Margaret’s eyes were wide with curiosity.
“I’ve had the most thrilling time, Margaret; first there was this jacket, I picked it up by mistake-“
“Wait until we get home girls,” Mr. Sullivan interrupted, “It’s almost four in the morning.”
“Dad had already come looking for us,” said Margaret, “I met up with him about ten minutes after Sadie showed up. I never saw you come back around the house, so we decided to start searching. Knowing you Jane, I thought for sure you were out of trouble and in the clear!”
Jane laughed as they all got back in the car, and started for home. After such a strenuous day, she felt she deserved a long rest; and didn’t even want to think of another loose end to this strange mystery.
The next morning, once Jane had packed away her belongings and comfortably settled into her surroundings; she sat at the back porch table with Margaret and discussed the previous day’s events.
“With Sadie harboring a criminal, and a dangerous gang in the vicinity; I think we should contact the sheriff and tell him what’s going on.” Margaret said.
“We can’t do that,” Jane objected, “Without evidence, it won’t make any difference; and if we expose them, they might just skip town and set up somewhere else.”
Margaret slumped down in the chair and moaned,
“What about your camera? What if that man finds out who it belongs to, and comes looking for you?”
Jane Darcy furrowed her eyebrows and gazed at the mangy jacket they had laid on the table for inspection.
“I’ll take my chances,” she said, “I have a feeling if we lay low, we’ll gather more than enough evidence to put this gang away for good.”
Taking out the shredded piece of paper from her purse that they had taped back together, she gazed at the name once more.
“Ted, Ted Hayden!” Jane exclaimed, “Sadie kept referring to the man in the house as Ted; I wonder if it’s the same person.”
“Now that’s an idea!” Margaret took the paper and skimmed through it aloud, “Ted Hayden, jewelry theft… if only we had more information on him.”
Jane Darcy had searched the pockets of the jacket several times; but as she was folding it up to set it off the table she noticed a bulge in the back. Feeling both sides of the fabric, there was clearly something inside; in a hidden pocket.
“Margaret, this is odd.” Jane said, peeling back an inner seam to reveal the opening of a deep pocket, she pulled out a roll with undeveloped film on it. “This is clearly from a camera, but why would it be concealed in this invisible pocket?”
“It’s something this Ted character didn’t want others to find…” Margaret said softly. “Why don’t we get it developed and see what’s on it?”
Something about the whole affair made Jane a little uneasy. She gently placed the film roll in her purse next to the paper, and clasped it.
“Whatever is going on here, there’s more to it than meets the eye. I think it’s time we found out more about Sadie too. Let’s head to town and get this film developed, and find out where Shady Sadie haunts during the daylight!”