Chapter 16 JO!
Dick and Julian went back to Kirrin Cottage with the two disconsolate¹ dogs. They showed Anne thethings they had found, and she too puzzled over the word Gringo.
'We'll have to tell the police what you have discovered,' she said. 'They might trace the car, and theymight know who or what Gringo is.'
'I'll telephone them now,' said Julian. 'Dick, you go down to the garage with this sketch² of the tyre-mark, and see if it's an American design.'
The police were interested but not helpful. The sergeant³ said he would send his constable⁴ up toexamine the place where the car had stood in the clearing, and gave it as his opinion that the bit ofpaper wasn't much use, as the boys had found it some way from the turning-place of the car.
'Your cousin wouldn't be able to throw it out of the window once the car was going,' he said.
'There would be sure to be someone in the back with her. The only reason she could throw things outat the clearing would be because the second fellow - and there would certainly be two -would be guiding the other man in the turning of the car.'
'The wind might have blown the note along the path,' said Julian. 'Anyway, I've given you theinformation.'
It was a very miserable⁵ day, although the sun shone down warmly, and the sea was blue and mostinviting. But nobody wanted to bathe, nobody really wanted to do anything but talk and talk aboutGeorge and what had happened, and where she could be at that moment!
Joan came back in time to get their lunch, and was pleased to find that Anne had done the potatoesand prepared a salad, and that Dick had managed to pick some raspberries. They were very glad tosee Joan. She was someone sensible and comforting and matter-of-fact.
'Well, Miss Jane is now safely in my cousin's cottage,' she said. 'She was very miserable but I told hershe must smile and play about, else the neighbours would wonder about her. I put her into some ofJo's clothes - they fitted her all right. Hers are too expensive-looking, and would make people talk!'
They told Joan what they had discovered in the clearing that morning. She took the note and lookedat it. 'Gringo!' she said. 'That's a queer word - sounds like a gypsy word to me. It's a pity Jo isn't here- she might tell us what it means!'

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