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just came and took him away a few minutes ago. They say they want to talk to him about the fire.” Nick’s voice was strained. He was just barely managing to keep himself under control.
    “Oh, Nick, that’s awful! They can’t do that! Your father didn’t do it! Is there something we can do?” Trixie knew she was rattling on confusedly, but she couldn’t express her tangled thoughts any more clearly.
    “I need the name of an attorney,” Nick said.
    “Of course, you do,” Trixie agreed. “Dad has already left for the bank, but I’ll call him and ask him whom he can recommend. Then I’ll call you right back.” She pushed down the button to disconnect Nick, released it, and started to dial the bank.
    “What’s going on?”
    Trixie was so lost in her concern for Nick Roberts and his father that the voice sounding close behind her made her jump and whirl around. Both of her brothers were standing there.
    “It was Nick,” Trixie told them. “The police have arrested his father. They think he set fire to his own store!”
    “An abhorrently asinine accusation!” Mart exclaimed angrily.
    Brian winced and shook his head. “I didn’t even want to say it out loud, but given the location of the fire and Mr. Roberts’s previous dealings with criminals, I really was afraid he might be a suspect.”
    “But Nick’s father is innocent!” Trixie said.
    “I agree with you. But obviously the police aren’t so sure. Why did Nick call here?” Brian asked.
    “Gleeps!” Trixie exclaimed, suddenly remembering the telephone receiver in her hand and the all-important call she still hadn’t made. “Nick needs a lawyer. I’m to call Dad and ask for the name of one,” she explained while she dialed.
    “I know just the right person,” Mr. Belden said when Trixie had breathlessly explained the problem. “Pat Murphy, a fine attorney who’s interested injustice and the law. I’ll call and see if Pat’s free. You wait by the phone.”
    Trixie hung up and relayed her father’s message to her brothers. All three of the Beldens stared at the phone through a silence that seemed to stretch on forever. When the ring finally did shatter the stillness, all three of them jumped.
    “Dad?” Trixie asked when she picked up the phone.
    “Pat Murphy is headed over to the jail now. Pat knows the background of the case, of course — everyone in Sleepyside does. The first concern is to find out whether Mr. Roberts has been, or is going to be, charged. Then Pat will see about arranging bail. Do you want to tell Nick?”
    “I certainly do,” Trixie said warmly. “Thanks, Dad. You’re perfectly perfect!”
    Trixie dialed Nick Roberts’s number. “There’s an attorney going over to talk to your father right now,” she told Nick when he answered on the second ring. “Pat Murphy—one of the best, Dad says.”
    “Thank you,” Nick said. He sounded dazed. “I guess I’ll — I think — Dad said to wait here with Mother, but I can’t. I’m going over to the jail, too. Mother will be much more relieved to know I’m doing what I can for Dad.”
    “I think that’s a good idea,” Trixie told him. “Why don’t you let us come pick you up in Brian’s car?” Realizing that she had just committed Brian’s car and both her brothers’ time, she turned to look at them. Her brothers both nodded emphatically before she could even ask the question. “See you in a minute,” she added, putting down the receiver before Nick could protest.
    It was, indeed, only a matter of minutes before the three Beldens were in the car, headed for Nick Roberts’s house. In those minutes there had been hurried explanations to their mother and a pulling on of jackets because of the threat of rain. Trixie wished that there had also been time for a call to the Manor House. In a situation like this, she wanted Honey and Jim nearby. Trixie wasn’t the one in need, though; Nick Roberts was, and his needs had to be put first. She decided she would