“What are you talking about, Kitty? It’s absurd blaming yourself for his illness. You’ve taken excellent care of him ever since you came from school.” “But, Dad, we went out into the marshes where they dump the hospital waste.” “You—what?” Her father stared at her, shocked. Then she could see by his expression that he was recalling their conversation about the disposal of the hospital waste. “That’s why I asked you where they dumped it. I went there Saturday afternoon.” “You and Billy alone?” She nodded. “But I had a good reason for wanting to go, Dad, a very good reason.” He looked puzzled, but his tone was not unkind when he said, “I can’t imagine any reason that would take a sensitive girl like you out to a dump pile.” “I know you think I’m crazy. But it’s a long story and I’ll have to start at the beginning.” “Well, sit back calmly and stop twisting that pillow.” Kitty tossed the pillow to the other end of the couch and burst into tears. “Oh Dad, I’ve been so miserable for the last twenty-four hours I could die. It’s all because I’m too proud. I wanted to do something big for my country—something spectacular. I’ve let it make me indifferent to everything else.” “You’re doing what you can, Kitten, in your Canteen work.” “Yes, I love that, but I wanted to do even more. I thought I could uncover the work of some saboteurs. I—I tried even to keep it all from you, to do it all myself, that is Brad and I.” “Kitty, calm yourself,” her father said almost severely. “You’re being very incoherent. Tell me what all this is about.” “I hardly know where to start to make you understand why I’ve been so secret about it.” “The place to start is at the beginning. I suppose all this has happened since you came home from college.” “Yes, of course. In fact the very day I decided to go into Canteen work.” Then she told him of her experience in the launch when she had introduced Hazel and Lieutenant Cary. “That was the first hint I had that something was wrong somewhere. Brad was with me, and in on it from the very beginning.” “So you’ve been suspicious of Lieutenant Cary since then. Has anything else occurred to justify such suspicions?” asked Mr. Carter, viewing his daughter’s confession more seriously now. “Oh, lots of things—that is with people also closely associated with him.” Then she told about Punaro and her belief that he was connected with the cannery fire, and later their coming unexpectedly upon him at the dock. “It looked to both Brad and me that he was hiding a tightly nailed box with the rubbish on the barge.” “Um-m,” grunted her father significantly. “Dad, that’s why I wanted to go out to the dump pile and see what the situation was for myself.” Her father had risen and was now pacing the floor. He turned toward her sharply and said, “Surely you didn’t go ashore there?” “Oh, no, we only rode by it.”