The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels (142 page)

Her groping fingers found the switch and she flooded the room with light. A glance revealed that mail lying on the desk had been disturbed. One of the top drawers remained open. The clothes tree had been moved from in front of the hall door. Plainly, someone had just fled from the room!

Darting to the corridor door, Penny jerked it open. No one was in sight. However, at the end of the deserted hall, she saw the elevator cage moving slowly downward.

“I’ll get that fellow yet!” she thought grimly.

Taking the hall at a run, she plunged down the stairway two steps at a time. Breathless but triumphant, she reached the lower corridor just as the cage stopped with a jerk.

Harley Schirr stepped out, closing the grilled door behind him.

“Fancy meeting you here!” said Penny, her eyes flashing. “What were you doing in my father’s office?”

Schirr regarded her coolly. Without answering, he tried to brush past her.

“You were looking for something in Dad’s desk!”Penny accused, blocking the way. “I know how you got in too! Through the hall entrance. You’re such a professional snooper you probably have a skeleton key that unlocks half the doors in the building!”

“I’ve had about enough of your insolence!” Schirr retorted. “There’s no law which says I can’t come to this plant. And speaking of law, I may sue you for libel.”

“What a laugh.”

“You’ll not be laughing in a few days, Miss Parker! Oh, no! I’ve hired a lawyer, and we’re preparing our case. You’ve insulted me, humiliated me in the eyes of my fellow newspapermen, but you’ll have to pay. And pay handsomely!”

The threat failed to disturb Penny. Schirr, determined to wound her deeply, went on with grim satisfaction.

“You kid yourself you’ll see your father again,” he jeered. “Well, you won’t! Mr. Parker is dead and you may as well get used to the idea.”

Penny’s eyes burned. “You say that only to torture me!”

“It’s the truth. If you weren’t so blind you’d acknowledge it. Your father tried to run a gang of professional tire-thieves out of this town, and they did for him.”

“You seem very certain of your facts, Mr. Schirr. Perhaps you know some of the higher-ups personally.”

“How would I?”

“Your knowledge is so complete,” Penny said scathingly.

“I’m only telling you my opinion,” Schirr growled, now on the defensive. “If you want to ride along in a sweet dream that’s Okay with me.”

“I want to get at the truth,” said Penny shortly. “Do you have one scrap of evidence that Dad has fallen into the hands of enemies?”

Schirr hesitated, knowing well that an affirmative answer might lead to questioning from the police.

“I don’t have any knowledge of the case,” he said. “At least not for publication!”

Flashing a superior smile, he pushed past Penny, and went out of the building.

CHAPTER 16

A DOOR IN A BOX

Penny scarcely knew what to think of Harley Schirr’s actions. All her accusations were true, of that she was sure. But she was unable to decide whether or not he had any information about her father’s strange disappearance.

“The old snooper may be hand in glove with the tire thieves!” she thought bitterly. “I wouldn’t put it past him. If I could prove anything, wouldn’t I like to turn him over to the police!”

Climbing the stairs, Penny explained briefly to the
Star
deskman what had occurred.

“Shirr here again!” he exclaimed. “Why, I’m sure he never came through the newsroom.”

“No, he got into Dad’s office by means of that old hall door. Tomorrow I want a new lock put on.”

“I’ll have it taken care of myself,” promised the deskman.

Reentering her father’s office, Penny gathered up the mail and carefully locked both doors. She then returned to the waiting taxicab. During the ride home she made no mention of Mr. Schirr, preferring not to worry the housekeeper.

Later in Mr. Parker’s study, she and Mrs. Weems examined every letter written in response to the reward offer. Not even one of them offered the slightest promise.

“I’ll turn everything over to the police,” Penny said with a sigh. “Maybe they’ll find a clue I’ve not considered important.”

Both she and Mrs. Weems were feeling the effects of such a long period of strain. Meals had been irregular, appetites poor. Penny in particular had lost so much weight that she looked thin and sallow. Yet somehow she managed to keep up her strength and to face each day with hope.

“Mrs. Weems,” she said the next morning at breakfast,“if you’ll advance me some money, I’m going on another taxi jaunt today.”

“Not to the Harrison place.”

“No, out to Mattie Williams’ garage. I’m convinced that place is dealing in stolen tires. If only I can reconstruct the evidence which disappeared in Dad’s portfolio, I may get a clue that will lead to him.”

Without protest, Mrs. Weems gave Penny the money. Secretly she thought that the girl would do much better to turn all of her information over to the police. However, she realized that Penny needed activity to keep her from brooding, so she wisely did not discourage her.

“Don’t get into any trouble,” she warned anxiously.

“No danger of that, Mrs. Weems. I’ve not enough pep for it these days.”

Engaging the same cabman who had served her so well the previous night, Penny motored to the Williams’garage. She had made no plans and scarcely knew what she would say when she entered the place. As she debated, the big doors of the building opened, and a tow car drove away with Mattie at the wheel.

“There she goes!” thought Penny, disappointed. “I’m afraid my interview will have to wait.”

Getting out, she sauntered into the garage office. Mattie’s partner, Sam, was nowhere to be seen. Nor did he appear to be working in the main part of the building.

Penny waited a few minutes, then wandered about the floor where a number of cars had been stored. No workmen were in evidence.

“This might be a good time to do a bit of looking around!” she thought suddenly. “I’ll never have a better chance.”

Penny opened the doors into the room where she had observed Sam Burkholder mount a new tire on the car of a customer. One wall was stacked high with large wooden boxes, not unlike those she and Louise had seen delivered by the truck driver, Hank Biglow, on the night of the blizzard.

She thumped one of the boxes with her knuckles. It gave off a hollow, empty sound. She tried another box with no better luck. Some of the big crates had been opened. They contained nothing except a little brown wrapping paper.

Disappointed, Penny turned away. But as she moved toward the exit, her eyes flashed upon one of the boxes which had escaped her attention. Boards were loose at one end, and could be hinged back on their nails like a door.

Intrigued, Penny crossed to the crate. As she pulled on one of the boards, all swung back as a unit.

“Why, it’s like a door!” she thought. “A door in a box!”

Penny gazed into the box and was further amazed. It had no back wall. Instead, she saw a long, empty tunnel formed by several crates piled one in front of the other. And at the very end stood a real door!

“Maybe this is the pay-off!” thought Penny excitedly.

Pulling the boards into place behind her, she stooped and made her way through the tunnel to the door. It was locked.

“I’ll bet a cent stolen tires are stored in that room!” reasoned Penny. “If only I could get in there!”

Her mind did not dwell long on the problem. A moment later she was alarmed to hear a low murmur of voices. Someone was approaching the storage room from the main part of the garage. Unless she wished to be trapped in the tunnel of boxes, she must abandon the investigation!

Penny started hurriedly toward the opening. Before she could get through the tunnel, the big double doors squeaked open and she heard heavy footsteps in the room. Peering out through a knothole in one of the boxes, she saw Mattie Williams and her partner, Sam. They were arguing and their voices came to her plainly:

“Guess you didn’t look for me back quite so soon, Sam,” Mattie reprimanded her partner. “When I went off in the tow car you figured I’d be gone a long time. Thought it would give you a good chance to tamper with the books!”

“That’s not so, Mattie. I was marking up some expenses like I always do.”

“I’ve been aiming to have a straight talk with you for a long time, Sam,” the woman resumed. “That’s why I asked you to step back here in the storage room. No use having the customers know about our differences.”

“I don’t see what you’ve got to squawk about,” Sam retorted. “Ain’t you made more money since I teamed up with you than you ever did before?”

“Yes.”

“But you’re always afraid I’ll cheat you out of a penny.”

“I’ve caught you in some dishonest tricks. About those tires—”

A loud, insistent tooting of an automobile horn broke up the conversation. Abandoning the argument, Mattie and Sam went to serve the impatient customer.

Penny did not tarry. Crawling from the tunnel, she glanced about for a means of escape. Fortunately, the room had an outside exit. Making use of it, she returned to the waiting taxi, without seeing either Sam or Mattie again.

“Police station, Joe,” she instructed.

“How do you want to go?” the cab driver inquired. “This road or No. 32?”

“Let’s drive past the old Harrison place.”

“Sure,” grinned Joe. “Maybe we’ll see that spook again!”

The cab bumped along the frozen road, soon coming within view of the hillside estate. Joe slowed down without being requested to do so.

“I was tellin’ the boys about that place last night,” he flung over his shoulder. “They tell me the owner is this guy Deming. He’s gone East for the winter. A big, fat, bald-headed man.”

“Our ghost was a thin person.”

“Yeah, I was thinking that,” agreed Joe. “Maybe Deming’s got a sick relative or something.”

The explanation did not satisfy Penny. With troubled eyes she gazed toward the rambling old house which by daylight looked so deserted. No smoke curled from the chimneys. Had it not been for a trail of footprints along the fence, she easily could have convinced herself that she had imagined the events of the previous night.

“Say, who’s that trackin’ through the fields?” Joe suddenly demanded.

Penny turned to glance in the direction that the cabman pointed. Her heart did a little flip-flop. A woman in a long black coat, market basket on her arm, was hastening toward the rear door of the estate house.

“Stop the cab, Joe!” she cried.

The car came to a halt with a little sideways skid. Leaping out, Penny plunged through the drifts and was able to confront the woman at the rear gate of the premises.

“How do you do,” she greeted her breathlessly.

The woman was so startled that she nearly dropped her market basket. Confused, she stammered a reply and started to unlock the gate.

“Just a moment, please,” requested Penny. “May I come inside and talk to you?”

“About what?”

“My father’s disappearance. You made an appointment to meet me at the cemetery. Why did you run away?”

The bold attack was not without an effect. The woman gasped, and fumbled nervously with the key to the padlock.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she muttered.

“Unless you tell me everything you know regarding my father’s disappearance, I’ll call the police!”

“The police—” the woman repeated, plainly frightened.

“Yes,” Penny went on relentlessly, “this is a serious matter. It will do you no good to bluff.”

The woman gave up trying to unlock the gate. Setting her basket down in the snow she said weakly:“You advertised a reward—”

“I’ll still be glad to pay it for worthwhile information. What do you know about my father?”

The woman drew a deep breath. “Well, I picked him up in my car after the accident.”

“You did?” Penny became jubilant. “Where is he now?”

“I can’t tell you that. Mr. Parker asked me to take him to Mercy Hospital. I let him off at the entrance to the grounds. That’s the last I saw of him.”

“My father entered the hospital?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t remain to watch.”

The story was disappointing. If true, Mr. Parker’s disappearance remained as mysterious as ever. Penny was silent a moment and then she asked the woman why she had fled from the cemetery.

“Because I saw a police car parked behind the bushes,” the other answered defiantly. “And those detectives chased me, too! I only intended to be helpful and maybe win a reward. Now I want nothing to do with the case. I’ve told you everything I know.”

The woman unlocked the gate and started to enter the grounds.

“You’re not Mrs. Deming?” Penny asked quickly.

“Who I am is my own business.”

“I suppose the ghost is your own affair too!”