The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels (53 page)

“Hello, Sade. I was wonderin’ about Pete myself. Just got here a minute ago.”

The woman’s gaze fastened upon the key which had been left in the bell tower door.

“Say, what’s coming off here?” she demanded. “You were trying to get inside!”

“Now don’t ruffle your feathers, Sade,” the man said soothingly. “I was only testing the door to make sure it was locked.”

“I’ll bet! You were aiming to break in! Slippery, they sure named you right. Why, you’d double-cross your own mother!”

“Oh, quiet down,” the man retorted angrily. “I only came here to make sure Pete was on the job. The lazy loafer has skipped out and left the place unguarded.”

The woman deliberately seated herself in a chair beside the bell tower door.

“I’m parking here until Pete shows up,” she announced. “Maybe you’re on the square, Slippery, but I don’t trust you.”

“Thanks for your flattering opinion,” the man responded mockingly. “You give me a pain, Sade. I do all the dangerous work, and what do I get? A measly ten per cent.”

“Plus what you stick in your pocket when you’re on a job,” the woman shot back with rising anger. “You’ve been doing pretty well for yourself, Slippery—you and Al. But the boys are getting wise. From now on it may not be so easy. Better play fair with the rest of us—or else.”

“You always did have a wagging tongue,” the man retorted. “Always trying to stir up trouble. Don’t you realize we’ve got to work together or we’ll be jailed separately? Our ranks must be united.”

“Gettin’ sort of jittery, ain’t you?”

“Maybe you haven’t been reading those editorials in the
Star
.”

“Sure, I read them and get a big laugh. This guy Parker has to blow off steam. Nothing will come of it.”

“The police have visited this place once already.”

“And what did they find? Nothing.”

“That’s no guarantee they won’t try again. I tell you this town is getting too hot for comfort.”

“Figurin’ on blowing?” the woman inquired, watching him shrewdly.

Slippery’s laughter had an unpleasant edge. “You sure do get ideas, Sade. Don’t start peddling that line of talk. Understand?”

“I hear.”

Suddenly losing his temper, the man strode nearer, seizing her arm.

“Just start something and see where you wake up!” he said harshly. “One word to Pete or any of the boys and you won’t do any more pretty fortune telling!”

The woman jerked her arm free, gazing at the man in sullen silence. Nor did she speak as he left the Temple, slamming the door behind him.

CHAPTER 19

PENNY INVESTIGATES

Penny debated whether or not to follow Slippery. Deciding that she should try to keep him within sight, she abandoned her post beneath the window and ran to the front of the building.

Already the young man was far down the lane, walking rapidly. Before Penny could overtake him he hailed a taxi and drove away. By the time she obtained another cab, pursuit was futile.

“To the
Star
office,” Penny ordered the driver.

Although Slippery had eluded her, she did not feel that her morning’s work had been wasted. She believed that her father would be very much interested in a report of her findings.

“It’s evident that Slippery is connected with Al Gepper and various mediums of the Celestial Temple,” she reflected. “I am sure, too, that he’s the one who broke into our house, but to prove it may not be so easy.”

Penny had not fully understood the conversation which she had overheard between Slippery and Sade. That they distrusted each other was evident, but why had the woman feared Slippery might break into the bell tower during the guard’s absence?

“Something of great value to the organization must be kept there,” she reasoned. “But what can it be?”

Penny believed that her father would not delay in requesting police to search the bell tower of the Celestial Temple. However, a disappointment awaited her.

Upon arriving at the newspaper office DeWitt stopped her as she went past his desk.

“Don’t go in there,” he said, jerking his thumb toward Mr. Parker’s private room.

“Why not?” asked Penny in surprise. “Is Dad having a conference?”

DeWitt nodded as he composed a two column headline. “With J. P. Henley.”

“The
Star
’s Sugar Daddy?”

“Our biggest advertiser. He’s threatening to go over to the
Record
.”

“Why, that’s serious!”

“It is if he quits the
Star
. The old man—Mr. Parker—” DeWitt corrected hastily, “has been trying to soften him up for the past two hours. Whatever you do, don’t bust in there now.”

“I won’t, Mr. DeWitt, but I did wish to see Dad.”

“Anything I can do for you?”

Penny hesitated. “Well, I wanted to talk to him about something I learned today at the Celestial Temple.”

“Oh, yes,” nodded the city editor, his attention on a sheet of copy. “Mr. Parker is handling the campaign personally. Sorry I can’t be of service.”

Rather startled by DeWitt’s unusual politeness, Penny glanced hopefully toward Jerry Livingston’s desk. It was littered with papers, but quite deserted.

With a sigh she left the building and walked to Dorr Street where she had left her maroon car. Upon reaching home she found that Mrs. Weems was not there and she had forgotten her own key. For a time she sat disconsolately on the front porch. Then she decided to go to the Hudell Garage where Leaping Lena had been left for repairs three days earlier.

The car was ready, and with it a bill for eight dollars and forty-two cents.

“I’ll have to give you a dollar on account and pay the remainder next week,” said Penny. “Or would you rather keep the car as a deposit?”

“Give me the dollar,” said the garage man hastily.

Penny became even more depressed as she drove the automobile home. Not for the world would she openly admit that she had made a mistake in repurchasing Lena. Secretly she acknowledged that two cars were an unbearable financial drain upon slender resources.

Turning into her own street, Penny saw Mrs. Weems walking toward home, and stopped for her.

“I’ve just come from the Hodges’,” the housekeeper commented, climbing into the car.

“You have?” inquired Penny eagerly. “Did you learn anything?”

“No, I didn’t. Mr. Gepper seemed very unwilling to conduct another séance. He acted so different this time—almost as if he bore me a personal grudge.”

“He’s probably provoked because your inheritance eluded him.”

“He did tell Mrs. Hodges that he doubted I had any money,” Mrs. Weems responded.

“What happened at the séance?”

“Why, nothing. The table moved and we heard a few raps. That was all.”

“No message from Cousin David?”

“Not a word or a sign. Mr. Gepper seemed very indifferent about it all. He said he couldn’t give me another appointment unless I paid for it.”

“What do you think about him now?” Penny asked curiously. “Don’t you agree with Dad and me that he was after your money?”

“Yes, I was very silly,” the housekeeper acknowledged. “Mrs. Hodges has begun to lose faith in him, too. She says he’s been bringing all sorts of folks to her place. When she told him she didn’t care to have the house over-run with strangers, he became very unpleasant.”

“You mean he threatened her?”

“In a mild way. He told her that he would stay as long as he pleased and she could do nothing about it. Mrs. Hodges is afraid to go to the police for fear she’ll be arrested with Mr. Gepper.”

“I wonder if he ever has charged for his séances?”Penny said thoughtfully.

“I am sure he has, Penny. Of course I have no proof.”

“Mrs. Weems, you must go there again this afternoon,”Penny urged. “Insist upon another séance, and pay him for it! Then you’ll be able to testify as a witness against him!”

“But I don’t wish to go into court,” the housekeeper protested. “Besides, Mr. Gepper won’t be at the cottage this afternoon.”

“Where is he going?” Penny questioned alertly.

“I don’t know. I heard him tell Mrs. Hodges he would be gone this afternoon, but would return for an eight o’clock séance.”

“Why, that’s fine—wonderful!” chuckled Penny.

Mrs. Weems gazed at the girl with sudden suspicion. “Now what have you thought up?” she demanded.

“Nothing alarming,” grinned Penny. “I merely plan to visit Mr. Gepper’s studio during his absence. Who knows, I may yet master a few of the finer points of ghost-making!”

CHAPTER 20

INSIDE THE CABINET

Despite Mrs. Weems’ protests, Penny remained firm in her decision to investigate Mr. Gepper’s studio. She ate a belatedly prepared lunch and did not reach the Hodges’ cottage until nearly four o’clock, having driven there in Lena.

The doors were closed and Penny knocked several times without receiving a response.

“Everyone must have gone away,” she thought. “Oh, dear, now what shall I do?”

Penny reasoned that it was of vital importance for her to inspect Al Gepper’s room during his absence. She might never have another opportunity. Yet she hesitated to enter the house while the Hodges were away, even though she felt certain the seamstress would not mind.

Walking to the rear, Penny noticed that the porch screen had been left unfastened. Entering the kitchen, she called Mrs. Hodges’ name but received no answer.

“If I wait for her to come home it may be too late,” decided Penny. “This is an emergency.”

Her mind made up, she took the stairs two at a time to Al Gepper’s room. Her knock went unanswered. Satisfied that he was not there, she tried the door and found it unlocked.

Penny raised a blind to flood light into the darkened room. Save that a film of dust covered the furniture, everything was approximately the same as she had last seen it.

Her gaze fell upon two suitcases which had been pushed beneath the bed. The first contained only miscellaneous clothing. The second merited a more careful inspection.

Almost at once Penny came upon an old faded picture, the one of Cousin David which Mrs. Weems had given to the photographer’s “agent.”

“So that was how it was done!” she thought. “Al Gepper sent one of his confederates to see Mrs. Weems and obtain information about her cousin. The painting which appeared so miraculously during the séance was merely a copy of this! Even so, how was it painted so quickly?”

Forgetting the picture for a moment, Penny picked up several newspaper clippings which were fastened together with a rubber band. All had been taken from the obituary column and concerned the death of well-to-do Riverview persons.

“Al Gepper and his pals are ghouls!” Penny told herself. “They prey upon the relatives of persons who have died, realizing that at such a time it will be much easier to interest them in trying to communicate with the departed!”

Lifting a tray from the suitcase, her attention focused upon a small red booklet. As she turned rapidly through it, a folded sheet of paper fell to the floor.

Examining it, Penny saw a long list of names, together with pertinent information about each person. Not only was the address and financial standing of the individual given, but the deceased relatives in each family and other facts of a personal nature. The list had been mimeographed.

“This must be a ‘sucker’ list!” thought Penny. “No wonder it’s easy for a medium to find victims and tell them astonishing facts.”

Thrusting the paper into her pocket, she turned her attention to the wardrobe closet. Al Gepper’s clothes hung in orderly rows from the hangers. Behind them, half hidden from view, was a small box.

Pulling it to the window, Penny examined the contents. There were many bottles filled with chemicals, the names of which were unfamiliar. She noted a bottle of varnish, another of zinc white, and some photographic paper in a sealed envelope.

A glance satisfying her, she replaced the box and next turned her attention to the cabinet behind the large circular table. Here she was richly rewarded as her gaze fell upon a banjo.

“The same one which played during Mrs. Weems’séance!” she thought. “We were able to see it in the dark because it’s covered with luminous paint. But what made it rise into the air, and how could it play without the aid of human hands?”

Penny examined the instrument closely. She chuckled as she discovered a tiny phonograph with a record built into its back side. As she pressed a control lever, it began a stringed version of “Down Upon the Swanee River.”

Quickly turning it off, she inspected other objects in the cabinet. At once she found a rod which could be extended to a height of five feet.

“That’s how the banjo was raised!” she reasoned. “And by use of this rod it would be easy to make a ghost appear to float high overhead. This luminous material must have been used.”