by Joan Clark
CHAPTER III
An Impulsive Act
"I don't know why I let him escape," Penny said self-accusingly as sheclosed the garage doors. "I simply did it on the impulse of themoment."
"One couldn't help liking the boy," Susan declared optimistically. "Doyou suppose he'll keep his promise and come to see your father?"
"If he doesn't I'll know I made a silly mistake. I hope they can't putme in jail for permitting criminals to escape!"
"You might look very well in stripes," Susan teased. "They would neverbecome me because I'm too plump."
Penny was in no mood to respond to the attempted banter.
"I wonder what Dad will say when he learns about it," she museduncomfortably.
She did not have long to speculate for as the girls turned toward thehouse Mr. Nichols came down the walk.
"I can't get in at the front door," he complained good naturedly. "HasMrs. Gallup locked up the place for the summer?"
Penny explained what had happened but as she repeated Jerry Barrows'story it sounded flat and a trifle ridiculous. She was not surprisedthat her father listened incredulously.
"Why were the police searching for the boy?" he questioned.
"I didn't learn," Penny confessed. "I have only the boy's word."
"And yet you expect me to find him a job?" Mr. Nichols demandedgruffly. "If he ever shows up--which he won't--I'll turn him over tothe authorities."
"Oh, Dad, you wouldn't, not after I gave my promise that you'd helphim!"
"Why should I assist you in thwarting justice?" Mr. Nichols questionedseverely. Penny could not see that his eyes were twinkling. "Are youtrying to ruin my reputation as a detective?"
"I didn't mean to do anything that might embarrass you, only I couldn'tbear the thought of turning the boy over to the police. He was soyoung."
"I was only teasing," Mr. Nichols told her kindly. "If the boy doescome to my office I'll have a talk with him."
"But you don't really think he'll come?"
"I have no way of knowing, Penny. I must admit I'll be rathersurprised if he appears."
Penny relapsed into moody silence as she walked toward the house withMr. Nichols and her chum. She had begun to regret her hasty action.
"I left your roadster at a downtown garage," Mr. Nichols commented,switching to a different subject. "I notified the police that thewheels had been stolen but I did not have time to see the insurancecompany. I can attend to it in the morning unless you care to do ityourself."
"I may as well," Penny agreed listlessly.
She was feeling very gloomy indeed. Although her father had refrainedfrom blaming her, she knew that he was amused if not annoyed at herbehavior. Above all else, she coveted his admiration.
"Cheer up," he said lightly as the three entered the house. "What ifyou did make a slight blunder? All detectives must learn byexperience."
"A fine detective I'd make!" Penny sniffed. "I fail at the very firsttest. I'm just soft hearted I guess."
"Part of the blame should fall on me," Susan declared. "Jerry Barrowsdidn't seem in the least like a criminal, Mr. Nichols. I was impressedwith his story too."
"I feel sure he must have been a very persuasive talker," the detectivesmiled. "However, I don't consider that either of you committed anygreat crime in permitting the boy to escape so I shouldn't worry aboutit now that the deed is done."
Mr. Nichols regarded the incident as closed, but Mrs. Gallup had heardenough of the conversation to surmise a little of what had happened.In response to her questions, the girls were forced to relate theentire story.
"Penelope Nichols, I never thought you'd do such a silly, foolhardything!" the housekeeper said severely. She felt it her privilege to beoutspoken for she regarded the girl almost as a daughter. "Why, thatyoung criminal might have killed you! And to think you let him getaway without even making an effort to call the police!"
"I'm sorry about it now, Mrs. Gallup, but I thought I was acting forthe best. Please, let's not talk about it any more this evening."
The subject had grown very painful to both Susan and Penny. Theyinterested themselves in backgammon and as soon as they could do sogracefully, went to their bedroom.
"I'll never hear the last of it unless that boy shows up at father'soffice tomorrow," Penny groaned as she tumbled into bed. "I feelpositively ill over the affair."
At breakfast the next morning she was her usual cheerful self. Sheeven dared to hope that Jerry Barrows would keep his promise.
"You'll be at your office all morning, won't you, Dad?" she questionedanxiously.
"All morning," he repeated, smiling quizzically at her over hisnewspaper. "If your young friend calls upon me I'll telephone you."
Directly after breakfast Susan insisted that she must return home asher mother would be expecting her.
"I'll walk along with you," Penny offered. "I promised Father I'd stopat the insurance office this morning."
At the Altman residence the girls parted. Penny continued downtownalone. Mr. Nichols had furnished her with the address of the RelianceInsurance Company and she experienced no difficulty in locating theoffice.
After stating her mission she was ushered immediately into the presenceof a portly gentleman who adjusted insurance claims. She was notsurprised to learn that her name already was known to him.
"So you are Christopher Nichols' daughter?" the man remarked withinterest. "We think very highly of your father here. In fact, hiswork has so impressed us that we have engaged him to assist us instamping out this gang of auto accessory thieves. But of course youalready know that."
"My father did mention something about it," Penny murmured.
"Of late the gang has been extending its activities," the adjuster wenton, warming to his subject. "Why, last night alone, over thirty theftsof car wheels were reported to the police."
"Thirty!" Penny gasped. "And I imagined I was the only one to havesuch bad luck."
"Quite the contrary. You merely chanced to be one of the victims of asystematic combing of the city. Nearly all of the wheels were taken ina relatively small downtown area. Now, in all probability there willbe a lull in the activities for a few weeks. Then the gang will makeanother large haul."
"But when the wheels are taken in such numbers I should think it wouldbe easy to trace them," Penny ventured.
The adjuster shook his head.
"For the most part the wheels are trucked to other cities for disposal.The serial numbers are altered and the stolen goods is sold anddistributed to dishonest dealers almost before the authorities areaware of the thefts. The police have been unable to cope with thesituation." The adjuster smiled broadly, adding: "Now that your fatheris on the case, we're expecting a little action."
"I'm sure he'll provide it," Penny declared loyally.
The adjuster reached for a form book, and after asking a few routinequestions concerning the stolen wheels, wrote out an order whichpermitted her to have them replaced free of charge at the garage whereher roadster had been towed. Penny thanked him for the prompt serviceand left the office.
Since she was eager to have her car in operating condition with theleast possible delay, she carried the order directly to the Hamiltongarage. A courteous attendant promised that he would have the roadsterequipped and ready for the road within a few minutes.
"You'll need a new standard for the spare too," he advised as she stoodviewing the crippled car. "When the wheel was stolen, the thief didn'tbother to take it off. Instead he cut the standard with some sharpinstrument. Probably with a little hand power saw."
"Isn't that a new method?" Penny inquired with interest, walking aroundthe car to view the severed pieces of metal.
"We're getting quite a few cars in here that way," the attendantreturned as he unbolted the ruined tire standard and tossed it into acorner.
While the man fastened a new wheel upon the rack, Penny went over andcuriously picked up the discarded scraps of m
etal. She noted thejagged marks which the saw had left.
"I wonder if Dad might not make use of this," she thought. "I'll takeit along anyway."
Somewhat to the amusement of the garage man, she carefully placed thepieces of steel in the rear compartment of the car.
Penny had heard her father remark that many times it was possible totrace a crook by the tools he used. Once Mr. Nichols had apprehended akidnapper by means of a ransom note which had been written upon atypewriter with a characteristic imprint. Penny hoped that the scrapsof metal might upon scientific analysis disclose the type of instrumentwhich had been employed by the thief to sever the tire standard.
"I'll drive directly to Dad's office and see if he can make use of anyof these old pieces," she decided.
Although the errand provided an excellent excuse, the real purpose ofher call was to learn if Jerry Barrows had kept his appointment.
Mr. Nichols was busy in the inner office when Penny arrived, but MissArrow, the efficient secretary, told her that she might go in. Shefound the detective engrossed in studying a group of photographs andtheir accompanying Bertillon records.
"Trying to brush up on who's out and why?" Penny asked banteringly.
Mr. Nichols nodded as he offered a photograph for her inspection.
"This is one of the men who I think may be involved in the automobileaccessory thefts."
"Not a very pretty face," Penny commented.
"No, and 'Rap' Molberg hasn't a very pretty record either. He's servedseveral terms in the pen, though usually he's a little too smart tohave anything proven against him. Rap is the ringleader of the wellknown Molberg gang. It begins to look as if the outfit had extendedits activities to Belton City."
"Is this Rap's description?" Penny inquired, indicating the Bertillonrecord which lay upon the desk. It consisted of a bewildering array offigures.
1.67.6 1.74.0 88.1 19.0 14-5 HGT OA TR HL HW
"Can you decipher it?" Mr. Nichols smiled.
"I know the HGT stands for height and TR for trunk, but what are theother abbreviations?"
"OA means outer arm," the detective explained. "HL represents headlength and HW indicates the head width. Of course all the measurementsare reduced to meters, centimeters, and millimeters."
"It looks complicated."
"Not after you become accustomed to it. For instance, I can see at aglance that Rap Molberg is five feet and seven-eighths inches tall--oras it appears in Bertillon--one meter, sixty-seven centimeters and sixmillimeters."
"I don't believe I'll ever care to be a detective," Penny smiled."It's too much like studying the multiplication table!"
"Crime detection is a scientific profession----" Mr. Nichols began, butPenny cut him short.
"Tell me, did Jerry Barrows come to interview you this morning?"
"No, and I very much fear we'll never see the young man. I made apoint of looking up his juvenile court record and find he has none."
"Then he must have given me a false name."
"I suspect he did, Penny."
"I guess it was silly of me to trust him. I didn't exactly believe hisstory at the time, and yet he seemed like a rather decent sort too."
"I'd not worry about it any more," Mr. Nichols said kindly.
"I'm afraid I've just done another foolish thing too," Penny declared.She then told him about the severed wheel rack.
"Why, I'd like to examine those pieces of metal," the detective saidwith interest. "What did you do with them?"
"They're in the roadster. I parked the car in front of the office."
"Then I'll just go down and get them," Mr. Nichols decided. "I shouldhave inspected the car more carefully last night but I was in a hurry.Wait here and I'll be back in a minute."
During her father's absence, Penny amused herself by looking throughsome of the books on his desk. There were several weighty volumesdevoted to criminology and law. She found them dull and turned withmore interest to the photograph of Rap Molberg.
He had the appearance of a typical man from the underworld. His eyeswere hard and glaring; there were sullen, cruel lines about his mouth.The only unusual mark of identification was a long jagged scar acrosshis left cheek.
In the outside office, a telephone rang. Penny heard Miss Arrow answerthe call. Apparently, the secretary was unaware that Mr. Nichols hadstepped from the office, for she said:
"Just a minute, please. I will connect you with him."
An instant later the telephone at Penny's elbow jangled.
She took the receiver from its hook intending to explain to the callerthat Mr. Nichols had left the office. Before she could speak, a cold,precise masculine voice came to her over the wire.
"Just a little warning, Mr. Nichols!" the words clipped into her ear."Lay off the Molberg gang or else----"
Penny heard a receiver click. The wire had gone dead.