As if uneasy lest he be questioned further, the young man picked up a coil of rope and walked away. Penny waited a moment and then left the dock.
“I’m just a nuisance around there,” she thought unhappily. “I’d like to help, but Sara and Burt won’t let me.”
The following two days passed without event so far as Penny was concerned. There were no developments regarding the bridge dynamiting case and the story was relegated to an inside page of the Star. However, recalling her promise to Carl Oaks, she did speak to her father about finding him a new job.
“What does that fellow expect?” Mr. Parker rumbled irritably. “Jerry tells me he’s a ne’er-do-well. Why doesn’t he like his job as watchman on the coal barge?”
“Well, it’s too dirty.”
“Carl Oaks is lucky to get any job in this town,”Mr. Parker answered. “Jerry had a hard time inducing anyone to take him on. Along the waterfront he has a reputation for shiftlessness.”
“In that case, just forget it, Dad. I don’t like the man too well myself.”
Penny promptly forgot about Carl Oaks, but many times she caught herself wondering what had happened to Old Noah and his ark. Since she and Louise had visited the place, it had rained every day. The water was slowly rising in the river and there was talk that a serious flood might result.
On Tuesday night, as Penny and Louise paid their weekly visit to the Rialto Theatre, it was still raining. The gutters were deep with water and to cross the street it was necessary to walk stiffly on their heels.
“We’ve had enough H2O for one week,” Penny declared, gazing at her splashed stockings. “Well, for screaming out loud!”
A green taxicab, turning in the street to pick up a fare, shot a fountain of muddy water from its spinning wheels. Penny, who stood close to the curb, was sprayed from head to foot.
“Just look at me!” she wailed. “That driver ought to be sent to prison for life!”
The taxi drew up in front of the Rialto Theatre. A well-dressed man in brown overcoat and felt hat who waited at the curb, opened the cab door.
“To the Green Parrot,” he ordered the driver.
“Where’s that, sir?”
The passenger mumbled an address the girls could not understand. He then slammed shut the cab door and the vehicle drove away.
“Lou, did you hear what I heard?” Penny cried excitedly.
“I certainly did!”
Penny glanced quickly about. Seeing another taxicab across the street, she hailed it.
“Come on, Louise,” she urged, tugging at her chum’s hand.
Louise held back. “What do you intend to do?”
“Why, we’re going to follow that taxi!” Penny splashed through the flooded gutter toward the waiting cab. “This is a real break for us! With luck we’ll learn the location of The Green Parrot!”
CHAPTER 11
PURSUIT BY TAXI
“Keep that green taxi in sight!” Penny instructed her own cab driver as she and Louise leaped into the rear seat.
“Sure,” agreed the taxi man, showing no surprise at the request.
Thrilled, and feeling rather theatrical, Penny and Louise sat on the edge of their seats. Anxiously they watched the green cab ahead. Weaving in and out of downtown traffic, it cruised at a slow speed and so, was not hard to follow.
Louise gazed at the running tape of the taxi meter. “Do you see that ticker?” she whispered. “I hope you’re well fortified with spare change.”
“I haven’t much money with me. Let’s trust that The Green Parrot is somewhere close.”
“More than likely it’s miles out in the country,”Louise returned pessimistically.
The green cab presently turned down a narrow, little-traveled street not many blocks from the river front. As it halted at the curb, Penny’s driver glanced at her for instructions.
“Don’t stop,” she directed. “Drive on past and pull up around the corner.”
The taxi man did as requested, presenting a bill for one dollar and eighty cents. To pay the sum, Penny used all of her own money and borrowed a quarter from her chum.
“That leaves me with just thirty-eight cents,”Louise said ruefully. “No picture show tonight. And how are we to get home?”
“We’re not far from a bus line. Come on, we’re wasting valuable time.”
“Those two words, ‘Come on’ have involved me in more trouble than all the rest of the English language,”Louise giggled nervously. “What are we to do now we’re here?”
Penny did not answer. Rounding the corner, she saw that the green cab and its passenger had disappeared. For an instant she was bitterly disappointed. Then she noticed a creaking sign which swung above a basement entrance. Although inconspicuous, it bore the picture of a green parrot.
“That’s the place, Lou!” she exclaimed.
“Well, we’ve learned the address, so let’s go home.”
“Wonder what it’s like inside?”
“Don’t you dare start that old curiosity of yours to percolating!” Louise chided severely. “We’re not going in there!”
“Who ever thought of such a thing?” grinned Penny. “Now I wonder what time it is?”
“About eight-thirty or perhaps a little later. Why?”
“Do you remember that card we found in the leather billfold? The notation read, ‘The Green Parrot, Tuesday at 9:15.’”
“So it did, but the appointment may have been for nine fifteen in the morning.”
“You dope!” laughed Penny. “Louise, we’re in wonderful luck finding this place at just this hour! Why, the man we followed here may be the one who lost the billfold.”
“All of which makes him a saboteur, I suppose?”
“Not necessarily, but don’t you think we ought to try to learn more?”
“I knew you’d try to get me into that place,” Louise complained. “Well, I have more sense than to do it. It might not be safe.”
“I shouldn’t think of venturing in unescorted,”Penny assured her. “Why not telephone my father and ask him to come here right away?”
“Well, that might not be such a bad idea,” Louise acknowledged reluctantly. “But where can we find a phone?”
Passing The Green Parrot, the girls walked on a few doors until they came to a corner drugstore. Going inside, they closed themselves into a telephone booth. Borrowing a nickel from Louise, Penny called her home, but there was no response.
“Mrs. Weems went to a meeting tonight, and I suppose Dad must be away,” she commented anxiously.
“Then let’s give it up.”
“I’ll try the newspaper office,” Penny decided. “If Dad isn’t there, I’ll talk to one of the reporters.”
Mr. Parker was not to be contacted at the Star plant, nor was Editor DeWitt available. Penny asked to speak to Jerry Livingston and presently heard his voice at the other end of the wire. Without wasting words she told him where she was and what she wanted him to do.
“The Green Parrot!” Jerry exclaimed, copying down the address she gave him. “Say, that’s worthwhile information. I’ll be with you girls as soon as I can get there.”
“We’ll be outside the corner drugstore,” Penny told him. “You’ll know us by the way we pace back and forth!”
Within twelve minutes a cab pulled up and Jerry leaped out to greet the two girls.
“Where is this Parrot place?” he demanded, gazing curiously at the dingy buildings.
Louise and Penny led him down the street to the basement entrance. Music could be heard from within, but blinds covered all the windows.
“It must be a cafe,” commented Jerry. He turned toward Penny and stared. “Say, what’s the matter with your face?”
“My face?”
“You look as if you’re coming down with the black measles!”
“Oh, a taxi splashed me with mud,” Penny laughed, sponging at her cheeks with a handkerchief. “How do I look now?”
“Better. Let’s go.”
>
Taking the girls each by an elbow, Jerry guided them down the stone steps. Confronted with a curving door, he boldly thrust it open.
“Now act as if you belonged here,” he warned the girls.
The trio found themselves in a carpeted, luxuriously furnished foyer. From a large dining room nearby came laughter and music.
As the outside door closed behind the young people, a bell tinkled to announce their arrival. Almost at once a head waiter appeared in the archway to the left. He was tall and dark, with a noticeable scar across one cheek. His shrewd eyes scrutinized them, but he bowed politely enough.
“A party of three, sir?”
“Right,” agreed Jerry.
They followed the waiter into a dimly lighted dining room with more tables than customers. A four-piece orchestra provided rather dreary music for dancing. Jerry reluctantly allowed a checkroom girl to capture his hat.
The head waiter turned the party over to another waiter.
“Table thirteen,” he instructed, and spoke rapidly in French.
“Table thirteen,” complained Jerry. “Can’t you give us something besides that?”
“Monsieur is superstitious?” The head waiter smiled in a superior way.
“Not superstitious, just cautious.”
“As you wish, Monsieur. Table two.”
Jerry and the girls were guided to the far end of the room, somewhat apart from the other diners. A large potted palm obstructed their view.
“I think they’ve hung the Indian sign on us,” Jerry muttered after the waiter had gone. “See anyone you know, Penny?”
“That man over by the door—the one sitting alone,” she indicated in a whisper. “Louise and I followed him here.”
“The one that’s wrestling with the lobster?”
“Yes, don’t stare at him, Jerry. He’s watching us.”
The waiter arrived with glasses of water and menu cards. Jerry and the girls scanned the list in secret consternation. Scarcely an item was priced at less than a dollar, and even a modest meal would cost a large sum.
“I’m not very hungry,” Louise said helpfully. “I’ll take a ham sandwich.”
“So will I,” added Penny.
“Three hams with plenty of mustard,” ordered Jerry breezily.
The waiter gave him a long glance. “And your drink, sir?”
“Water,” said Jerry. “Cool, refreshing water, preferably with a small piece of ice.”
The waiter favored the trio with another unflattering look and went to the kitchen.
“This is a gyp place,” Penny declared indignantly. “I can’t understand why anyone would come here. The waiters all seem to be French.”
“Oh, all head waiters speak French,” Jerry replied. “You can’t tell by that. I’d say they were German myself.”
Penny studied the cafe employees with new interest. She noted that the head waiter kept an alert eye upon the entire room, but particularly he watched their table.
Soon the three orders of ham sandwiches were brought by the waiter. The young people ate as slowly as they could so they would have an excuse for remaining as long as they desired.
“What time is it, Jerry?” Penny asked anxiously.
“Ten after nine,” he answered, looking at his watch.
A bell jingled, and the young people knew that another customer had arrived. Craning their necks to see around the palm tree, they watched the dining room entranceway. In a moment a young man entered and was greeted by the head waiter. Jerry and the girls stared, scarcely believing their eyes.
“Why, it’s Burt Ottman!” Penny whispered.
“And exactly on the dot of nine-fifteen,” added Louise significantly. “He must be the person who lost that billfold!”
CHAPTER 12
JERRY’S DISAPPEARANCE
Without noticing Jerry and the girls, Burt Ottman walked directly to a table at the other side of the dining room. He spoke to the stranger whom Penny and Louise had followed, and sat down opposite him.
“Ha! The plot thickens!” commented Jerry in an undertone. “Obviously our friend and Burt Ottman had an appointment together.”
“This is certainly a shock to me,” declared Penny. “I’d made up my mind that Burt had nothing whatsoever to do with the dynamiting. Now I don’t know what to think.”
“He must be the saboteur,” Louise said, speaking louder than she realized. “We picked up the billfold along the river and it undoubtedly was his.”
“He denied it,” replied Penny. “However, when I spoke of The Green Parrot I noticed that he seemed to recognize the name. Oh, dear!”
“Now don’t take it so hard,” Jerry comforted her. “The best thing to do is to report what we’ve seen to police and let them draw their own conclusions.”
“I suppose so,” Penny admitted gloomily. “I had hoped to help Sara and her brother.”
“You wouldn’t want to protect a saboteur?”
“Of course not, Jerry. Oh, dear, it’s all so mixed up.”
So intent had the young people been upon their conversation that they failed to observe a waiter hovering near. Nor did it occur to them that he might be listening. As Jerry chanced to glance toward him, he bowed, and moving forward, presented the bill.
“Howling cats!” the reporter muttered after the waiter had discreetly withdrawn. “Will you look at this!”
“How much is it?” Penny asked anxiously. “We only had three ham sandwiches.”
“Two dollars cover charge. Three sandwiches, one dollar and a half. Tip, fifty cents. Grand total, four dollars, plus sales tax.”
“Why, that’s robbery!” Penny exclaimed. “I wouldn’t pay it, Jerry.”
“I can’t,” he admitted, slightly abashed. “I only have three dollars in my pocket. Then I’ll have to buy my hat back from the checkroom girl.”
“Louise and I haven’t any money either,” Penny said. “Thirty-eight cents to be exact.”
“Thirty-three,” corrected her chum.
“Tell you what,” said Jerry after a moment of thought. “You girls stay here and hold down the chairs. I’ll go outside and telephone one of the boys at the office. I’ll have someone bring me some cash.”
Left to themselves, the girls tried to act as if nothing were wrong. However, they were very conscious of the waiter’s scrutiny. Every time the man entered the dining room with a tray of food, he gazed suggestively at the unpaid bill.
“I’d feel more comfortable under the table,” Penny commented. “Why doesn’t Jerry hurry?”
“Perhaps he can’t find a telephone.”
“Something is keeping him. We’re going to become conspicuous if we stay here much longer.”
The girls fumbled with their purses and sipped at their water glasses until the tumblers were empty. Minutes passed and still Jerry did not return.
After a while, Burt Ottman’s companion left the dining room. The young owner of the boat dock waited until the older man had vanished, and then called for his check. If the bill were unusually large he did not appear to notice, for he paid it without protest and likewise left the dining room.
“Louise, I don’t want to stay here any longer,”Penny said nervously. “I can’t understand what’s keeping Jerry.”
“Why not go out to the foyer and look for him.”
“A good idea if we can get away with it,” Penny approved. “I judge though, that if we start off, the waiter will pursue us with the bill.”
“Couldn’t we just explain?”
“We can try. Anyway, it will be interesting to see what will happen.”
Before leaving the table, Penny scribbled a hasty note which she left for Jerry on his plate. It merely said that the girls would wait for him in the foyer. Choosing a moment when their own waiter was occupied at another table, they sauntered across the room and out into the hall.
“That wasn’t half as hard as I thought it would be,” chuckled Penny. “But where’s Jerry?”
The
foyer was deserted. Noticing a stairway which led to a lower level, the girls decided that the telephones must be located below. They started down, but soon realized their mistake for no light was burning in the lower hall.
“We’re not supposed to be down here,” Louise murmured, holding back.
“Wait!” whispered Penny.
At the far end of the dingy hall she had glimpsed a moving figure. For just a second she thought that the young man might be Jerry. Then she saw that it was Burt Ottman.
“What do you suppose he’s doing down here?” she speculated. “He seems to be familiar with all the nooks and crannies of this place.”
Burt Ottman had not seen or heard the girls. They saw him pause at the end of the hall and knock four times on a closed door. A circular peep-hole shot open and a voice muttered: “Who is it?”
The girls heard no more. Someone touched Penny on the shoulder from behind. With a startled exclamation, she whirled around to face the head waiter.
“So sorry, Mademoiselle, to have frightened you,” he said blandly. “You have taken the wrong stairway.”
“Why, yes,” stammered Penny, trying to collect her wits. “We were looking for the public telephones.”
“This way please. You will find them in the foyer. Just follow me.”
Penny and Louise had no choice but to obey. They wondered if the head waiter knew how much they had seen. His expressionless face gave them no clue.
“We were waiting for our friend,” Louise remarked to cover her embarrassment.
“The young man who escorted you here?”
“Yes,” nodded Louise. “He went to telephone and we haven’t seen him since.”
The waiter had reached the top of the stairs. He turned and looked directly at the girls as he said:“The young man left here some minutes ago.”
“He left!” Penny exclaimed incredulously. “But the bill wasn’t paid.”
“Oh, yes, the young gentleman took care of it.”
“Why, Jerry didn’t have enough money,” Penny protested, unable to grasp the situation. “You’re sure he left the cafe?”
“Yes, Mademoiselle.”
“And didn’t he leave any message for us?”
The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels Page 87