“I have great faith in your ability, Mr. Nichols,” said Mr. Kirmenbach. “However, I must say that I am unable to see where this clue will lead.”
“At the moment I have no idea myself,” replied the detective, smiling. “But I think that this may develop into something.”
He declined to amplify his statement further, and a few minutes later left the house with Penny. They drove slowly back toward Knob Hill.
“Dad, I’m inclined to agree with Mr. Kirmenbach,” Penny remarked. “I don’t see what good that toy lantern will do you.”
“First I’ll have it examined for finger prints,” the detective explained. “However, so many persons have handled it that I don’t look for anything on that score. Next I’ll get in touch with Inspector Harris and have him check on the manufacturers of toy lanterns. I’ll try to find out who bought it.”
“But there must be hundreds of toys just like this,” Penny protested. “It doesn’t have a single distinguishing feature.”
“You’re wrong there, Penny. Did you notice the wick?”
“Why, it was just an old piece of cloth.”
“Exactly. When the old wick tore away, some ingenious child fashioned another from a piece of clothing.”
“And you hope that it will be possible to trace the cloth?” Penny asked in amazement.
“That is what I shall try to do.”
“You surely don’t think that a child committed the robbery, Dad?”
“Hardly, Penny. But the thief may have a child of his own or a small brother. There is a slight chance that the lantern was left deliberately, but I rather doubt such a possibility.”
Turning in at their own cottage, Penny and her father noticed a strange car standing by the picket fence.
“It looks as if we have a visitor,” the detective observed.
Penny saw a man in a light overcoat standing by the porch talking with the housekeeper. As she and her father came up the walk, he turned to stare at them.
“This is Mr. Erwin Madden from Chicago,” the housekeeper said. “He wishes to see you, Mr. Nichols.”
“I hope I haven’t kept you waiting,” remarked the detective pleasantly.
“No, I arrived only a few minutes ago. May I talk with you?”
“Certainly,” replied Mr. Nichols. He turned toward the housekeeper who was loitering in the doorway. “That will be all, Mrs. Masterbrook.”
After the woman had gone, Mr. Nichols offered the visitor a chair on the porch. Penny started to go into the house but Mr. Madden indicated that it was unnecessary for her to leave.
“My business isn’t of a confidential nature,” he said pleasantly. “In fact, I am trying to broadcast my mission here in Kendon.”
“If I had known that I should have invited our housekeeper to remain,” smiled Mr. Nichols. “The town has few secrets unshared by her.”
“I came here in search of my business partner, a man by the name of Jay Kline,” the visitor went on. “He left Chicago some days ago, coming to Kendon to attend to a private business matter which did not concern the firm. He has not been heard from since.”
“Indeed?” inquired Mr. Nichols politely. “You think that he has met with a mishap?”
“Yes, that is my belief,” returned Mr. Madden gravely. “Mr. Kline gave me to understand that his mission here was a dangerous one. If something had not gone wrong I know I should have heard of him before this.”
“Whom did your friend plan to visit here?”
“I don’t know,” the visitor admitted. “Mr. Kline was very secretive.”
“Have you inquired for him in the village?”
“Yes, no one has heard of the man. It is all very bewildering.”
“Are you actually sure that he came to Kendon?” inquired Mr. Nichols.
“I have no proof, but neither have I any reason for thinking that he would go elsewhere. I am convinced that my partner met with foul play.”
“You wished to consult me professionally?” Mr. Nichols asked. He wondered who had sent the man to him.
“Professionally?” Mr. Madden questioned in a puzzled tone.
“I am a detective, you know,” Mr. Nichols smiled. “On vacation at the present.”
“Oh,” murmured the visitor in surprise. “No, I wasn’t aware of your calling. The grocery store man sent me to you. He told me that you had picked up a stranger in your car several nights ago, and I thought that by some chance the man might have been my missing partner.”
“We did give a young man a lift to town,” Mr. Nichols said. “But his name was Walter Crocker.”
“Then I’ll not trouble you further,” said the visitor, arising. “Thank you for your time.”
He bowed to Penny and her father and drove away in his car.
“He was afraid to tell me any more about the case for fear I’d charge him a fee,” chuckled Mr. Nichols. “Very likely by the time Mr. Madden gets back to Chicago his partner will be there too.”
“Dad,” said Penny thoughtfully, “maybe the man we picked up really was Jay Kline.”
“What was that?” Mr. Nichols demanded.
“I said, perhaps the fellow who rode to town with us wasn’t Walter Crocker at all but merely told us that name—”
“I can’t keep up with your theories,” Mr. Nichols laughed. “You have a new one every minute.”
“That’s because there are so many new developments, Dad. I wonder if it’s too late to stop Mr. Madden?”
“He’s a mile down the road by this time. And I’m glad of it because I don’t want you to make yourself or me look ridiculous. What gave you the idea that Jay Kline and Walter Crocker are one and the same person?”
“I don’t know,” admitted Penny. “It just came to me all at once. Walter Crocker mysteriously disappeared—”
“You mean he went back to the city.”
“We don’t know that at all,” Penny argued. “Did anyone except you and me see Walter Crocker? No! He went to talk with his uncle, Herman Crocker, and was seen no more. His automobile mysteriously appears in Crocker’s barn—”
“Not so loud!” Mr. Nichols warned. “I think Mrs. Masterbrook is standing by the dining room door.”
Penny subsided into hurt silence. She felt that her theories were logical and she did not like to have her father tease her.
“Well, anyway I didn’t think up the toy lantern clue!” she muttered under her breath.
“That reminds me, I must telephone Inspector Harris,” said Mr. Nichols. “I hope he thinks more of my theory than you do.”
Penny could tell that her father was growing deeply interested in the Kirmenbach robbery case and following his talk with Inspector Harris, he admitted that he had promised to do further work.
“It’s likely to be a tough case,” he told Penny the next morning. “Harris thinks we’ll have no luck in tracing the toy lantern. I’m driving over to the Kirmenbach place again this morning.”
“I believe I’ll stay here this time,” she replied.
Penny was glad that she elected to remain, for a short time after her father left, Herman Crocker drove into the yard. He greeted her in a more cordial tone than usual.
“Is everything all right here?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, we’re getting along very well,” Penny answered, glancing shrewdly at the old man. She felt certain that his real purpose in coming to the cottage was not to inquire for their comfort.
“Mrs. Masterbrook at home?” Mr. Crocker questioned casually.
“I saw her walking down toward the road a few minutes ago. Shall I call her?”
“No, I didn’t want to see her anyway,” he answered quickly. “Just thought I’d take a look around. I have some things stored up in the attic that I’d like to get.”
“Just go right in,” said Penny. She fell into step with him. “Oh, by the way, do you know Michael Haymond, our new hired man?”
“Never heard of him.”
“I thought he might have been
to see you.”
“Why should he?” Herman Crocker demanded, looking at Penny suspiciously.
“I’m sure I don’t know,” she laughed uneasily.
When the man made no comment Penny waited a moment and then decided upon a bold attack.
“For some reason Michael reminds me of your nephew,” she said. “I suppose he’ll be coming back one of these days.”
“Walter?” asked the old man gruffly. “I don’t look for it.”
“But won’t he wish to get his car which is stored in your barn?” Penny asked with pretended innocence.
Herman Crocker’s expression became guarded. The girl’s words startled him but only a slight twitch of his eye muscles disclosed that he had been taken unawares.
“I suppose Walter will get the car sometime,” he answered slowly. “He told me he didn’t have the money to pay a repair bill just now.”
“You had it towed to your place for him?”
“That’s right,” replied Herman Crocker irritably. “Any more questions? If not I’ll go on up to the attic.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Penny apologetically.
She had intended to go along with the old man to the attic, but there was something about the look he gave her which made her change her mind. She was afraid she had made her questions too pointed. It would not do for Mr. Crocker to suspect her motives.
“I guess you know your way,” she said evenly, opening the screen door for him.
“I ought to,” snapped the old man. “I lived in this cottage for eight years.”
He entered the house alone and Penny heard him tramping up the stairs to the attic.
“I wonder what he’s doing up there?” she thought. “I’d give a lot to find out.”
CHAPTER X
Searching the Loft
While Penny stood listening to the sounds in the attic she saw Mrs. Masterbrook coming up the path to the cottage. The housekeeper paused by the gate to stare at Mr. Crocker’s car and then glanced quickly about.
“What is Herman doing here?” she asked abruptly as Penny met her on the porch.
“I’m sure I don’t know,” replied the girl. “He said he wanted to get something from the attic.”
“The attic!” repeated Mrs. Masterbrook. “Oh!” And for no apparent reason she began to laugh.
“What do you find so funny?”
“Oh, nothing,” replied the housekeeper, passing quickly into the cottage.
Penny stared after the woman, thoroughly bewildered by her actions. She felt certain that Mrs. Masterbrook knew why old Herman Crocker had come to the cottage.
Penny sat down on the porch steps to wait. Fifteen minutes elapsed before she heard Mr. Crocker coming down the attic stairway. As he stepped out on the porch she noticed that he had nothing in his hands and he seemed somewhat disturbed.
“Did you find what you were after?” asked Penny.
“Oh, yes—yes,” replied the old man absently.
Mrs. Masterbrook had emerged from the kitchen in time to hear the remark.
“Did you really?” she inquired with a slight smirk.
The words were spoken casually enough but Penny thought she detected a note of triumph in the woman’s voice. Mr. Crocker noticed it too for he glanced sharply at the housekeeper. Her face was expressionless.
“Well, I’ll have to be getting back,” the old man said. He walked slowly to the car.
Mrs. Masterbrook waited on the porch until he had driven down the road. The housekeeper was highly pleased about something. Penny thought that she looked exactly like a cat which had drunk its fill of rich cream.
“Mrs. Masterbrook knows what Herman came here for,” the girl reflected. “I’d question her only it wouldn’t do a bit of good.”
Penny hoped that if she showed no interest the housekeeper might offer a little information. She was disappointed. Without a word Mrs. Masterbrook walked back into the cottage.
“I’d like to find out what is in the attic,” Penny thought. “When the coast is clear I’m going up there and look around.”
Throughout the morning she lingered near the cottage, but it seemed that always either the housekeeper or Michael Haymond was at hand to observe her actions. When Mr. Nichols returned from his walk Penny did not tell him about Herman Crocker’s mysterious visit to the attic for she felt certain that he would not consider it mysterious at all. He was deeply absorbed in his own case and would sit for an hour at a time lost in thought.
“Are you worrying about toy lanterns, Dad?” Penny asked mischievously.
“That’s right,” he agreed with a smile. “I talked with Inspector Harris this morning from the village store. He’s not progressing very well in tracing down the lantern clue. It seems there are dozens of companies which manufacture toys exactly like the one you found at Kirmenbach’s place.”
“Then you’ve reached a dead end?” asked Penny.
“For the time being, yes. But I’ve not given up. I still believe that it may be possible to trace the thief by means of the clue. After all, the toy lantern had one distinguishing feature—the cloth wick.”
“It’s too bad all this had to come up on your vacation,” Penny said sympathetically. She could see that the lines of worry had returned to her father’s face.
“I wish I had kept out of the case,” he returned. “But now that I’m in it, I’ll have no peace of mind until it’s solved. There’s something about that toy lantern clue which challenges me!”
“I feel the same way regarding Herman Crocker,” Penny nodded.
“What was that?” Mr. Nichols looked up quickly.
“I meant that our landlord’s queer personality fascinates me. He’s always doing such strange things.”
“Let me see,” Mr. Nichols said jokingly. “How many queer characters have you discovered since we came here?”
“Only three, Dad. Mrs. Masterbrook, Michael and old Herman. Unless you count Walter Crocker and Mr. Madden.”
“How about the postman? I noticed you were talking with him yesterday.”
“Purely upon a matter of business,” Penny laughed. “His name isn’t down on my list of suspects yet.”
She said no more for just then Michael Haymond came up the path with an armful of wood.
After carrying it to the kitchen he returned to the porch. Mr. Nichols motioned him into a rocker.
“I’m afraid I’m not doing very much to earn my wages,” the young man said apologetically. “My chief occupation around here seems to be eating and sitting.”
“I’m well satisfied,” replied the detective.
Although Penny had thought that her father was unwise to hire Michael she liked the young man a great deal. He was quiet, unassuming, and did his tasks willingly. Whenever he had a spare moment he usually spent it with a book. Penny had read the titles with surprise. Michael devoted himself to volumes of philosophy and history and he studied textbooks of mathematics and French.
“Rather deep stuff,” Mr. Nichols had commented, looking at one of the philosophy volumes.
“I never had a chance to attend college, sir,” Michael had replied, flushing. “I’m trying to educate myself a little.”
During the afternoon both Mr. Nichols and Michael absented themselves from the cottage. Mrs. Masterbrook decided that she would walk down to the village. Penny was delighted to be left alone in the house.
The moment that everyone was gone she hastened to the attic. It was a low-ceiling room, dimly lighted by two gable windows. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere.
The attic contained an old chest of drawers, the footboards of a bed, two trunks, a chair with a broken leg, and several boxes of dishes.
As Penny’s gaze roved over the objects she observed that a faint scratch on the floor showed where the trunks had been recently moved. Some of the dust had been brushed off from the lids.
“Herman must have been looking at the trunks,” the girl thought. “I wonder what he expected to find?”
<
br /> She lifted the lid of the nearest one and was pleased that it was unlocked. There was nothing in the top tray but beneath it she found old fashioned clothing which had belonged to a woman. The garments had been very carefully packed in moth balls.
Penny opened the second trunk. It too was filled with clothing in a style worn some fifteen years before. In the bottom she came upon an old picture album and a packet of letters. All were addressed to Herman Crocker and appeared to be of a business nature.
Penny was tempted to read the letters, but she put aside the thought. After all it was not very honorable of her to pry into Mr. Crocker’s personal affairs without a stronger motive than curiosity.
“If there is any occasion for learning more about the man, I can read the letters later,” Penny reflected. “Dad would be ashamed of me if he knew what I was doing.”
She replaced the packet in the trunk and closed down the lid. Then after making certain that the chest of drawers contained nothing of interest, she hastened down stairs again and washed the grime from her hands.
Later in the afternoon Mrs. Masterbrook came back from Kendon and it seemed to Penny that she was more subdued than usual. Even Mr. Nichols noticed a change in the woman.
“I wonder what is the matter with her?” he remarked. “She seems to be losing her fire!”
“I guess she’s just tired from the long walk to town,” Penny replied. However, she watched Mrs. Masterbrook closely, and was inclined to agree that something had gone amiss. The housekeeper looked worried.
“Aren’t you feeling well, Mrs. Masterbrook?” she inquired kindly.
“Of course I’m feeling well,” the woman snapped.
After supper that night Michael Haymond left the house, but Penny did not know whether or not he went to call upon Herman Crocker. She went to bed about ten, and heard the young man return to the cottage shortly after that hour. By eleven o’clock everyone had gone to bed.
Penny went off to sleep soon after her head touched the pillow. It was hours later that she awoke to hear the kitchen clock chiming three o’clock.
In the hallway a board creaked.
Penny sat up and listened. She was certain that someone was tiptoeing down the hall. For a moment she was frightened. Then she crept out of bed and flung open the door.
The Girl Detective Megapack: 25 Classic Mystery Novels for Girls Page 234