The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels (140 page)

The conviction had come suddenly to Penny that all the evidence contained in her father’s lost portfolio must be gathered anew. No word had been received from Jerry Livingston. In the quest for information, she must depend upon her own efforts.

“It’s going to give you a real shock to learn the name of the place,” Louise went on.

“I’m shock proof by this time,” answered Penny. “Let ’er fly.”

But Louise was unwilling to divulge the information over the telephone.

“I don’t dare tell you now,” she replied. “Just sit tight for ten minutes and I’ll deliver my bombshell in person.”

CHAPTER 13

A BLACK MARKET

Ten minutes later Louise was at the front door with the Sidell family car. She tooted the horn until Penny put on her coat and went outside.

“Jump in and I’ll take you to the place of mystery,”Louise greeted her. “On second thought, you’d better drive. I hate icy roads.”

Penny slid behind the steering wheel. “But where are we going?” she protested. “Honestly, Lou, I haven’t much time—”

“Mattie Williams’ garage is the place that sells the tires! Now, are you interested?”

“Am I? Why, we stopped there with Salt Sommers!”

“We did indeed. Remember the big truck?”

“Lou, you may have stumbled into something really important!”

“Glad you think so, chum. But you’re not interested in Black Markets.”

“I’ve changed my mind! I want to talk to Mattie Williams right away!”

Penny started the car. Driving with a mechanical, unthinking efficiency born of many years’ practice, she questioned Louise as to the source of her information. The girls were deep in a discussion when they heard someone shout. Salt Sommers had hailed them from the curb.

“Why, hello,” Penny greeted him, stopping the car with a jerk. “Any trouble at the
Star
?”

“Not from Schirr,” grinned Salt. “I’m hot-footing it to the Ladies Club to mug some dames pouring tea! For the society page.”

“Poor Salt!” smiled Penny, knowing how he hated trivial assignments.

“On your way to the office?” the photographer questioned.

Penny hesitated, then decided to confide in Salt. She repeated what Louise had told her about the Mattie Williams’ garage.

“Well, can you beat that!” the photographer exclaimed. “I don’t know Mattie and her partner well, but I always supposed they were honest. So they’re dealing in stolen tires!”

“We don’t know for sure,” Penny said hastily. “Our information is mostly founded on rumor.”

“And the tires may not be stolen ones,” contributed Louise. “I only heard they can be bought there.”

Penny added that she would not take time to run down the Black Market story save that her father’s disappearance might have a connection with the tire-thief gang.

“I aim to learn the names of those men Dad intended to expose,” she said earnestly.

Somewhat startled by the grim note of Penny’s voice, Salt warned her that she might be venturing on dangerous ground.

“We all admire your courage,” he said, “but you mustn’t take foolish risks. Your father would turn thumbs down on that idea.”

“It’s because of Dad that I must investigate every angle of the tire-theft racket.”

“Quite an ambitious assignment,” Salt said dryly. “Now as soon as Jerry gets back from Canada—”

“We can’t wait! Something has to be done right away!”

“I know how you feel,” responded Salt, “but there’s such a thing as being too courageous.”

“I’m not courageous,” Penny denied. “Last night at the cemetery I was scared half to death. And then when I saw the ghost—”

“What ghost?” interrupted Louise.

Penny had not intended to speak of what she had seen at the Harrison estate. The slip of tongue made it necessary to tell of the path by the gate, the retreating figure, and the mysterious light.

“That’s funny,” commented the photographer, regarding her with a peculiar expression. “Since I’ve been on duty at the observation tower I’ve never seen any activity at the estate.”

“I don’t believe in ghosts, but I saw one all that same!” Penny insisted. “Just watch some night and see for yourself!”

Annoyed by Salt’s smile, she shifted gears and drove on down the street. Turning to Louise, she asked earnestly: “You believe I saw something wandering about the estate last night, don’t you?”

“Well,” Louise hesitated, unwilling to offend her chum. “You must have been quite upset after failing to meet that woman at the cemetery. Under the circumstances.…”

“I was as calm as I am now,” Penny cried indignantly. “I saw it, I tell you!”

“Of course you did, dear,” Louise soothed. “Do please watch your driving more carefully, or I’ll have to take over.”

Penny suddenly relaxed. “Okay, have it your own way,” she shrugged. “I wouldn’t believe Mose Johnson, so why should you believe me? It’s just one of those things.”

For a long while they rode in silence. Few cars were on the road and there was little business activity at Kamm’s Corner. Penny parked in front of the Mattie Williams’ garage.

“What excuse will we have for questioning her?”Louise asked dubiously.

“I’m not going to make an excuse,” said Penny. “I’ll just come right out and ask her if she sells tires without a special order.”

The girls entered the warm little office, stamping snow from their galoshes.

“Just a minute,” called a voice which belonged to Mattie Williams.

The garage owner was busy with a customer. Soon however, she came in from the main part of the building, wiping her oily hands on a piece of waste.

“What can I do for you?” she inquired briskly.

“You remember us, don’t you?” asked Penny, leading into the subject of tires as gradually as possible. “We’re friends of Salt Sommers.”

“Oh, sure!” the woman’s face lighted. “You came in with him the night of the bad storm.”

“My car had been stripped of its tires. Ever since, I’ve been wondering how to get new ones.”

A slightly guarded expression came over Mattie Williams’ face. She said nothing.

“I was told I might obtain some here,” Penny plunged on.

“You can,” said Mattie. “Provided you have an order from your Ration Board.”

“Not without it?”

Mattie gazed at Penny with undisguised scorn. “What sort of a place do you think we run here?” she demanded. “Of course we don’t sell tires without an order.”

“But we were told—”

“Well, you were told wrong,” snapped Mattie. “Sorry. I can’t help you.”

Picking up a wrench from the desk top, the woman left the office.

“I guess I didn’t approach her the right way,” remarked Penny sadly. “Either that, or our information was incorrect. Louise, are you sure—”

“Oh, I am!” her chum insisted. “The two women I overheard, distinctly said Mattie Williams’ garage. Of course, they might have been wrong about it.”

Before Penny and Louise could leave the office, a middle-aged man with glasses came in through the street door.

“Sam Burkholder here?” he demanded, warming himself by the stove.

Penny started to say that she did not know. Just then Mattie Williams’ partner came in the other door.

“Hi, Sam!” the stranger greeted him. “I’ve got the car parked around back. Are you ready to put on that tire?”

Sam frowned, darting a quick glance at the two girls.

“Oh, the one I patched for you!” he returned. “Sure, it’s fixed. Drive your car in the back entrance and I’ll take care of it.”

Both men went out into the main part of the garage. Just beyond the door they paused for a whispered conference, then separated.

“Shall we go?” inquired Louise, glancing at her chum.

“Not just yet,” replied Penny. “I’m curious to see that patched tire. Let’s kill a little more time here.”

Pretending to warm themselves by the stove, they waited ten minutes. Then, without attracting attention, they sauntered out onto the main garage floor. Mattie Williams was busy washing a car and did not see them.

The garage workroom was divided into sections, separated by a double door which was closed. Penny strolled over and pushed it open just enough to see through the crack.

Sam Burkholder was working on the stranger’s car. He had removed an old tire and wheel, and was replacing it with one whose tread appeared new.

“A patched tire, my left eye!” Penny whispered to Louise. “It’s just as we thought! This garage must be a Black Market place!”

CHAPTER 14

A FAMILIAR FIGURE

Only for a moment did the girls dare remain at the door watching Sam Burkholder mount the tire. Then, their curiosity satisfied, they moved quietly away. Without speaking to Mattie Williams, they returned to the parked automobile.

“Well, wasn’t I right?” Louise demanded triumphantly. “What do you think we should do?”

The question plagued Penny. “I don’t know,” she confessed. “If only we were absolutely sure the tire was new—”

“It certainly looked new.”

“Yes, but it could have had some wear. It’s possible, too, that the customer had a legal right to buy a new tire.”

“Then you don’t intend to report to the police, Penny?”

“I want to talk to Salt about it first. We must move carefully, Lou. You see, my main objective is to learn the names of the higher-ups involved in the tire-theft racket.”

“And where does this garage fit into the picture?”

“If it fits at all, my guess is that Sam and Mattie are buying illegal tires—perhaps from the same men who stripped my car and threatened Dad.”

Driving slowly toward Riverview, Penny reviewed what she had seen. She was convinced the information was valuable, yet she scarcely knew how to use it.

“If Salt suggests that I report to the police, that’s what I’ll do,” she decided.

Enroute home, Penny stopped at another garage to make arrangements to have her stripped coupe hauled into the city.

“How about the
Icicle
?” Louise asked, thinking her chum had forgotten the iceboat.

“It will have to stay where it is for the time being,”Penny replied. “If it’s stolen, I won’t much care.”

At the Sidell home, the girls separated. Thanking Louise for the use of the car, Penny returned afoot to the
Star
office. Salt Sommers was absent on assignment, so she did not linger long. As she rounded a street corner on her way home, a newsboy for a rival paper blocked her path.

“Read all about it!” he shouted. “Anthony Parker Believed Kidnaped! Paper, Miss?”

Penny dropped a coin into the lad’s hand and hastily scanned the front page. The story of her father’s disappearance was a highly colored account, but contained not a useful item of information. Tossing the sheet into a street paper-container, she moved on.

She was passing the Gillman Department Store when her attention was drawn to a woman who waited for a bus.

“I’ve seen her somewhere before,” thought Penny, pausing. “Last night—”

The woman wore a small black hat and a long, old-fashioned dark coat which came nearly to her ankles. It was the shape of the garment and its unusual length which struck Penny as familiar. Why, the woman resembled the one who had fled from the cemetery!

Penny pretended to gaze into the store window. Actually she studied the woman from every angle. She might have been forty-seven years of age and was large-boned. Her face was heavily lined, and her long hands were covered by a pair of cheap, black cotton gloves.

“Can it be the same woman?” thought Penny in perplexity.

A bus bearing a county placard glided up to the curb. The woman in black was the only passenger to board it.

“That bus goes out toward Baldiff Road and the cemetery!” Penny told herself. “And that’s where I’m going too!”

An instant before the folding doors slammed shut, she sprang aboard. Paying her fare, she sought a seat at the rear of the bus.

No sooner was the coach in motion than Penny regretted her hasty action. What could she hope to gain by pursuing the strange woman? She was not certain enough of her identification to make a direct accusation. County buses ran infrequently. In all likelihood, she would find herself stranded in the country.

Penny arose to leave the bus. Then changing her mind a second time, she sat down. Try as she would, she could not rid herself of a conviction that the woman she followed was the same one who had visited the cemetery.

The bus made few stops in the city. Once beyond the city limits, it sped along at a brisk speed. To Penny’s satisfaction, the woman in black soon began to gather up her packages. She pressed a button and the bus skidded to a stop at a crossroads.

With no show of haste, Penny followed the woman from the bus. Pretending to enter a grocery store at the corner, she waited and watched.