Part 8

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 seance. 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 seance?"

"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 seances?" 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 seance, 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 seance."

"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 seance 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' seance!" 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."

Penny picked up a filmy robe, shaking out the many folds. While it was clear to her that Al Gepper had employed the garment to materialize the so-called spirit of Cousin David, she could only guess how he had made it enlarge from a mere spot to a full sized figure.

"He must have wadded the cloth in his hand, and held it above his head," she mused. "Then he could have slowly shaken it out until it covered his entire body. Thus the figure would appear to grow in size."

In one corner of the cabinet Penny came upon a luminous slate.

"This was used for Cousin David's message," she thought. "Al probably had an assistant who wrote on it and thrust it through the curtain."

While many questions remained unanswered, Penny had obtained sufficient evidence to indicate that Al Gepper was only a clever trickster. Greatly elated, she decided to hasten to the _Star_ office to report her findings.

Noticing that she had neglected to return the two suitcases to their former places, Penny pushed them under the bed again. As she straightened, a door slammed on the lower floor.

For an instant she hoped that it was Mrs. Hodges or her husband who had come home. Then she heard footsteps on the stairs, and their rapidity warned her that they could belong only to a young person.

Frantically, she gazed about the room. The cabinet seemed to offer the safest hiding place. Slipping into it, she pulled the black curtain across the opening.

CHAPTER 21 _STARTLING INFORMATION_

Scarcely had Penny hidden herself when Al Gepper entered the room. With him was the hook-nosed young man known as Slippery.

"I tell you, Al," the latter was saying, "this town is getting too hot for comfort. We've got to blow."

"It was that Parker girl who queered everything," muttered Gepper. "How could I know that her father was a newspaper publisher? He's stirred up folks with his editorials."

"You never should have let her in here. We had a swell set-up, but now we can expect a raid any day."

"I tell you I thought she was just a smart-aleck kid, a friend of the Hodges'. Didn't learn until yesterday who she was."

"We've got to blow, Al. Sade's threatening to make trouble, too. She thinks we're holding out on the others."

"We have picked up a little extra coin now and then."

"Sure, Al, but we've always been the brains of the outfit. We take most of the risk, plan all the big jobs, so why shouldn't we have more?"

"It's time we cut loose from 'em, Slippery."

"Now you're talking! But we can't pull out until the Henley job comes off. I've had a tip that the house is likely to be deserted tonight. Let's make the haul and then skip."

"Okay," agreed Gepper. "I have some suckers coming for a seance at eight. I'll get rid of them in quick time, and be waiting. So long, Slippery."

A door slammed, telling Penny that the hook-nosed man had left. She was somewhat stunned by what she had overheard, believing that the Henley who had been mentioned must be her father's chief advertiser.

Nervously she waited inside the cabinet, wishing that she might take her information to the police. To her intense annoyance, Al Gepper did not leave the room even for a moment.

Instead he threw himself on the bed and read a tabloid newspaper. After an hour, he arose and began to prepare his supper on an electric grill.

Penny shifted from one position to another, growing more impatient. Every time the man came toward the cabinet her heart beat a trifle faster. She was quite sure the Hodges had not yet returned home, and should Al Gepper discover her, he would not treat her kindly.

The medium finished his supper and stacked the dishes in the closet without washing them. Then he started to get ready for the night's seance.

Peeping from between the cracks of the curtain, Penny saw him seat himself before the easel. With painstaking care he painted a picture of a woman, using a photograph as a model. After a coating of varnish had been applied, he allowed it to dry and afterwards covered the entire picture with zinc white. The original painting was entirely hidden.

Penny knew that hours had elapsed. The room gradually darkened, and Al Gepper turned on the lights.

"Oh, dear, I must get out of here soon!" the girl thought desperately. "But if I make a break for it he'll be sure to see me. That will ruin all my plans."

Eight o'clock came. Al Gepper put on his coat, combed his hair and was alertly waiting when the doorbell rang. However, instead of descending the stairs he shouted an invitation for the visitors to come up.

Two women in their early forties were ushered into the seance chamber, to be followed almost immediately by an elderly man.

"We will start at once if you please," said Al Gepper brusquely. "I have another engagement tonight. However, before the seance is undertaken I must ask that each of you pay the required fee, five dollars."

The money was paid, and the three persons seated themselves at the table. Gepper switched off the lights.

The seance began in much the same manner as the one Penny had attended. The medium called upon the spirit of a woman named Flora to appear.

"Now concentrate hard--everyone," he instructed. "Flora, where are you? Can you not show yourself that we may know it is truly your spirit which communicates with us?"

From the cabinet, so close to Al Gepper that she could have touched his hand, Penny was able to see his every move. Yet so swift was his next action, that she barely discerned it.

Taking a wet sponge from his pocket he wiped it across the painting previously prepared. The picture immediately became visible to the audience as Gepper focused his flashlight on the canvas.

"That wasn't the way he made Mrs. Weems' picture appear," thought Penny. "The fellow must have a great repertoire of tricks!"

The seance had become so interesting that she no longer thought of escape. Nevertheless, she came to a sudden realization of her precarious position as she heard the medium say that he would next endeavor to persuade the Spirit of Flora to take actual shape. With a shock it dawned upon her that in another moment the man would enter the cabinet to make use of the luminous gauze robe and other paraphernalia.

Knowing that she could not hide from him, Penny decided upon a bold break for freedom. Dropping the ghostly robe over her face and shoulders, she pulled aside the dark curtain and flitted into the room.

Her dramatic entrance brought gasps of astonishment from the persons who sat at the circular table. The medium, as dumbfounded as his audience muttered: "What the dickens!" and pushed back his chair, his legs rasping on the floor.

Penny did not linger, but darted past the group and groped for the door. In the darkness she could not immediately find it. Her shining robe, on the other hand, made her an easy target for Al Gepper.

Angrily the medium strode across the room, seizing her arm. She jerked away, but he grasped a fold of the robe. It tore and was left behind.

At that critical instant, Penny's hand encountered the door. She swung it open, and bounded down the stairway.

In the seance chamber a light went on, then the hallway became brilliantly illuminated. But by that time the girl was in the dining room.

She could hear Al Gepper clattering down the steps, intent upon capturing her. Penny was determined that he should never learn her identity.

Letting herself out of the house by way of the kitchen door, she decided that if she attempted to cross the yard, the medium certainly would recognize her. The woodpile offered a hiding place and she crouched behind it.

Scarcely had she secreted herself, when Al Gepper ran into the yard. He glanced about carefully and circled the house twice.

Finally, convinced that the "ghost" had escaped he came back to the porch. His customers, greatly agitated by what had occurred, were demanding explanations.

"Someone played a prank," Gepper explained briefly. "It will be impossible to resume the seance for the spirits are offended. You will leave, please."

The customers departed and the medium locked himself in the house. He did not bother to lower the upstairs hall blind, and Penny caught occasional glimpses of him as he moved to and fro.

"He's packing to leave!" she observed. "Unless I act in double-quick time, he'll skip town! I must notify Dad and the police without an instant's delay!"

CHAPTER 22 _SCALING THE WALL_

The nearest drugstore with a public telephone was two blocks away. Penny ran the distance, and slipping into the booth, she dialed the _Star_ office. Informed by the building switchboard operator that neither her father nor DeWitt was available, she inquired for Jerry Livingston, and to her relief was connected with him.

"Listen, Jerry, this is Penny!" she began excitedly. "I haven't time to explain, but the lid is blowing off the fake spiritualist story! Rush the police out to the Hodges' cottage and demand Al Gepper's arrest! Send another squad or some private detectives to Mr. Henley's home."

"Henley!" Jerry exclaimed. "Say, have you gone loco?"

"I'm not making any mistakes," Penny replied tersely. "If you act quickly we may prevent a robbery. I'm on my way there now to warn Mr. Henley! Oh, yes, try to find Dad or DeWitt and warn them a big story is breaking!"

"Penny, what's this all about?" the reporter demanded. "I can't go to the police unless I know what I am doing."

"You must, Jerry. I have plenty of evidence against Gepper and his crowd, but unless you take the police to the Hodges' in the next fifteen minutes it will be too late!"

Without giving Jerry opportunity to delay her with other questions, Penny hung up the receiver. Hastening to the street, she gazed frantically about for a taxi. None was to be had.

"I'll get to the Henley place quicker in Lena than by waiting for a cab to come along," she thought.

The battered old car had been parked a short distance from the Hodges' cottage. Hurrying there, Penny jumped into the ancient vehicle and started the motor. As usual it made a loud clatter, but she did not suspect that the sound carried far up the street. Nor did she guess that Al Gepper stood at the darkened window of his room, watching her.

Penny drove as fast as she could to the Henley home in the southern section of Riverview. Lights blazed from the downstairs windows.

Abandoning her car in the driveway, she rang the doorbell. After a long wait, a maid appeared.

"Is Mr. Henley here?" Penny asked breathlessly. "Or Mrs. Henley? It's most important that I talk with them at once."

"Mrs. Henley has been at the seashore for a month," the maid replied in an agitated voice. "Mr. Henley is somewhere downtown. I've been trying to get him, but the telephone wire has been cut!"

"The house hasn't been robbed?"

"Mrs. Henley's jewelry has been taken! I don't know what else."

"When did it happen?" Penny asked.

"It must have been during the last half hour. I went to the corner store for a book of stamps. When I came back five minutes ago I discovered what had occurred. I ought to call the police, but I am afraid to do it until I've talked with my employer."

"The police already have been notified," said Penny. "They'll be here any minute."

"But how did you know--?" the maid began in astonishment.