Clue of the Silken Ladder

  CHAPTER 9 _MRS. WEEMS' INHERITANCE_

  The clock chimed seven-thirty the next morning as Penny came downstairs.She dropped a kiss on her father's forehead and slid into a chair at theopposite side of the breakfast table.

  "Good morning, Daddykins," she greeted him cheerfully. "Any news in theold scandal sheet?"

  Mr. Parker lowered the newspaper.

  "Please don't call me Daddykins," he requested. "You know I hate it.Here's something which may interest you. Your friends the Kohls wererobbed last night."

  "You're eight hours late," grinned Penny, reaching for the front page. "Iwas there."

  "I suppose you lifted the pearls and the diamond bracelet on your way tothe theatre."

  "No," said Penny, rapidly scanning the story which Jerry had written,"but I think I may have seen the man who did do it."

  She then told her father of having observed a stranger note the licensenumber of the Kohl car, and mentioned the events which had followed.

  "You may have been mistaken about what the man wrote down," commented herfather.

  "That's possible, but he was staring straight at the car."

  "I doubt if the incident had any connection with the burglary, Penny.With the Motor Vehicle Department closed, he would have had no means ofquickly learning who the Kohls were or where they lived."

  "Couldn't he have recognized them?"

  "In that case he would have no need for the license number. You didn'tsee the man note down the plates of other cars?"

  "No, but he may have done it before I noticed him standing by thetheatre."

  Turning idly through the morning paper, Penny's attention was drawn toanother news story. Reading it rapidly, she thrust the page into herfather's hand.

  "Dad, look at this! There were two other burglaries last night! Apartmenthouses on Drexel Boulevard and Fenmore Street were entered."

  "H-m, interesting. The Kohls occupy an apartment also. That rathersuggests that the same thief ransacked the three places."

  "And it says here that the families were away for the evening!" Pennyresumed with increasing excitement. "I'll bet a cent they were at thetheatre! Oh, Dad, that man in gray must have been the one who did it!"

  "If all the persons you suspect of crime were arrested, our jailscouldn't hold them," remarked Mr. Parker calmly. "Eat your breakfast,Penny, before it gets cold."

  Mrs. Weems entered through the kitchen door, bearing reenforcements ofhot waffles and crisp bacon. Her appearance reminded Penny to launch intoa highly entertaining account of all that had transpired at the Hodges'the previous night.

  "Penny!" protested the housekeeper. "You promised Mrs. Hodges to saynothing about the letter."

  "Oh, no, I didn't promise," corrected Penny. "I was careful to say that Icouldn't tell what I didn't know. Years ago Dad taught me that a goodreporter never agrees to accept a confidence. Isn't that so, Dad?"

  "A wise reporter never ties his own hands," replied Mr. Parker. "If hepromises, and then obtains the same story from another source, he'smorally bound not to use it. His paper may be scooped by the opposition."

  "You two are a pair," sighed Mrs. Weems. "Scoops and front page storiesare all either of you think about. I declare, it distresses me to realizehow Penny may be trained after I leave."

  "The way to solve that problem is not to leave," said Penny. "You know wecan't get along without you."

  Mrs. Weems shook her head.

  "It cuts me almost in two to leave," she declared sadly, "but my mind'smade up. Mrs. Hodges says I am doing the right thing."

  "And I suppose a ghost advised her," muttered Penny.

  Mr. Parker glanced sternly at his daughter and she subsided into silence.But not for long. Soon she was trying to reopen the subject of themysterious letter received by the Hodges. For a reason she could notunderstand, her father was loath to discuss it.

  "Come, Penny," he said. "If we're having that game of tennis thismorning, it's time we start."

  En route to the park, the publisher explained why he had not chosen toexpress an opinion in the housekeeper's presence.

  "I quite agree with you that Mrs. Hodges has no psychic powers, Penny.She's been the victim of a hoax. However, Mrs. Weems is intensely loyalto her friend, and any disparaging remarks made by us will only serve toantagonize her."

  "I'll try to be more careful, Dad. But it's so silly!"

  Monday morning found Penny busy once more with her duties at the societydesk. No new information had developed regarding the Kohl burglary, andshe did not have time to accompany Mrs. Weems who went frequently to theHodges' cottage.

  Secretly Penny held an opinion that the housekeeper's inheritance mightbe the work of a prankster. Therefore, upon returning from the office oneafternoon and learning that the money actually had been delivered, shewas very glad she had kept her thoughts to herself.

  "The lawyer came this morning and had me sign a paper," Mrs. Weemsrevealed to the Parkers. "Then he turned the money over to me--sixthousand dollars."

  "I hope the cheque is good," remarked Penny.

  "It was. I had the lawyer accompany me to the bank. They gave me themoney without asking a single question. I have it here."

  "You have six thousand dollars cash in the house!"

  "Yes, I had the cashier give it to me in hundred dollar bills."

  "Do you consider it safe to keep such a large sum?" Mr. Parker inquiredmildly. "I should advise returning it to the bank, or better still, whynot invest it in sound securities?"

  Mrs. Weems shook her head. "It gives me a nice rich feeling to have thecash. I've hidden it in a good place."

  "Where?" demanded Penny.

  "I won't tell," laughed Mrs. Weems.

  Again later in the evening, Mr. Parker tried without success to convincethe housekeeper that she should return the money to a bank. Never one toforce his opinions upon another, he then dropped the subject.

  "When will you be leaving us, Mrs. Weems?" he inquired.

  "Whenever you can spare me. Now that I have the money, I should like toleave within ten days or two weeks."

  "Since we can't persuade you to remain, I'll try to find someone to takeyour place," Mr. Parker promised.

  Both he and Penny were gloomy at the prospect of replacing thehousekeeper. Not only would they miss Mrs. Weems but they honestlybelieved that she would never be happy without two incorrigibles and ahome to manage.

  "Dad," Penny ventured when they were alone, "just supposing that Mrs.Weems' money should mysteriously disappear--"

  "Don't allow your mind to dwell on that idea," cut in her father sternly."We'll play fair."

  "Oh, I wouldn't do it," said Penny hastily. "I was only joking. But ifsomething _should_ happen to the money, it would solve all our problems."

  "Mrs. Weems has earned her vacation. Even though it will be hard to loseher, we mustn't stand in her way."

  "I guess you're right," sighed Penny.

  The following day Miss Hilderman resumed her duties at the _Star_, andPenny once more found herself a person of leisure. To her annoyance, Mrs.Weems insisted that she spend many hours in the kitchen, learning how tobake pies and cakes. A particularly distasteful lesson came to an endonly when Penny, with brilliant inspiration, remembered that thehousekeeper had an appointment with the seamstress.

  "Dear me, I had forgotten it!" exclaimed Mrs. Weems. "Yes, I must try onmy new dresses!"

  "I'll drive you over," offered Penny.

  Not in recent days had the girl called upon the Hodges. As she and Mrs.Weems alighted from the car, they both noticed freshly ironed curtains atthe windows. Mr. Hodges was pounding dust from a carpet on the line.

  "Housecleaning?" inquired Penny, pausing to chat with the old man.

  "Yes, Jenny's got me hard at it," he grinned. "She's been tearin' thehouse upside down gettin' ready for the new roomer."

  "Oh, have you taken one?"

  Penny was
surprised, knowing that in past years the Hodges had been tooproud to rent rooms.

  "There's a young feller moving in today," Mr. Hodges said, picking up thecarpet beater. "Go on inside. Jenny'll tell you about it."

  Penny and Mrs. Weems entered the cottage where the seamstress was runninga dust mop over the floors. She was somewhat dismayed to see thehousekeeper.

  "Oh, Maud, I've been so busy I didn't get your dresses ready to be triedon."

  "It doesn't matter," replied Mrs. Weems. "What's this about a newroomer?"

  "I always said I wouldn't have one cluttering up the place. But thisyoung man is different. His coming here--well, I interpret it as anothersign."

  "A sign of what?" inquired Penny with her usual directness.

  "Well, it seemed as if I had a direct message from the spirit world totake him into our home. He came here last night. Instead of knocking inthe usual way, he rapped six times in succession!"

  "Probably he was the one who sent the letter," said Penny alertly.

  "Oh, no! He didn't know anything about it. I asked him."

  "What is his name, Mrs. Hodges?"

  "Al Gepper. He's such a nice young man and he talks so refined. I amletting him have the entire floor upstairs."

  "That should bring you a nice income," remarked Mrs. Weems.

  "I am asking only two dollars a week," admitted the seamstress. "He saidhe couldn't pay more than that."

  "Why, Jenny," protested Mrs. Weems, "such a small amount hardly willcover the lights and various extras."

  "I know, Maud, but I couldn't turn him away. He moved his apparatus inlast night and will bring his personal belongings sometime today."

  "His apparatus?" echoed Penny. "What is he, a chemist?"

  "No," replied the seamstress, smiling mysteriously. "I'll show you therooms."

  Penny and Mrs. Weems followed the woman upstairs. The upper floor wasdivided into two small bedrooms with a wide, old-fashioned sliding doorbetween which could be opened to make one large chamber. The larger ofthe rooms had been cleared of its usual furniture. Where a bed previouslyhad stood was a circular table with six or eight chairs, and behind it atall cabinet with a black curtain across the front.

  "Mr. Gepper plans to use this room for his studio," explained Mrs.Hodges.

  Penny's gaze had fastened upon the cabinet. She crossed to it and pulledaside the curtain. Inside were several unpacked boxes and a suitcase.

  "Mrs. Hodges, to what purpose does your young man expect to put thisstudio?" she asked.

  "I don't know. He didn't tell me. But I think he intends to carry onpsychic experiments. He's a student, he said."

  "Mr. Gepper was afraid to tell you the truth lest you refuse to rent therooms," declared Penny. "Mrs. Hodges, your roomer is a medium."

  "Why do you think so?"

  "Because I've seen trappings such as these before at other seancechambers," replied Penny. "Mrs. Hodges, you must send him away before heinvolves you with the police."