When they were well down the beach, Louise and Penny slackened their pace. Glancing back they saw that the keeper of the light still stood on the tiny iron balcony watching them.
“That man gives me the creeps,” Louise remarked. “Did you believe what he said about the door sticking?”
“I did not,” Penny returned with emphasis. “I think he locked us in on purpose, probably because he was expecting visitors and didn’t want us to see too much.”
“As it turned out we didn’t learn a thing.”
“We have no proof of anything,” Penny admitted slowly. “Nevertheless, we’re pretty sure Mrs. Deline visited the tower.”
“George Emory too.”
“That part is pure guess,” Penny said, “so we don’t dare consider it too seriously. Did you ever see Mrs. Deline with George Emory?”
“Why, no. But then, we’ve not been at the hotel long.”
“Let’s find Jerry or Dad,” Penny said abruptly. “We ought to report to them.”
Returning to the hotel, the girls looked in vain for Mr. Parker. The publisher was not in his room nor anywhere in the lobby. Jerry apparently had not returned from Intercept Headquarters.
“There’s Mrs. Deline,” Louise whispered, jerking her head toward a high-backed chair not far from the elevator.
The widow was reading a newspaper. If she saw the girls she paid no attention to them.
“Let’s talk to her and see what we can learn,”Louise suggested.
Penny had another thought. “No,” she vetoed the suggestion. “Mrs. Deline would be more likely to learn things from us. That woman is clever.”
Just then Mrs. Deline arose, picked up her purse, and went out the front door of the hotel. On their way to the elevator. Penny and Louise noticed that the woman carelessly had left a handkerchief and her room key lying on the chair.
“I’ll turn them in at the desk,” Louise said, picking up the articles.
“Wait, Lou!”
Louise glanced at her chum in surprise.
“I have an idea!” Penny revealed, lowering her voice. “Are you game to try something risky?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
“This chance is tailor-made for us!” Penny went on. “Mrs. Deline simply handed her room key over to us. Let’s use our opportunity.”
“Enter her room?” Louise asked, shocked.
“Why not? FBI agents think nothing of examining the belongings of a suspected person.”
“But we’re not FBI agents, Penny. I don’t want to do it without asking Jerry.”
“By that time it will be too late. It’s now or never.”
“Mrs. Deline might catch us in the act.”
“That’s a chance we’ll have to take.” Penny, in possession of the room key, walked to the front door of the hotel. She was reassured to see that Mrs. Deline had seated herself on a bench some distance from the veranda.
“The coast’s clear,” Penny reported, coming back to Louise. “What do you say?”
“Well, I suppose so,” Louise consented nervously.
An elevator shot the girls up to the fourth floor. To locate Mrs. Deline’s room required but a moment, and the halls fortunately were deserted. Penny fitted the key into the lock and pushed open the door.
“We’ll have to work fast,” she said, closing it behind them again.
The room was in perfect order. Only a few toilet articles had been set out on the dresser. Mrs. Deline’s suitcase was only half unpacked.
“It looks to me as if the widow is holding herself ready to fly at a moment’s notice,” Penny commented. “Otherwise, why didn’t she unpack everything?”
“What do you expect to find here?” Louise asked nervously. “Let’s get it over with fast, Penny.”
“Start with the bureau drawers,” Penny instructed. “Search for any papers, letters or the sort. I’ll go through the suitcase.”
Carefully the girls began examining Mrs. Deline’s personal belongings. Almost at once Louise reported that the bureau contained nothing of interest. Penny, however, had more luck. She came upon a pearl-handled revolver buried beneath a pile of silk underclothing.
“Jeepers!” she whispered, touching the weapon gingerly. “Now will you believe me when I say that the widow isn’t the sweet little girl she’d have us believe!”
Louise’s eyes had opened wide at sight of the revolver.
“And here’s that white suit she wore!” Penny cried, lifting out a folded garment from the suitcase. “Look, Lou!”
From the skirt of the suit had been cut a neat, square hole.
“Well, of all things!” Louise exclaimed. “What’s the meaning of that?”
“Mrs. Deline wrote something on the skirt—don’t you remember? Probably she used a pen with invisible ink.”
“But why on her skirt, Penny?”
“She’d just been to the lighthouse. Perhaps she learned something there and she wanted to write it down before she forgot. Possibly she didn’t have any paper. Then when she got back here, she either destroyed the message, or sent it to someone.”
“Well, I don’t know,” Louise said doubtfully. “It’s all so fantastic. I wouldn’t believe a bit of it except for this revolver. Having it doesn’t look so good.”
“And don’t forget the green elephant charm,”Penny reminded her. “I wish we could find it here.”
“Not a chance. Mrs. Deline always wears it around her neck. She had it on today. I noticed.”
Time fast was elapsing and the girls were worried lest someone discover them in the room. Hastily they replaced everything as they had found it, and relocking the door, stepped out into the hall.
“What’s our next move?” Louise asked as they buzzed for a down-going elevator.
“To tell Jerry and Dad, of course. But before that, there’s one thing I wish we could do, Lou. It would give everything we have to report a more substantial basis.”
“What’s that, Penny?”
“Why don’t we get our hands on the jade green elephant? I’ve a hunch that it contains something important—perhaps evidence that would crack the case wide open.”
“And just how do you propose that we acquire the charm?” Louise asked sarcastically. “Are we to waylay Mrs. Deline and take it by force?”
“Afraid that wouldn’t do.”
“There’s no other way to get it. Mrs. Deline wears that charm as if it were her skin. I’ve never seen her without it.”
The elevator was coming down so Penny spoke hurriedly.
“There is a way,” she said softly, “if only it will work. Think we could get Mrs. Deline to go bathing in the surf with us?”
“And ruin that lovely hair-do? Don’t be silly.”
“All the same, it’s worth trying,” Penny urged. “Let’s go to our room now and get our bathing suits.”
“I don’t see any point in it.”
“You will,” Penny laughed, entering the elevator. “If my little plan works we’ll have keen sport and maybe do our country a good turn!”
CHAPTER 20
NYMPHS OF THE SEA
“How you expect to get Mrs. Deline to go swimming with us is beyond me!” Louise opined as she and Penny left the hotel, their bathing suits swinging over their arms. “It’s none too warm today. She dislikes us both intensely. Furthermore, she never swims.”
“Any other reasons?” Penny asked cheerfully.
“That should be enough.”
“Just wait and watch,” Penny chuckled. “I just hope she doesn’t suspect we’ve been prowling in her room. If she got wise to that she’d report us to the hotel management.”
Before leaving the hotel the girls had taken care to drop the room key in the chair where Mrs. Deline had left it. They were confident that no one had seen them take the key or enter the room.
The widow remained as the girls last had seen her. She was sitting on a bench facing the sea, her gaze fixed on the deep blue line of the horizon. As the girls p
assed beside her, she looked up, frowning slightly.
“We’re on our way to the bath house,” said Penny, her tone implying that the matter was one of great importance.
“Really?” Mrs. Deline’s voice barely was polite.
“Wouldn’t you like to come with us?” Louise invited cordially.
The invitation took Mrs. Deline by surprise. “No, thank you,” she declined. “I can’t swim.”
“We’ll teach you,” offered Penny.
“You’re too kind. I don’t care for the water. I particularly detest cold water.”
“The air is warming up,” Penny tried to encourage her. “Why not try it with us?”
“Nothing could induce me.”
Louise nodded grimly, as much as to say that she had known how it would be. Penny would not give up. She decided to adopt drastic measures.
“No, I didn’t suppose you would go into the water,” she said. “You’re probably afraid you’ll get salt water on that lovely skin of yours, or muss up your hair.”
“Oh!” gasped Mrs. Deline. “The very idea!”
“Isn’t that the reason?” Penny pursued ruthlessly. “You have to protect your beauty?”
“No, it’s not the reason!” Mrs. Deline snapped. “If I had a bathing suit, I’d show you!”
“You can use mine,” Penny said promptly. “Louise has an extra one she’ll let me have.”
Mrs. Deline looked trapped and angry. She sprang to her feet.
“All right, I’ll go swimming!” she announced. “If I catch pneumonia I suppose you’ll be satisfied!”
“Oh, you’ll love the water once you’re in,” Penny said sweetly. “The bath house is this way.”
Mrs. Deline spent so long getting into the borrowed suit that the girls began to fear she had outwitted them. But just as they were ready to give up, the woman came out of the dressing room. Penny’s suit was a size too small for her so that she looked as if she had been poured into it. Her legs were skinny, her hips bulged. She still wore the elephant charm.
“Don’t I wish Dad could see her now!” Penny muttered. “What a disillusionment!”
Ignoring the girls, Mrs. Deline walked stiffly toward the surf. A wave rolled in, wetting her to the knees. Mrs. Deline shrieked and backed away.
“It’s freezing!” she complained.
“You have to get wet all at once,” Penny instructed kindly. “This way.”
She seized Mrs. Deline’s hand and pulled her toward the deeper water.
“Let me go!” Mrs. Deline protested, trying to shake free. “Stop it!”
Penny held fast to her hand. A big roller broke over their heads. Mrs. Deline sputtered and choked and struggled.
“Oh, this is dreadful!” she whimpered.
“You have to watch for the waves and jump just as they strike you,” Penny laughed. “Now!”
She leaped, but the widow mistimed the roller. It struck her a resounding whack on her shoulders and head.
“Oh! Oh!” she moaned.
“Here comes another!” warned Louise. “A big one too!”
Mrs. Deline broke away from Penny. She started to run for shore. The big roller overtook her, sweeping her from her feet.
This was the opportunity that Penny awaited. Pretending that she too had lost her balance, she allowed the tide to carry her straight into Mrs. Deline. For an instant they both were beneath the surface of the water.
Penny worked fast. Clutching Mrs. Deline as if in terror, she yanked hard at the slender chain that held the green elephant charm. It snapped and the jade piece came off into her hands. Deftly she thrust the charm into the front of her bathing suit. Then she popped up above the water, winking at Louise.
Mrs. Deline scrambled to her feet, clutching at the broken chain.
“See what you’ve done!” she accused Penny. “You pulled it apart. My beautiful charm has fallen into the water!”
“Let me help you look for it,” Louise offered, darting forward.
As the pair were groping about on the sandy floor, another wave rolled in. Penny neglected to warn Mrs. Deline. It struck her from behind, toppling her over on her face. Her cap slipped awry and she swallowed salt water.
“Oh, I can’t stand any more of this!” she spluttered. “It was cruel of you to get me to come into the surf! Now I’ve lost my charm, and it was all your fault, Penny Parker.”
“I’ll buy you another ornament,” the girl offered. Seeing Mrs. Deline’s distress she felt a bit ashamed of herself.
“Another ornament!” the widow mocked. “I don’t want another! I want the one I’ve lost. It’s of vital importance to me to keep it.”
Mrs. Deline made another futile search for the charm.
“It’s been washed away,” she cried. “I’ll never find it now!”
Glaring furiously at Penny, she turned and fled to the bath house.
“Did she really lose the charm?” Louise demanded the moment the girls were alone. “Or did you get it, Penny?”
Penny answered by producing the green elephant charm from the front of her bathing suit where she had hidden it.
“Easy as taking candy from a babe,” she chuckled. “My, but was she hopping mad!”
“You may not be laughing if your father hears about this,” Louise warned. “He’s apt to look at matters from a different angle than we do.”
Penny skipped through the shallow water and sat down on the beach well beyond the reach of the waves. Louise flopped beside her. Eagerly they examined the jade green trinket.
“Looks like any ordinary charm to me,” Louise remarked. “No special carving.”
“It should open,” Penny said. “The first night when Mrs. Deline and I shared a room, I was sure I saw her close it.”
Louise turned the charm over and pried at it with a hairpin.
“It does have a back lid!” she exclaimed excitedly. “Penny, I think it’s going to open!”
“I’ll say magic words while you work,” Penny laughed. “Furthermore, I’ll keep watch of the bath house. We don’t want Mrs. Deline to pop out here and see us.”
Louise pried again at the lid of the charm. It gave suddenly.
Inside the tiny cavity was a folded piece of paper. While Louise stared in delighted awe, Penny gained possession. With nervous haste she unfolded the paper. She gazed at it a moment and her face fell.
“Why, I can’t make anything of the writing!” she declared in disappointment. “The words don’t make sense.”
“Just a mess of letters,” Louise agreed, peering over her shoulder.
The girls were decidedly let-down for they had gone to much trouble and risk to obtain the jade ornament. But Penny’s disappointment did not last long. As she stared at the paper, its significance dawned upon her.
“Why, this is important, Lou!” she cried. “Maybe we’ve stumbled into something big!”
“How do you mean?”
“Don’t you see?” Penny demanded triumphantly. “The letters, of this message must comprise a secret code! If only we can break it down we may learn all we need to know about Mrs. Deline and her strange friends!”
CHAPTER 21
THE CARDBOARD BOX
While Penny and Louise were puzzling over the strange writing found inside the jade charm, Mrs. Deline appeared in the doorway of the bath house. Barely in time to escape detection, the girls hid the tiny elephant and the paper in the sand.
Mrs. Deline crossed the beach to speak to the girls. Her hair was damp and stringy, her face pinched and blue from cold.
“Here’s your suit!” she snapped, slapping the wet garment into the sand at Penny’s feet. “I hope you enjoyed the swim! I’m sure I didn’t.”
Turning her back, the widow marched to the hotel.
The moment Mrs. Deline had disappeared into the white brick building, Penny dug the jade elephant and paper from the sand.
“Let’s get dressed,” she urged Louise. “We’ve no time to waste.”
So t
hrilled were the girls over what they had accomplished that they could talk of nothing else. Penny felt that by obtaining the jade elephant she had proven her case.
“You thought I was only jealous of Mrs. Deline,” she told Louise triumphantly as they dressed in adjoining booths. “Now what do you say?”
“That you’re a genius!” Louise praised. “Mrs. Deline certainly is mixed up in some shady business.”
Once dressed, the girls wrapped the jade elephant in a handkerchief and carried it to the hotel. Jerry was nowhere to be found, and a bellboy told Penny that her father had gone for a walk.
“Perhaps we can work the message out ourselves,”Penny suggested hopefully. “Let’s try.”
In their hotel room, the girls spent an hour attempting to decipher the strange jargon of letters appearing on the paper. At the end of that time. Penny tossed aside her pencil in disgust.
“This is a job for an expert,” she declared. “I certainly don’t classify as one.”
The telephone jingled. Penny answered it and was delighted to hear Jerry’s familiar voice. He was down in the lobby and had been told that the girls wished to see him.
“We certainly do!” Penny answered gaily. “Hold everything! We’ll be with you in a jiffy.”
The elevator being entirely too slow, the girls raced down the stairs. Breathlessly they started to tell Jerry what they had learned.
“Not here!” he said quickly. “Let’s go outside where we won’t be overheard.”
Once out in the open with no one close by, Jerry lent an attentive ear to Penny’s tale of their afternoon adventure. He did not have much to say in return, but he studied the jade green elephant and the paper with deep interest.
“You don’t think it’s anything?” Penny asked in disappointment.
“On the contrary, it may be something of very great importance,” he returned soberly. “I’ll take this to Headquarters. We have an expert on codes who should be able to break it in a short while.”
The girls hoped that Jerry would invite them to accompany him, but he did not do so. Instead he said:
“Penny, you were telling me that Mrs. Deline had buried a package in the sand. Any luck in finding it?”
The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels Page 131
