The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels (225 page)

“Don’t be ridiculous!” she retorted. “I had no intention of hitting you. My aim is perfect.”

“Modest, at any rate,” observed Penny, smiling despite a determination to appear very stern. “You did write the warning note?”

“Naturally.”

“Why, may I ask?”

“Because in the first place, you have no business being on our property. Secondly, I didn’t want you to go to the thatched roof cottage.”

“May I ask your name?”

“I’m Lorinda Rhett.”

“Hamilton Rhett’s daughter!”

“Stepdaughter,” the girl corrected.

“You’re just the person I want to see!” exclaimed Penny, overjoyed at her good fortune. “Your stepfather—”

“I’ll answer no questions about him,” the girl interrupted. “You may as well spare your breath. Mother and I want no reporters here.”

“So you know who I am?”

“How could one help knowing? You nearly broke our door down with your pounding, and I heard you talking to Antón.”

“Your servant?”

“My stepfather’s,” Lorinda corrected with a slight inflection which suggested that she did not entirely approve of Antón. “Now will you stop asking questions and go away?”

“All in good time. First, I’m relieved to know that the thatched cottage isn’t really dangerous. You only wrote that to be rid of me.”

Lorinda gave her a long, steady look but said not a word.

“Or perhaps there is some mystery about the cottage,”Penny went on. “After all, your stepfather’s disappearance was very queer. But the police, no doubt, will get at the bottom of it when they come here.”

Lorinda scrambled to her feet. “The police!” she gasped. “We’ll not have them here prying around!”

“Whether or not you like it, I’m afraid you will have the police on your doorstep. A man of Mr. Rhett’s prominence can’t disappear without a few questions being asked.”

Lorinda lost much of her defiance. “But this is our own private affair,” she protested. “My stepfather will return—at least, I think he will.”

“And the missing bonds?”

“Missing bonds?”

“Didn’t Albert Potts, the bank secretary, inform your mother that $250,000 in negotiable securities also had disappeared?”

“Why, no! At least I knew nothing of it! Surely you don’t think my stepfather would stoop to the theft of bank securities?”

“I have no opinion in the matter. I’m merely here to get the true story. For some reason you and your mother have been unwilling to cooperate.”

Lorinda did not reply, but seemed to be thinking deeply.

“Do you have any idea where your stepfather is now?” Penny inquired, hoping that a direct approach might glean information.

“No, of course not.”

“You haven’t seen him for the past ten days?”

“That is true,” Lorinda acknowledged with great reluctance. “But it’s not so unusual. My stepfather frequently goes away on trips.”

“Without telling anyone where he is going?”

“I’ll not answer that question,” Lorinda said with a proud uptilt of her chin.

“I’m afraid you don’t like reporters very well,” observed Penny pleasantly. “Nor do you seem especially fond of your stepfather.”

“That’s not true! I do like my stepfather. Why, he was the one who taught me how to shoot with a bow and arrow! He gave me this bow which is a valuable collector’s item!”

She offered it to Penny who inspected the fine workmanship with keen interest.

“Mr. Rhett is a collector?” she inquired.

“Yes, he’s traveled all over the world, but most of his time was spent in the jungles of Africa, Brazil, and other places in South America. That was before he married Mother, of course.”

“Your stepfather was especially interested in ancient religious cults?”

“He made a study of it, and for a year gathered material by living in the jungle.” Lorinda suddenly broke off, aware that she was warming to Penny and telling her entirely too much.

“Then it was your father who built the thatched roof cottage?”

“Please, let’s not talk about it,” Lorinda pleaded. “I don’t like to be unfriendly or impolite, but you must understand there are things I can’t tell you, and which must never be published.”

Taking the ancient bow from Penny’s hand, the girl started up the path, limping a trifle on her twisted ankle.

“Only one more question, Lorinda. Please tell me the truth. Why were you afraid to have me investigate the thatched roof cottage?”

The girl paused on the path, gazing at Penny quite pathetically.

“Don’t ask me to tell you any more,” she whispered. “The cottage is a place of evil omen. Truly, I did you a favor in warning you away.”

“I saw a painting on the door—that of a winged or plumed serpent. Will you explain its significance?”

“I only know that my stepfather had it painted there when the cottage was built soon after his marriage to my mother. It is a symbol of one of the ancient cults he studied. Many of his trophies bear the same picture.”

The information was a little disappointing to Penny. “Then I suppose the drawing that the police found in Mr. Rhett’s office had no great significance,” she remarked.

“Drawing?”

Penny described the serpent picture which had been found, adding: “On the sheet were written the words:‘This shall be the end.’”

“You are certain?”

“Oh, yes, I saw the paper myself.”

Lorinda was visibly disturbed. “I must see that writing! It may mean—” she broke off and amended:“Tell me, where is the paper now?”

“The police have it.”

“Oh!”

“Why do you seem to fear the police?” inquired Penny curiously.

“I am not afraid of them—certainly not. It’s just that Mother and I prefer to keep our lives private. Facts can be so easily misinterpreted.”

“Your reluctance to assist the police also can be misinterpreted,” said Penny. “For instance, it seems strange to me that your stepfather’s disappearance doesn’t seem to disturb you.”

“Oh, it does! It’s only—well, there are things I can’t tell you without my mother’s permission. My stepfather is queer. Mother and I never liked his interest in weird cult practices. He had so many strange acquaintances and ties with the past. We always were afraid something dreadful might happen.”

“Then he may have met foul play?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Lorinda said miserably. “A ten-day disappearance is not so serious. My stepfather occasionally went away before without telling us, though never for such a long period. If it weren’t for the paper found in his desk, and the missing bonds, I would say it’s much ado about nothing.”

“As it is—?”

“The loss of $250,000 could be a very serious matter. Tell me, what is your name?”

“Penny Parker.”

“You’re here only to get a story for your paper?”

“That was why I came, but since meeting you I truthfully can say I also am very much interested in helping you if possible.”

“I like you,” Lorinda declared with a quick smile. “I’m sorry about the arrow. And I was very rude.”

“Not at all. I deliberately egged you on, hoping you would tell me about your stepfather. I was sent here to get a picture of him, and I hate to fail.”

“A picture? Mother has one, but I doubt that she would permit you to use it.” Lorinda considered a moment, then added: “Tell you what! I’ll take you to her, and perhaps, if you’re a convincing talker, she’ll agree to your request.”

“Oh, Lorinda, that’s fine!”

The Rhett girl linked arms with Penny as they trudged up the path to the house.

“Don’t count your chickens just yet,” she warned. “Mother doesn’t like reporters. It will be sheer luck if she gives you the picture or any information you can use in the paper.”

CHAPTER 5

AN EVIL CHARM

“Mother has disliked reporters ever since she married my stepfather, two years ago,” Lorinda confided as the girls approached the house. “We were in the Eastern part of the country at the time, and papers played up the story, suggesting that Mr. Rhett was a fortune hunter.”

“Then he had no money of his own?”

“Not a great deal. You see, my stepfather loved travel, and until he met Mother he never really settled down. He made a little by writing magazine articles, and he spent it roving about the country and exploring far corners of the world.”

“It must have been an interesting life,” Penny commented politely. “Your mother enjoyed travel too?”

“Oh, mercy no! One hardly can get her away from Riverview. She and my stepfather never traveled together after they were married.”

Penny gathered that Mr. and Mrs. Rhett were entirely different types of individuals, but she asked no additional questions, for by this time, the girls had reached the house.

Crossing a stone terrace at the rear of the dwelling, they entered a spacious living room furnished with elegant though formal furniture. Shades were partially drawn, giving the interior a gloomy atmosphere, despite the vases of brightly colored chrysanthemums which decorated the tables.

A woman with dark hair tinged with gray sat reading a book. She was immaculately groomed, every curl of an elaborate hair-do in place, but her face lacked tranquility. Her eyes were not on the page before her, Penny noted, and as the two girls came in, she visibly started.

“Oh, it’s you, Lorinda,” she murmured in relief. “I declare, I am getting jumpy! For a moment I thought it might be the police or that inquisitive reporter—”

“Mother,” interposed Lorinda hastily, “allow me to present Penny Parker, from the
Riverview Star
.”

Mrs. Rhett laid aside the book and stared at Penny, her face without expression. Her voice was cold as she spoke.

“From the
Star
? Lorinda, I am
very
sorry, but you know my feeling in this matter.”

“Penny really is very nice, Mother,” Lorinda said, flashing her companion an encouraging smile. “She didn’t want to come out here and question us about father, but the editor sent her. He wants a picture, too.”

Mrs. Rhett arose to terminate an interview which had never really begun. “I am sorry,” she repeated with emphasis. “There are to be no pictures taken.”

“The editor especially wanted a photograph of your husband,” Penny said. “By publishing it in the paper, it may be easier to trace him.”

“Miss Parker,” replied Mrs. Rhett pleasantly but with no warmth, “if I need assistance in locating my husband I shall request it. Meanwhile, I do wish people would not concern themselves with our affairs.”

“Mother, we may not be able to avoid publicity,”Lorinda rushed on. “There’s likely to be a scandal. You see, $250,000 in negotiable bonds disappeared from the bank.”

For a moment, Mrs. Rhett did not speak. A dagger-type paper cutter lay on the polished table beside her. Nervously her fingers closed upon it, and unaware of the act, she jabbed the sharp point several times through a lace doily centerpiece.

“Mother, you’re ruining that!”

Mrs. Rhett dropped the paper cutter, which clattered on the table and tumbled to the floor. Without picking it up, she moved restlessly to the window, only to return.

“What were you saying about $250,000 in bonds, Lorinda?” she asked. “Surely you didn’t mean—”

“I only know what Penny told me. Soon after Father disappeared, Albert Potts discovered the bonds also were missing.”

“There can be no connection. Why, even the suggestion that my husband would steal is ridiculous! It’s preposterous!”

“No one has accused your husband,” Penny said quietly. “Perhaps the bonds will be found. Now that the police have stepped into the case, there should be developments.”

“The police,” repeated Mrs. Rhett with a shiver. “Oh, dear, must we suffer their interference!”

A telephone in an adjoining room rang and Lorinda started to answer it. But her mother signalled to her.

“Let it go, Lorinda. It may be the police now, or another reporter. We’ll have nothing to say.”

The telephone rang again. Footsteps were heard down a hallway and a well-built, dark-skinned house-worker of middle age padded into the room. She gazed with intent curiosity at Penny as she started toward the library to answer the phone.

“No, let it ring, Celeste,” Mrs. Rhett directed. “And if anyone comes to the door asking for me, remember, I am not at home.”

“Yes’m,” mumbled the housekeeper. She bent to pick up the paper cutter from the floor and as she did so an object which was tied about her neck with a cord and kept hidden beneath her starched uniform, swung into view.

Penny obtained only a fleeting glimpse of the curious article, for the woman hastily thrust it into her dress front again. However, it appeared to be a tiny packet of cloth.

Lorinda also had observed the object. Fixing the woman with a stern gaze she said: “Celeste, you’re wearing one of those heathenish
ouange
charms again! You promised Mother you wouldn’t!”