The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels (38 page)

“Mr. Jasko, you know me,” she whispered as the old man blinked and stared at her almost stupidly. “I’m going to get you out of here.”

She jerked the gag from his mouth, and unfastened the cords which bound his wrists.

“We don’t dare go through the hotel lest we be seen,” she told him. “I think we may be able to get out by means of the fire escape. If luck is only with us—”

Making certain that the coast was clear, Penny led the old man down the hall to a room which she knew would be opposite the fire escape. She was afraid it would be locked, but to her intense relief it had not been secured.

Only a minute was required to cross the room, raise the window and help Peter Jasko through it.

“I can’t come with you,” she said. “I have something else to do. Now listen closely. I want you to go to Pine Top as fast as you can and bring the sheriff or the police or whoever it is that would have authority to arrest Fergus and Maxwell.”

“I aim to do that on my own account,” the old man muttered. “I’ve got a debt to square with them.”

“We both have,” said Penny. “Now this is what I want you to do. If I’m not in evidence when you get back, bring the police to the Green Room.”

“Where’s that?”

“It’s on this same floor. You go down the hall to the left, enter an unmarked door into another corridor, and finally through a green door which may be guarded. If necessary, force an entrance.”

“I don’t know what it’s all about,” the old man muttered. “But I’ll do as you say.”

“And hurry!” Penny urged.

She watched anxiously from the window until Peter Jasko had reached the bottom of the fire escape in safety. He ran across the yard, gaining the roadway without having been observed.

Returning once more to the main corridor, Penny glanced anxiously up and down. Hearing someone moving about at the far end of the hall, she went to investigate, certain that it was the cleaning woman putting away her mops and broom.

“You ain’t locked out again?” the maid asked as she saw Penny standing beside her.

“No, but I have another request. How would you like to earn some more money?”

“How?” inquired the woman with quick interest.

“Do you have an extra costume?”

“Costume?”

“Dress, I mean. Like one you’re wearing.”

“Not here.” As the maid spoke she divested herself of an old pair of shoes, and setting them back against the closet wall, slipped on a pair of much better looking ones. “I’m changing my clothes now to go home.”

“I’ll give you another two dollars if you’ll lend me the outfit for the evening.”

“Is it for a party?” the maid asked.

“A masquerade,” said Penny. “I want to play a little joke on some acquaintances of mine.”

She waved another bill before the woman’s eyes, and the temptation of making easy money was too great to resist.

“All right, I’ll do it,” the maid agreed. “Just wait outside until I get my clothes changed.”

Penny waited, watching the halls anxiously lest she be observed by someone who would recognize her. Soon the maid stepped from the closet, and handed over a bundle of clothing.

“And here is your money,” said Penny. “Don’t mention to anyone what we’ve done—at least not until tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry, Miss, I won’t,” replied the woman grimly. “I might lose my job if they caught me.”

After the maid had gone away, Penny slipped into the closet and quickly changed into the costume. Pulling off her cap, she rumpled her hair and rubbed a streak of dirt across her face. The shoes were a trifle too large for her, and their size, together with the painful ankle, made her walk in a dragging fashion.

Snatching up a feather duster, she went hurriedly down the hall toward the corridor which led to the Green Room. As always, the guard sat in his chair by the door. But this time Penny had high hopes of gaining entrance.

Boldly, she walked over to him and said: “Good evening. I was sent to tell you you’re wanted in the office by Mr. Maxwell.”

“Now?” he inquired in surprise.

“Yes, right away.”

“Someone ought to stay here.”

“I’ll wait until you get back.”

“Don’t let anyone inside unless they have passes,” the guard instructed.

Penny barely could hide her excitement. It had been almost too easy! At last she was to penetrate beyond the Green Door! And if she found what she expected, the entire mystery would be cleared up. She would gain evidence against Ralph Fergus and Harvey Maxwell which would make her case iron-clad.

From within the room, Penny could hear the low murmur of voices. She waited until the guard had disappeared, and then, summoning her courage, opened the green door and stepped inside.

Penny found herself in an elegantly furnished salon, its chairs, davenports, carpet and draperies decorated in soft shades of green and ivory. A little dark-haired man she had never seen before, who spoke with an artificial French accent, stood talking with three women who were trying on fur coats. A fourth woman, Maxine Miller, sat in a chair, her back turned to Penny.

“Now Henri, I want you to give my friends a good price on their coats,” she was saying in a chirpy voice.

“
Oui
” he agreed, bobbing his head up and down. “We say one hundred and ninety-two dollars for zis beautiful sealskin coat. I make you a special price only because you are friends of Mademoiselle Miller.”

The opening of the outside door had drawn Henri’s attention briefly to Penny. As she busied herself dusting, he paid her no heed, and Maxine Miller did not give the girl a second glance.

Penny wandered slowly about the room, noting the long mirrors and the tall cases crowded with racks of sealskin coats.

“These are smuggled furs,” she thought. “This Green Room is the sales salon, and Henri must be an employee of Ralph Fergus and Harvey Maxwell. I believe I know how they get the furs over the Canadian border, too, without paying duty!”

Satisfied that she could learn no more by lingering, Penny turned down the long corridor leading to the door which opened on the main hallway. She knew that the guard would soon discover he had been tricked and expose her. And while she had been inside the salon less than five minutes, already she had waited a moment too long.

As she opened the door she saw Harvey Maxwell and the guard coming down the corridor toward her. Retreat was out of the question.

“There she is now!” said the guard, accusingly. “She told me you wanted me in the office.”

Harvey Maxwell walked angrily toward Penny.

“What was the big idea?” he began, only to stop short. “Oh, so it’s
you
? My dear little girl, I am very much afraid, you have over-played your hand this time!”

CHAPTER 24

HENRI’S SALON

Penny sought to push past the two men, but Harvey Maxwell caught her roughly by the arm.

“Unfortunately, my dear Miss Parker, you have observed certain things which you may not understand,” he said. “Lest you misinterpret them, and are inclined to run to your father with fantastic tales, you must be detained here. Now I have a great distaste for violence. I trust it will not be necessary to use force now.”

“Let me go,” Penny cried, trying to jerk away.

“Take her, Frank,” instructed the hotel man. “For the time being put her in the tunnel room. I’ll be down as soon as I talk with Ralph.”

Before Penny could scream, a hand was clapped over her mouth. The guard, Frank, held her in a firm grip from which she could not free herself.

“Get going!” he commanded.

But Penny braced her feet and stood perfectly still. From the outside corridor she had heard a low rumble of voices. Then Ralph Fergus spoke above the others, in an exasperated, harassed tone:

“This old man is crazy, I tell you! We never kept him a prisoner in our hotel. We have a Green Room, to be sure, but it is rented out to a man named Henri Croix who is in the fur business.”

Penny’s pulse quickened. Peter Jasko had carried out her order and had brought the police!

Harvey Maxwell and the guard well comprehended their danger. With a quick jerk of his head the hotel man indicated a closet where Penny could be secreted. As the two men tried to pull her to it, she sunk her teeth into Frank’s hand. His hold over her mouth relaxed for an instant, but that instant was enough. She screamed at the top of her lungs.

The outside door swung open. Led by Peter Jasko, the sheriff and several deputies filed into the corridor. Ralph Fergus did not follow, and Penny saw him trying to slip away.

“Don’t let that man escape!” she cried. “Arrest him!”

Peter Jasko himself overtook Fergus and brought him back.

“I’ve got a score to settle with you,” he muttered. “You ain’t a good enough talker to get out of this.”

“Gentlemen—” It was Harvey Maxwell who spoke, and his tone was irritated. “What is the meaning of this intrusion?”

“We’ve had a complaint,” said the sheriff. “Jasko here says you kept him a prisoner in the hotel, trying to make him sign a paper.”

“The old fellow is right in a way,” replied Mr. Maxwell. “Not about the paper. We did detain him here for his own good, and he managed to get away. I regret to say he went completely out of his mind, became violent, threatened our guests, and it was necessary to hold him until the doctor could arrive. We’ve already sent for Doctor Corbin.”

“That’s just what I was telling them,” added Ralph Fergus.

“Now let me speak my piece,” said Penny. “Peter Jasko was held a prisoner here because Fergus and Maxwell wanted him to sign a paper leasing his ski slopes to the hotel. That was only one of their many little stunts. Fergus and Maxwell are the heads of a gigantic fur smuggling business, and they use their hotels merely as a legitimate front.”

“Your proof?” demanded Harvey Maxwell sarcastically. “The real truth is that I am suing this girl’s father for libel. He sent her here to try to dig up something against me. She’s using every excuse she can find to involve me in affairs about which I know nothing.”

“If you want proof, I’ll furnish it,” said Penny. “Just step into the Green Room where Henri Croix, a phony Frenchman, is engaged in selling fur coats to three ladies.”

“There’s no crime in that,” declared Ralph Fergus angrily. “Mr. Croix pays the hotel three hundred dollars a month for the use of this wing. So far as we know his business is legitimate. If for any reason we learn it is not, we will be the first to ask for an investigation.”

“Not quite the first,” smiled Penny, “for I’ve already made the request. To go on with my proof, it might be well to investigate Room 27 on this same floor.”

“Room 27 is given over to our teletype service,” interrupted Maxwell. “Our guests like to get the stock reports, you know, and that is why we have the machines.”

“In Room 27 you will find a storage vault for furs,”Penny went on, thoroughly enjoying herself. “A panel revolves, opening the way to a secret stair which leads down into the basement of the hotel. I’m not certain about the rest—”

“No?” demanded Maxwell ironically.

“There are additional storage vaults in the basement,”Penny resumed. “A man is down there guarding what appears to be a tunnel. Tell me, is this hotel close to the old silver mine?”

“About a quarter of a mile from the entrance,” replied the sheriff. “Some of the tunnels might come right up to the hotel grounds.”

“I understand the hotel bought out the mine, and I believe they may be making use of the old tunnels. At least, the place will bear an investigation. Oh, yes, this paper came off one of the teletype machines.”

Penny took the torn sheet from her pocket and gave it to the sheriff.

“I can’t read it,” he said, frowning.

“Code,” explained Penny. “If I had a typewriter I could figure it out. Suppose we go to Room 27 now. I’m positive you’ll learn that my story is not as fantastic as it seems.”

Leaving Peter Jasko and two deputies to guard Fergus and Maxwell and to see that no one left the Green Room, Penny led the sheriff and four other armed men down the hall. In her excitement she failed to observe Francine Sellberg standing by the elevator, watching intently.

“Here are the teletype machines,” Penny indicated, pausing beside them. “Now let me have that message. I think I can read it.”

Studying the keyboard of the teletype for a moment, she wrote out her translation beneath the jumbled line of printing. It read:

“Train Arrives approximately 11:25.”

“What does that mean?” the sheriff inquired. “We have no trains at Pine Top.”

“We’ll see,” chuckled Penny.

She showed the men the vault filled with furs, and pressed the spring which opened the wall panel.

“Be careful in descending the stairway,” she warned. “I know they have one guard down there and possibly others.”

Sheriff Clausson and his men went ahead of Penny. The guard, taken completely by surprise, was captured without a shot being fired.