"Anything important?"
"Mostly replies to that reward offer you made. A lot of 'em are screwball
letters. Your father's been seen in every section of the city from the
river to the Heights."
"Where is the mail?"
"I dumped it on your father's desk."
"I'll take it home to read," Penny said. "By going through every letter
carefully I may stumble upon a clue."
She crossed the newsroom and opened the door of her father's office.
The light was not on. Groping for the wall switch, her keen ears detected
stealthy steps moving away from her. Sensing the presence of someone in
the room she called sharply: "Who's here?"
There was no reply. Across the room, a door softly opened and clicked
shut. Penny was startled. Although the private office had two entrances,
one leading directly into the hall, the latter had not been used in
years. Usually the door was locked and a clothes tree stood in front of
it.
Her groping fingers found the switch and she flooded the room with light.
A glance revealed that mail lying on the desk had been disturbed. One of
the top drawers remained open. The clothes tree had been moved from in
front of the hall door. Plainly, someone had just fled from the room!
Darting to the corridor door, Penny jerked it open. No one was in sight.
However, at the end of the deserted hall, she saw the elevator cage
moving slowly downward.
"I'll get that fellow yet!" she thought grimly.
Taking the hall at a run, she plunged down the stairway two steps at a
time. Breathless but triumphant, she reached the lower corridor just as
the cage stopped with a jerk.
Harley Schirr stepped out, closing the grilled door behind him.
"Fancy meeting you here!" said Penny, her eyes flashing. "What were you
doing in my father's office?"
Schirr regarded her coolly. Without answering, he tried to brush past
her.
"You were looking for something in Dad's desk!" Penny accused, blocking
the way. "I know how you got in too! Through the hall entrance. You're
such a professional snooper you probably have a skeleton key that unlocks
half the doors in the building!"
"I've had about enough of your insolence!" Schirr retorted. "There's no
law which says I can't come to this plant. And speaking of law, I may sue
you for libel."
"What a laugh."
"You'll not be laughing in a few days, Miss Parker! Oh, no! I've hired a
lawyer, and we're preparing our case. You've insulted me, humiliated me
in the eyes of my fellow newspapermen, but you'll have to pay. And pay
handsomely!"
The threat failed to disturb Penny. Schirr, determined to wound her
deeply, went on with grim satisfaction.
"You kid yourself you'll see your father again," he jeered. "Well, you
won't! Mr. Parker is dead and you may as well get used to the idea."