Clue of the Silken Ladder Part 29

"I'll venture some of the Kohl loot was sold through him, Jerry."

"It wouldn't surprise me. But if the police search the place they won't find a thing."

Loitering on the opposite side of the street, Penny and the reporter kept close watch of the p.a.w.nbroker's shop. Thirty minutes elapsed. The man whom they had trailed, did not reappear.

"He must have slipped out the back door," Jerry remarked. "Probably knew he was being watched."

"I'm beginning to think so myself."

Jerry glanced at his watch. "I can't take any more time," he said. "I'll have to get back to the office."

"I'll watch a few minutes longer," answered Penny. "If anything develops I'll try to telephone."

Jerry walked hurriedly away. Scarcely had he disappeared when the door of the p.a.w.nshop opened, and the young man who had entered a half hour earlier, appeared. Penny hastily moved back into the vestibule of an office building.

Without observing her, the stranger crossed the street and walked briskly toward an intersecting boulevard. There was no opportunity for Penny to telephone the _Star_ office. Following, she was hard pressed to keep the man within view.

Not until they reached the entrance of b.u.t.ternut Lane did it dawn upon her that the Celestial Temple might be their destination. Then, indeed, her pulse stepped up a pace.

"It's exactly as I guessed!" she thought triumphantly. "He's connected with Al Gepper and the other mediums!"

Not wis.h.i.+ng to attract attention in the deserted lane, Penny took a short cut through the cemetery, emerging at the rear of the Celestial Temple.

There was no door on that side of the building but a window had been left raised. Placed beneath it, as if for her particular convenience, was a large rock.

Penny stood on it, peering into the Temple. The room was unoccupied.

However, as she waited, the same man she had trailed, quietly let himself in through the front entrance, using a key. He glanced about and called in a low voice: "Pete! Pete! Anyone here?"

There was no answer, which seemed to please the young man. He moved quickly down the aisle, crossed the platform to a door which opened into the bell tower. Kneeling he began to fit keys into the lock, seeking one which would serve.

As Penny watched, the young man suddenly straightened. Apparently he had heard footsteps in the vestibule for he moved away from the bell tower door.

A middle-aged woman with dyed hair and a skin of unusual pallor entered the Temple. She stopped short as she saw the young man.

"You here, Slippery?" she commented, gazing at him with distrust.

"Where's Pete?"

"h.e.l.lo, Sade. I was wonderin' about Pete myself. Just got here a minute ago."

The woman's gaze fastened upon the key which had been left in the bell tower door.

"Say, what's coming off here?" she demanded. "You were trying to get inside!"

"Now don't ruffle your feathers, Sade," the man said soothingly. "I was only testing the door to make sure it was locked."

"I'll bet! You were aiming to break in! Slippery, they sure named you right. Why, you'd double-cross your own mother!"

"Oh, quiet down," the man retorted angrily. "I only came here to make sure Pete was on the job. The lazy loafer has skipped out and left the place unguarded."

The woman deliberately seated herself in a chair beside the bell tower door.

"I'm parking here until Pete shows up," she announced. "Maybe you're on the square, Slippery, but I don't trust you."

"Thanks for your flattering opinion," the man responded mockingly. "You give me a pain, Sade. I do all the dangerous work, and what do I get? A measly ten per cent."

"Plus what you stick in your pocket when you're on a job," the woman shot back with rising anger. "You've been doing pretty well for yourself, Slippery--you and Al. But the boys are getting wise. From now on it may not be so easy. Better play fair with the rest of us--or else."

"You always did have a wagging tongue," the man retorted. "Always trying to stir up trouble. Don't you realize we've got to work together or we'll be jailed separately? Our ranks must be united."

"Gettin' sort of jittery, ain't you?"

"Maybe you haven't been reading those editorials in the _Star_."

"Sure, I read them and get a big laugh. This guy Parker has to blow off steam. Nothing will come of it."

"The police have visited this place once already."

"And what did they find? Nothing."

"That's no guarantee they won't try again. I tell you this town is getting too hot for comfort."

"Figurin' on blowing?" the woman inquired, watching him shrewdly.

Slippery's laughter had an unpleasant edge. "You sure do get ideas, Sade.

Don't start peddling that line of talk. Understand?"

"I hear."

Suddenly losing his temper, the man strode nearer, seizing her arm.

"Just start something and see where you wake up!" he said harshly. "One word to Pete or any of the boys and you won't do any more pretty fortune telling!"

The woman jerked her arm free, gazing at the man in sullen silence. Nor did she speak as he left the Temple, slamming the door behind him.

CHAPTER 19 _PENNY INVESTIGATES_

Penny debated whether or not to follow Slippery. Deciding that she should try to keep him within sight, she abandoned her post beneath the window and ran to the front of the building.

Already the young man was far down the lane, walking rapidly. Before Penny could overtake him he hailed a taxi and drove away. By the time she obtained another cab, pursuit was futile.

"To the _Star_ office," Penny ordered the driver.

Although Slippery had eluded her, she did not feel that her morning's work had been wasted. She believed that her father would be very much interested in a report of her findings.

"It's evident that Slippery is connected with Al Gepper and various mediums of the Celestial Temple," she reflected. "I am sure, too, that he's the one who broke into our house, but to prove it may not be so easy."