The Secret Pact Part 27

"Tell me more about the tattoo," urged Penny.

"It's just a figure about so large--" Mr. Saal demonstrated with his hands, "on the man's back. Funny place for a tattoo, ain't it?"

"I should say so," agreed Penny. "Is it merely a figure of an octopus? No words or anything like that?"

"There are two words. I took 'em off last week."

"Two?" inquired Penny. "What are they, Mr. Saal?"

"They don't make sense. The words are _For One_."

"I once saw an octopus tattoo such as you describe," declared Penny. "But I distinctly recall that the design used only a single word. It was _One_."

"Is that so?" inquired Mr. Saal. "Maybe the tattoo isn't as uncommon as I thought. But I never saw one like it before."

"I wonder what can be the significance of the words?"

"I was asking my customer about it. He pretended he didn't know, but I figure maybe he and some buddies had a sentence tattooed on 'em."

"You mean that if one were able to read several tattoos together, the words would make sense?"

"That's right," nodded Mr. Saal. "I don't know about this octopus tattoo, but I figure it may have been that way."

"Did your customer have any other tattoos on his body?" Penny questioned.

"An anchor, for instance?"

"Didn't notice 'em if he did."

"I suppose it takes a long while to remove a tattoo. Does your customer come often?"

"Every Tuesday and Thursday night. He complains because I don't do the work faster, but I tell him if he wants a good job it has to be done carefully."

Before Penny could ask another question, two young sailors swaggered into the shop. Ellis Saal, scenting business, immediately arose.

"Be careful what you write up," he warned as he left her. "There's been a lot of articles on tattooin', but not a one that's right. It just ain't possible for a reporter to write a true story unless it's about a murder or a fire!"

"I'll be careful," promised Penny.

Leaving the shop, she walked slowly to her parked car. The information obtained from the tattoo artist both excited and mystified her.

"I don't believe Mr. Saal could have been mistaken about the words which were incorporated in the design," she thought. "And I'm equally certain I wasn't mistaken about Anchor Joe's tattoo. It had only the single word, 'One.'"

Mr. Saal's declaration that his customer was not the possessor of a tattooed anchor caused Penny to wonder if the person could be Joe Landa.

However, the man was wanted by government agents and it seemed reasonable to believe that he might seek to remove tell-tale markings.

"I know what I'll do," she decided. "Thursday night I'll watch Mr. Saal's shop. In that way I may be able to learn the ident.i.ty of his mysterious customer!"

CHAPTER 18 _PAULETTA'S EXPLANATION_

Penny compressed the facts given her by Ellis Saal into a brief, lively feature story for the _Weekly Times_. She was careful not to divulge that the man had removed a tattoo from a customer, but to Louise she confided the entire story.

"All unwittingly, Mr. Saal gave me just the clue I need," she declared enthusiastically. "It will be a gigantic step forward if I learn the ident.i.ty of his mysterious customer."

"What's to be gained by it?" asked Louise as she slugged a story and speared it on a hook. "What will be proven?"

"Well, if I'm ever going to solve the mystery I must gather every fact I can," Penny said defensively. "I aim to learn the meaning of those strange tattoos and, above all, the reason why John Munn was pushed from the bridge."

"You have your work cut out for you," responded Louise dryly.

"But Mr. Saal's information helps. You remember I told you that John Munn's tattoo bore the word _All_. Anchor Joe's was exactly the same except for the word, _One_. And now Ellis Saal has a customer with two words on his back: _For One_. Why, I believe I have it!"

Penny sprang from her chair, eyes dancing with excitement.

"You have what?" asked Louise calmly.

"It came to me like a flash--the meaning of those tattooed words! If we haven't been dumb!"

"Kindly stop jumping around, and explain."

"Mr. Saal told me he thought several sailors might have had a sentence incorporated in their tattoo. That is, only a word or two was used in each design, but taken as a whole it would make sense."

"And you think you have the phrase?"

"I do, Louise! Why couldn't it be: _All for one, one for all_?"

"If the men were close friends, that would be fairly logical. But the words we have to juggle don't make such a sentence, Penny."

"Obviously there must be a fourth sailor whose tattoo includes the words, 'for all,'" argued Penny. "Then it would fit perfectly."

"Just because four men were pals, you think they would have such nonsense tattooed on their backs?"

"That's my theory."

"If you're right, then the mystery is solved."

"Far from it," corrected Penny. "I haven't learned who pushed John Munn from the bridge or why. You remember how Anchor Joe talked about someone who had 'ratted'? The four of them must have been in on a scheme, and one man betrayed his comrades."

"Better bridle that imagination before it takes you for too wild a ride,"

chuckled Louise.

"Then you think there's nothing to my theory?" Penny demanded in an injured tone.

"I think that if you speculate upon it much longer we'll never get any work done," Louise replied, turning once more to her typewriter. "These headlines must be composed if ever we expect to get another paper on the street."

Disappointed that her chum did not take the matter more seriously, Penny went to consult Old Horney in the composing room. The pressman had proven to be worth many times the small salary which the girls paid him. Not only had he made the rotary presses ready for service, but he had cleaned and oiled every useable piece of machinery in the building. Eagerly he awaited the day when Penny would print the _Weekly_ in her own plant.