Ghost Beyond the Gate Part 11

"I'm not a customer," Penny explained. She added that her father had been injured in the car accident, and that she was seeking information.

"I've already been questioned by police detectives," replied the owner of the candy shop. "I'm afraid I can't tell you very much."

"Did you witness the accident?"

"Oh, yes, I saw it, but it happened so fast I wasn't sure whose fault it was."

"You didn't take down the license number of the blue hit-skip car?"

"Was it blue?" the woman inquired. "Now I told the police, maroon."

"My information came from a small boy, so he may have been mistaken. Did you notice the woman who offered my father a ride?"

"Oh, yes, she was about my age--around forty."

"Well dressed?"

"Rather plainly, I would say. But she drove a fine, late-model car."

"Would you consider her a woman of means?"

"Judging from the car--yes."

Penny asked many more questions, trying to gain an accurate picture of the woman who had aided her father. She was somewhat rea.s.sured when the candy shop owner insisted that Mr. Parker had entered the car of his own free will.

"Did he seem dazed by the accident?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Well, yes, he did. I saw your father get into the car sort of holding his head. Then he asked the woman to stop at the curb."

"Why was that?"

"He'd forgotten something--a leather carrying case. At any rate, he returned to his own auto for it. Then he drove away with the woman."

As puzzled as ever, Penny went out on the street once more. The weather had turned colder, but she scarcely felt the icy blast which whipped her face.

It was silly to worry, she told herself sternly. Why, all the facts supported Police Chief Jalman's belief that her father soon would return home. Mrs. Weems was confident he would be found safe--so was Mr. DeWitt.

After all, only five hours had elapsed since the accident. A disappearance couldn't be considered serious in such a short period.

But try as she might, Penny could not free her mind of grave misgivings.

She could not forget the mysterious telephone call, the threatening letter, and Harley Schirr's c.o.c.ksure opinion that her father would not be found.

She stood disconsolate, gazing into the whirling snow storm. At the end of the street the railroad station loomed as a dark blur, reminding her of Jerry. If only he hadn't gone away! Jerry was the one person who might help her, and she knew of no way to reach him.

CHAPTER 8 _A FEW CHANGES_

Next morning, Penny, red-eyed because she had slept little, walked slowly toward the _Star_ office. Throughout the long night there had been no word from Mr. Parker.

At every street corner newsboys shouted the latest headlines--that the publisher had been missing nearly twenty-four hours. Even the _Star_ carried a black, ugly banner across its front page.

Penny bought a copy, reading with displeasure the story of Mr. Parker's disappearance.

"I can't understand why Mr. DeWitt let this go through," she thought. "If Dad were here, he'd certainly hate it."

Entering the lobby of the _Star_ building, Penny pressed the elevator b.u.t.ton. A long time elapsed before the cage descended. To her surprise she saw that it was operated, not by Mose Johnson, the colored man, but by the janitor.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Penny," the man apologized. "I'm not much good at operating this contraption."

"Where is Mose this morning, Charley?"

"Fired."

Penny could not hide her amazement. The old colored man had been employed ten years at the _Star_ plant. Although not strictly efficient, Mose's habits were good, and Mr. Parker had taken an affectionate interest in him.

"It's a shame, if you ask me," the janitor added.

"What happened, Charley? Who discharged him?"

"That guy Schirr."

"Harley Schirr? But he has no authority."

"An editor can fire and hire. I think he was just tryin' out his stuff on poor old Mose."

"During my father's absence, Mr. DeWitt is in full charge here," Penny said emphatically.

"DeWitt _was_ in charge. But they hauled him off to the hospital last night with a bad pain in his tummy. Seems he had an appendicitis attack.

The doctor rushed him off and didn't even wait until morning to operate."

The news stunned Penny. She murmured that she hoped Mr. DeWitt was doing well.

"Reckon he is," agreed the janitor. "We all chipped in and sent him some flowers--roses. Mose gave fifty cents, too."

Penny's mind came back to the problem of the colored man.

"So Mr. Schirr discharged him," she commented. "I wonder why?"

The janitor pressed a b.u.t.ton and the cage moved slowly upward.

"Mose was due on at midnight," he explained. "He didn't get here until after two o'clock."

"Didn't he have a reason for being so late?"

The cage stopped with a jerk. "Sure, Mose had a pip this time! Something about being detained by a ghost! Schirr didn't go for it at all. Swelled up like a poisoned pup and fired Mose on the spot."

"I'm sorry," Penny replied. "Dad liked Mose a lot."