Penny Nichols and the Black Imp Page 10

  CHAPTER X

  Hanley Cron's Studio

  Penny wondered why Hanley Cron should wish to duplicate the Black Imp.He had not thought highly enough of it even to award Amy honorablemention in the Huddleson contest.

  She had no time to consider the matter, for her chief thought was tocapture the jewel thief before he escaped from the building. Alreadyshe feared that she had lost him.

  "Why do you keep your studio door locked from the inside?" shedemanded, turning the key to open it.

  "Because I don't care to be interrupted while I am working," Cronretorted significantly. "As a rule, visitors don't have the effronteryto come in the windows!"

  Penny did not reply to the gibe. She opened the door just as Amy camerunning up the corridor, holding something in her hand. She stoppedshort when she saw Hanley Cron.

  "Amy Coulter, I believe," he said sharply. "Wanted by the police."

  "I've done nothing wrong," the girl retorted.

  "You are under suspicion for the theft of a valuable painting from theGage Galleries."

  "I don't know anything about the picture."

  "The charge is silly," Penny added.

  "You seem to have an unlucky faculty of being present whenevervaluables are stolen," Cron commented coldly. "Isn't that Mrs.Dillon's bag you have in your hand?"

  "Yes, it is. I picked it up by the elevator. It was lying on thefloor."

  "The thief must have dropped it," Penny declared. "Are the pearlsgone?"

  "I haven't even looked yet," Amy admitted.

  She offered the beaded bag to Penny who promptly turned it inside out.Save for a compact and a handkerchief the purse was empty.

  "The pearls are missing all right," Cron commented, lookinghalf-accusingly at Amy.

  "Don't you dare suggest I had anything to do with it!" the girl criedfuriously. "Mrs. Dillon will tell you that Penny and I were onlytrying to help!"

  "I don't know anything about the pearls," Cron replied cuttingly, "butI intend to turn you over to the police for questioning in regard tothe stolen painting."

  Penny turned blazing eyes upon the art critic.

  "Before you do that, Mr. Cron, you might explain to Miss Coulter whyyou are copying her statue!"

  Darting across the room, she snatched off the cloth which covered thesculptor's work.

  "Why, it's my Black Imp!" Amy cried in surprise. "You've reproduced itin every detail!"

  Hanley Cron was taken aback at the unexpected exposure, but he quicklyregained his usual nonchalance.

  "I rather liked the figure," he said inadequately. "That was why Icopied it. I had no other reason."

  "You didn't like the Black Imp well enough to award it a prize," Amycried indignantly. "You have a very good reason for reproducing thestatue--perhaps you intend to put it to commercial use!"

  "You flatter yourself, Miss Coulter. The statue has no valuecommercially or otherwise."

  "You have no right to copy it," Amy insisted, with increasing anger."The Black Imp is solely my work."

  Before either Hanley Cron or Penny guessed the girl's intention, shedarted across the room and snatched the little figure from the pedestal.

  "What are you doing?" the sculptor demanded harshly.

  "I'm going to take the Black Imp with me. You've no right to it!"

  "Drop that!"

  Furiously, Cron caught the girl by the wrist, giving it a cruel wrench.Amy would not relinquish the mass of wet clay and Penny hastened toassist her. In the midst of the struggle, the door opened and apoliceman looked in.

  "What's going on here?"

  Hanley Cron's hand fell from Amy's arm. The girls expected him to makea direct charge against them but he seemed confused by the appearanceof the policeman.

  "We're not having any trouble, officer," he muttered. "Just a littlefriendly argument about some of my work."

  "Friendly, eh?" the policeman questioned. He gazed inquiringly atPenny and Amy.

  "It was really nothing," the latter said hurriedly. "We merelydisagreed about a statue."

  The girls edged toward the door, Amy still clutching the Black Imp inher hands. They both confidently expected that Cron would bring up thematter of the stolen painting, but for some reason which they could notfathom, he stood mute.

  The policeman, however, blocked the exit.

  "Just a minute," he said. "What's this bag doing here?" He picked upthe beaded purse which had been dropped on the table.

  Penny explained where Amy had found it and told of her own attempt tocapture the jewel thief.

  "The man didn't come into my studio," Cron interposed. "These girlsare so excited they don't know what they saw."

  "The thief came up the fire escape," Penny insisted. "I admit I mayhave been mistaken as to the window he entered."

  "You were," Cron said shortly.

  "I guess it doesn't matter greatly now," Penny returned. "By this timethe thief is probably blocks away."

  It was Mrs. Dillon who had called the policeman. She had noticed himat the corner and had screamed for help. He had mounted the stairs soswiftly that she had been unable to keep pace with him. Now shehurried up, breathless from exertion. The corridor was rapidly fillingwith excited occupants of the building who had learned of the theft.

  "Oh, thank goodness you've recovered my bag!" Mrs. Dillon criedjoyfully, as she entered the studio room.

  "Your pearls are gone," the policeman told her, handing over the purse."The thief dropped the bag in the hallway after he had rifled it."

  Mrs. Dillon sank weakly down in the nearest chair. Her face was whiteand Penny could not help feeling sorry for her.

  "Can you describe the thief?" the officer questioned.

  "Oh, I'm afraid not," Mrs. Dillon murmured. "I really didn't noticehim at all until he came up to me. He asked me for fifty cents. WhenI refused he snatched my bag."

  "It was a planned robbery, I think," Penny interposed. "I noticed thatthe man was waiting when Mrs. Dillon drove up. He seemed to bewatching for her car."

  The policeman directed his questions toward Penny who answered them tothe best of her ability. However, she was unable to furnish a verygood description of the thief.

  "Officer, you must find that man," Mrs. Dillon said urgently. "I'llpay a liberal reward for the return of my jewels. I must have themback! They represent a fortune!"

  "I'll do the best I can, Madam."

  "The pearls will be recovered, Mrs. Dillon," Hanley Cron saidsoothingly. "Our police force is very efficient."

  "I shouldn't have carried the pearls in my purse," Mrs. Dillon moaned."Christopher Nichols warned me. I should have heeded his words."

  "Where were you when the bag was snatched?" the officer questioned.

  "I had just left my car. I was coming here to meet Mr. Cron. We weretaking luncheon together."

  "Had you told anyone that you were carrying the pearls in the purse?"

  "Only Mr. Cron. Of course Christopher Nichols was aware of myintention."

  "I knew you were taking the jewels to the bank vault," Penny informed."I overheard you talking at the ball, and I believe others must havelistened to the conversation too."

  "No guest of mine could be guilty of the theft," Mrs. Dillon replied ina shocked voice. "The man who snatched the bag was a stranger."

  "He may have been employed by another," Penny suggested.

  Amy was decidedly uneasy in the presence of Hanley Cron and thepoliceman, fearing that at any moment some reference might be made tothe stolen painting. She could not understand why the art criticremained silent since he had threatened to expose her.

  Hearing the whining whistle of a squad car arriving from policeheadquarters, the girls quietly slipped away. Cron made no move todetain them, even though Amy retained possession of the Black Imp.

  "Why do you suppose Hanley Cron didn't try to make trouble?" Pennyasked as they walked swiftly along the street toward Amy's roominghouse. "I felt certain he would."
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  "So did I. I guess he knew he had no right to copy the Black Imp."

  "He was probably afraid he might get himself into trouble," Pennychuckled. "Either that, or he didn't want to make a scene in front ofMrs. Dillon."

  "It's queer about the statue," Amy said musingly. "I can't understandwhat he intended to do with it."

  She took the Black Imp from her pocket and examined it critically. Thedamp clay was slightly misshapen from rough handling. They sat down ona park bench while Amy deftly moulded it back into its original form.

  "It should make a fairly nice figure when it dries," she remarked.

  "Why don't you try to sell the Black Imp to some commercial firm?"Penny asked abruptly. "It seems to me it has possibilities. It's sucha cute little figure."

  "Perhaps I will try later on," Amy agreed. "But until my name iscleared I haven't much chance to do anything."

  "That's true," Penny acknowledged. "What are you going to do with thiscopy of the statue?"

  "Oh, I don't know. Would you like it?"

  "Would I? Rather! But don't you want it yourself?"

  "No, I have the original if ever I muster the courage to go to themuseum and claim it."

  "I'd love to have the reproduction," Penny declared enthusiastically."Only I wish you had made it instead of Hanley Cron."

  "I'll make you a nicer piece later on," Amy promised as she wrapped upthe figure in her handkerchief and gave it to Penny.

  Presently, after discussing at some length the exciting events of theafternoon, they arose and walked on down the street. They were nearingthe downtown business section when Penny halted and pretended to gazeinto the plate glass window of a large department store.

  "Amy, I think we're being followed!" she announced in a low tone."Don't look around."

  "What makes you think so?" Amy inquired skeptically.

  "Ever since we left the park a man has been trailing us."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Every time we stop he does too. I can see his reflection now in theplate glass. He's pretending to be looking into that jewelry storewindow but he's really watching us."

  "You mean the man in the gray topcoat?"

  "Yes."

  "Maybe he's a plain-clothes man who is after me," Amy said uneasily.

  "We can soon find out. Come on!"

  Catching Amy's arm, Penny steered her into the department store. Theysauntered leisurely through the aisles, frequently pausing to examinemerchandise. Unobtrusively, they kept watch of the main entrance.

  "Here he comes, just as I knew he would!" Penny exclaimed in anundertone as she caught a glimpse of the man entering the store. "Wemust shake him quickly now."

  They walked swiftly down the aisle and took a crowded elevator to thetop floor.

  "Now we'll walk down three flights of stairs," Penny commanded.

  Already they had lost sight of the man, but to make certain that hewould not catch them again, they crossed to the opposite side of thebuilding and took a down-going elevator to the main floor. Minglingwith the crowd they emerged upon the street.

  "We certainly gave him the slip," Amy laughed.

  "My father taught me that trick. Even a trained detective finds itdifficult to follow a person who is aware he is being shadowed."

  "I guess I'll say goodbye to you here," Amy said regretfully. "I hopeI'll see you again soon."

  "Yes, indeed. I intend to talk with Mrs. Dillon about that paintingshe bought. I'll let you know what she says."

  The girls parted company but Penny did not leave the scene. Instead,she walked across the street, establishing herself in a doorway whereshe could keep watch of the department store entrance.

  "Two can play at this game of shadowing," she chuckled.

  It was nearly twenty minutes before the man who had been followingPenny and Amy emerged from the store. She noted him instantly. He wasa tall, thin man dressed entirely in gray.

  "I don't believe I've ever seen him before," Penny thought.

  When the man moved off down the street, she crossed the street andtrailed him. He walked swiftly and did not once glance backward,apparently having no suspicion that he was being followed.

  Once the man paused to glance into the window of a pawnshop. He turneddown East Franklyn Street which led through a dirty, poverty-strickendistrict to the river. Presently, Penny saw him enter a run-down,dilapidated brick building.

  In the doorway he met another man, evidently the janitor who caught himroughly by the arm as he endeavored to pass.

  "Just a minute, you," he said. "I've been trying to find you for aweek. How about that rent you owe?"

  "Try and get it!"

  "I'll get it all right," the janitor returned threateningly. "If Idon't I may make it my business to find out why you rented the entiretop floor."

  A strange look came over the other man's face. Reaching into hispocket he pulled out a large roll of bills.

  "How much?"

  "Fifty dollars."

  "Here it is. And a five for yourself. Now don't bother me again."

  And with that the man strode angrily into the building and mounted along flight of stairs which led to the top floor.