Penny Nichols and the Mystery of the Lost Key Page 14

  CHAPTER XIV A Diamond Ring

  "Mr. Laponi, kindly move away from that safe!"

  Penny spoke sharply as she quietly stepped into the living room. The manwhirled and saw her. Taken by surprise, his hand fell away from the dialsand he looked confused.

  "You seem to be very much interested in Mr. Winters' valuables," Pennysaid sternly.

  By this time Max Laponi had recovered his composure.

  "Why shouldn't I be?" he retorted. "After all, I am Mr. Winters' heir."

  "That remains to be seen, Mr. Laponi. You appear to be very handy atopening safes, I notice." Penny crossed the room and after turning thehandle to make certain that Laponi had not succeeded in his purpose,closed the panel and returned the oil painting to its former position.

  "I suppose you think I was trying to steal," Laponi began after a minuteof dead silence. "Nothing was further from my intention."

  "No?"

  "Ever since I caught Caleb Eckert trying to break into this safe I'vebeen worried. Last night I saw him prowling around the house after darkand it made me uneasy. I was afraid he would make another attempt tosteal Mr. Winters' valuables."

  "So you thought you would just beat him to it!" Penny retortedsarcastically.

  "Certainly not. When you entered the room I was merely inspecting thesafe to make certain that it was securely locked."

  Penny could not refrain from smiling. She did not believe a word of whatMax Laponi was telling her.

  "That safe seems to be the real attraction of this house," she remarked."I've suspected for some time that it contains Mr. Winters' ivorycollection."

  If Max Laponi were taken aback he did not disclose it. But he eyed Pennyshrewdly.

  "You're a smart little girl. Too smart to go around making trouble foryourself. Now if you're wise you'll team up with me and I'll promise youthat you'll come out at the top of the heap."

  "Just what is your proposition?" Penny asked quickly.

  Max Laponi was too alert to place himself in any trap.

  "If you're willing to follow my orders I'll promise you that when I comeinto my fortune you'll be well paid."

  "And what are your orders?"

  "I'll tell you after you give me your promise."

  Penny regarded him coldly.

  "I'll promise nothing, Mr. Laponi, except that I intend to see justicedone to Rosanna Winters! You and Mrs. Leeds are trying to cheat her outof her rightful inheritance."

  "She'll never get a cent. If you had an ounce of sense you'd ditch herand come in with us. It's all fixed--"

  "Fixed!" Penny tripped him. "And by 'us' I imagine you mean Mrs. Leeds.You're both hatching some scheme to defraud Rosanna."

  Laponi smiled impudently.

  "Well, don't say I didn't give you your choice, Miss Nichols. It is yourdecision to have no share in the spoils?"

  "It is."

  Laponi's face darkened slightly. "As you wish, Miss Nichols. But let megive you a little warning. Keep your nose out of my affairs or it will bethe worse for you!"

  He turned and walked from the room. A minute later Penny saw him leavethe house by the side door.

  "If he thinks he can frighten me with a threat he has another guesscoming!" she thought indignantly. "For two cents I'd call in the police."

  Upon second consideration she decided that such a move would not be wise.After all she had no real evidence against Laponi. While she wasconvinced in her own mind that his motives were dishonest the policemight take a more conservative attitude. Then too, she would be forced tooffer a satisfactory explanation for her own presence in the house.

  "Laponi is after something more valuable than a will," Penny mused as shestood at the window watching his car vanish down the driveway.

  Her eye wandered to the oil painting on the wall. She felt certain thatthe safe which was screened beneath it guarded Mr. Winters' collection ofivory. And from the expression of Laponi's face when she had mentionedher belief, she was sure that he shared the same conviction.

  "He practically admitted he was involved in some scheme to defraudRosanna," she thought. "I can't help feeling he's a crook even if he is arelative of Mr. Winters. I wish I dared search his room for evidence!"

  The more she considered the idea, the greater became its appeal. ProbablyLaponi would not return to the house for at least an hour. She would haveample time. Still, the undertaking would be a risky one and not at all toher liking.

  "I suppose a professional detective wouldn't feel squeamish aboutentering another person's room if the case demanded it," she encouragedherself. "Laponi practically admitted his guilt--that was because hethought I couldn't do anything about it. Maybe I'll show him!"

  By this time Penny's mind was made up. Quietly she stole up the stairway.In the upper corridor she paused to listen for a minute. Everything wasstill.

  Penny tiptoed down the hall to Max Laponi's room. She tried the door. Itwas locked.

  "That's funny," she thought. "He must keep something inside that he'safraid to have folks see."

  She was more eager than before to search the room. But with the key goneit seemed out of the question. Then Penny's face lighted as she recalledthe empty bedroom adjoining the one occupied by Laponi. It was possiblethat they might have a connecting door.

  Looking carefully about to make certain that she was not underobservation, she moved on down the hall and tried the next door. To herdelight it opened. She entered the dusty chamber, gazing quickly about.She was disappointed to see that the two bedrooms had no connecting door.

  However, when she walked to the window and raised it, she noted a wideledge which ran the length of the building.

  "If only I dared lower myself to it I could reach Max Laponi's room, forthe ledge is only a few feet below from his window!" she reasoned.

  Penny decided that the chance was worth taking. She naturally wasathletic and had confidence that she could maintain a foothold. Loweringherself to the ledge she flattened herself to the wall of the house andmoved an inch at a time toward the next window. It was a long fall to theground. Penny did not dare glance downward. Although the distance betweenthe two windows was not more than twelve feet it seemed an age until herhands clutched the sill.

  As she pried at the window a sudden fear assailed her. What if it toowere locked?

  The window had only stuck a little. A quick jerk brought it up. By sheerstrength of muscle, Penny raised herself to the level of the sill,swinging her feet through the opening.

  "I must work fast," she told herself, glancing appraisingly about. "I'dnot care to be caught here."

  Her attention was drawn to Max Laponi's open suitcase which had been leftcarelessly on the bed. Crossing over to it she began to explore thecontents systematically.

  "My hunch about Laponi may have been wrong," she thought uncomfortably asthe search revealed nothing of interest.

  Just then her hand touched something hard and cold. Penny knew instantlythat it was a revolver. She was not afraid of firearms for her father hadtaught her to shoot. Carefully she inspected the weapon.

  "All this heavy artillery must have been brought here for a purpose," shereflected grimly. "It's clear Laponi is out to get what he wants by onemeans or another."

  After an instant's hesitation Penny placed the revolver on the table. Shehad decided to take it with her when she left.

  "Things in this house are fast approaching a crisis," she reasoned."Before I get through I may need that weapon myself."

  Save for an inner pocket in the suitcase, Penny had completed herinspection. She ran her hand into the cloth pouch and brought to lightseveral papers. Rapidly she went through them.

  Suddenly she uttered a cry of delight. She had discovered the letterwhich Max Laponi claimed had been sent him by the same lawyer who hadnotified Rosanna of her newly inherited fortune.

  Although Laponi, upon his arrival at Raven Ridge, had flourished thedocument, he had permitted no one to inspect
it closely.

  Now as Penny read the letter carefully she recalled that the wording wasidentical with the message which Rosanna had received. Closely shestudied the salutation, holding the paper to the light.

  "I believe the name has been changed!" she exclaimed. "Max Laponi hascleverly removed Rosanna's name and substituted his own. This must be theletter which Rosanna lost!"

  It occurred to her that the man doubtlessly had found the missing key aswell. She again ran her hand into the cloth pocket and triumphantlybrought it forth.

  "He's nothing but a rank impostor!" she told herself. "I'll keep thisletter as evidence against him and the key will come in handy too!"

  Penny hastily rearranged the suitcase as she had found it and prepared todepart. The search had well repaid her for her efforts, but it had takenlonger than she had intended.

  However, as she crossed the room toward the window she noticed a numberof small objects spread out over the dresser and could not resist pausingto inspect them. They held her interest only briefly.

  She turned away again but as she moved off a button on her sleeve caughtin the lace work of the runner which covered the dresser top. It pulledawry and Penny paused to straighten it.

  As she rearranged the piece, her fingers touched a small hard object onthe under side. Her curiosity aroused she turned back the runner andlooked beneath it.

  There lay a diamond ring.

  "A diamond!" she exclaimed. "As big as a house too. It's evidently beenhidden here by Max Laponi!"

  She picked it up and examined it, reflecting that somewhere she had seena similar piece of jewelry. She was certain the diamond was not animitation for it sparkled brightly. However, she had no opportunity togive it more than a hasty glance for she was startled to hear footstepscoming down the hall.

  "Max Laponi may be coming back," she thought nervously.

  Leaving the diamond ring where she had discovered it she hastilyrearranged the dresser cover. With her newly acquired evidence, shedarted to the window and lowered herself to the outside ledge.