Whispering Walls Page 17

  CHAPTER 17 _THE STOLEN WILL_

  Penny darted to the open window, peering out onto the dark street. No onewas in sight, although Jerry's car with dimmed headlights still stood atthe curb.

  "Who could have taken the will?" Lorinda wailed. "I'm sure it didn't blowout the window and it didn't sprout legs and walk off either!"

  "Perhaps Celeste--"

  "She was upstairs all the time we were out of this room," Lorindainterrupted.

  "It seemed odd she called us just at the moment she did--particularlywhen your mother had not suffered a relapse."

  Lorinda did not appear to hear Penny's remark. Half doubting that thepaper could be missing, she searched on the floor near the safe, underthe window and in every corner of the room.

  "I suspect someone deliberately stole that will!" Penny said withconviction. "Wait here! I may be able to learn more about it!"

  Hastening outdoors, she gazed about the grounds. No one was in sight. Shewent directly to the press car. The automobile was deserted.

  "Now what became of Jerry?" she asked herself impatiently. "Just when Ineed him!"

  Disappointed, she turned toward the house again. Then she saw thereporter coming up a dark path from the direction of the beach.

  "Jerry!" she called softly.

  "Hi, Penny!" he returned. "Ready to go?"

  "Oh, no! Everything is in a dreadful mess here. Lorinda's mother is verysick. She made a will, and Lorinda started to put it in the safe. Then wewere called out of the room by the housekeeper, and when we returned, thepaper was gone!"

  "When did that happen, Penny?"

  "Just now."

  "Then that fellow I chased must have been the thief!"

  "You saw someone take the will, Jerry?"

  "I was sitting in the car," the reporter related. "A light was on in oneof the downstairs rooms, but I was too sleepy to pay much attention.Suddenly though, I saw a man who apparently had been hiding in theshrubbery, rise up and climb through an open window."

  "A man! Could you see who it was?"

  "No, it was too dark. I jumped out of the car, but before I could crossthe yard, the fellow climbed out through the window again, and startedoff. I called to him. He covered his face and ran. I chased him, but thefellow ducked down a path and I lost him."

  "He must have stolen the will, Jerry! But how did he know about it, andwhy would it be of any value to him? Everything is so mixed up!"

  "Maybe we ought to give the police a buzz."

  Penny nodded. "I'll see what Lorinda wants to do," she replied. "Untilnow, the Rhetts have studiously avoided telling their troubles to thepolice--in fact, I am afraid Mrs. Rhett hasn't told everything she knowsabout her husband's disappearance."

  "I'll wait in the car," Jerry said.

  Penny let herself into the house again and made her way through the darkliving room to the library where a light burned.

  "Lorinda--" she began, only to stop short.

  For it was not Lorinda who stood with her back toward the door, awkwardlyturning the dials of the wall safe. Instead, Celeste whirled around,plainly dismayed by the girl's unexpected appearance in the doorway.

  "Celeste!" Penny said sharply. "What are you doing?"

  "Nothing," the woman muttered, her mouth sullen.

  "You were trying to get into that safe! Is it the will you want, or areyou after the Zudi drum?"

  Penny's words, shot blindly, struck the target. Celeste's eyes flashedand she advanced a step toward the girl.

  "You go away from here! Never come back!" she ordered harshly.

  "Sorry, I'm not taking orders from you, Celeste. Why do you hate Lorindaand Mrs. Rhett? What is your little game?"

  Celeste glared at Penny. She drew in her breath and expelled it with ahissing sound through her yellow, crooked teeth. Her hand clutched at anobject hidden beneath her uniform and worn around her neck on a dirtycord.

  With no warning, she broke into a jargon which Penny could notunderstand. But the meaning was clear enough even if the words wereunintelligible. Celeste was calling down all manner of evil upon herhead!

  "Go!" Celeste cried in English. "You come here again--harm befall you!"

  "Celeste, all your jungle hocus-pocus doesn't impress me in the least.I'll leave when I feel in the mood--not before. What were you after inthe safe?"

  The woman's eyes met Penny's defiantly. She reached out as if to strikeher, but at that moment footsteps padded on the stairway. Pushing pastPenny, Celeste retreated to the kitchen.

  Lorinda came into the library, gazing about curiously. "Thought I heardvoices," she commented.

  "You did. Celeste was here. Guess what? I found her tampering with thewall safe."

  "She may have been trying to learn if the Zudi drum was stolen," Lorindasaid absently. "I'm far more worried about the will. What became of it?"

  Penny repeated what Jerry had witnessed, adding: "Obviously the will wastaken by the man who climbed through the window. Could it have beenAnton?"

  "Anton? Why, I doubt that he even knew about the will, because Motherdecided to change it at a moment's notice. What reason would he have fortaking it? Neither he nor Celeste figured in the terms of eitherdocument."

  "It seemed to me Celeste was tremendously interested," Penny said. "Oh,well, the loss shouldn't be of serious consequence. Your mother can drawup another will."

  "That's exactly what she won't do. I told her about the will being taken,Penny. She immediately decided it was another omen--a sign that sheshould leave everything the way it is."

  "How foolish! Celeste must have put those notions in her head!"

  "I'm sure I don't know. As for the will, I never did encourage her tochange it, because not for a moment do I believe she is sick enough todie. I don't want Mother's money. I only want her to get well and strongand be happy again. Penny, you don't think she is seriously ill?"

  "The doctor said nothing is the matter with her."

  "Yet we both know something dreadful is wrong." Lorinda's finger tipsnervously tapped the table edge. "Oh, Penny, I'm scared--terribly scared.I don't explain it, but I just _feel_ a sinister something in the air!"

  "You shouldn't be here alone with Celeste and Anton. Why not overridethem and hire a nurse or companion for your mother?"

  "Maybe I will," Lorinda agreed. "I'll think it over until tomorrow."

  "You'll report the theft of the will to the police, of course?"

  "No," Lorinda decided instantly. "They would only ask embarrassingquestions."

  "Why are you so reluctant to take anyone into your confidence?"

  "We're in enough trouble now, Penny. Please, let's not talk about it anymore until tomorrow."

  Decidedly puzzled by Lorinda's attitude, Penny said goodbye and rejoinedJerry in the car. He had seen no more of the mysterious prowler and wasconvinced the man had fled the estate.

  "Let's go," he said, starting the car.

  As the automobile swung down the driveway, Penny peered intently at theroadside shrubbery. The bushes were crashing back and forth in the risingwind, but no one was visible anywhere near the estate. Chilled, sheclosed the car window.

  "Do you think that hurricane really is heading our way?" she asked hercompanion.

  "Didn't see the government report tonight," Jerry replied. "Probably atthe last minute, the storm will veer off and we'll escape. Riverviewnever was struck by a hurricane. Too far inland."

  The car purred smoothly on, following the road which curled toward thebeach. Penny became silent. As they turned a corner, Jerry reached out togive her hand a friendly squeeze.

  "Why so quiet, kitten?" he teased.

  "Just thinking, Jerry. There are so many things about the Rhett case Ican't understand."

  "Why trouble your little brain?"

  "Because this isn't just an ordinary story to me, Jerry. I like Lorinda,and I feel that unless something is done, her mother may die."
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br />   "Don't tell me you're becoming a superstitious little heathen!"

  "Certainly not! But from what the professor told us, it's a mistake tounderrate the power of suggestion. Mrs. Rhett is in real danger--"

  Penny broke off, listening intently.

  "What was that, Jerry?" she demanded.

  "Didn't hear anything. Only the wind."

  "No, I distinctly heard a sound like the throb of a drum!" Penny loweredthe car window. "There it is again!"

  This time Jerry, too, heard the sound, far away and indistinct. "You'reright!" he exclaimed, slowing the car. "From down the beach!"

  Penny grasped his arm excitedly. "Stop the car!" she exclaimed. "If wecan find the drummer, we may be able to solve part of the mystery!"