Whispering Walls Read online

  CHAPTER 25 _ON THE BALCONY_

  "Jerry, that was Albert Potts on the balcony!" Penny cried excitedly."I'm sure I saw him remove an object from inside the gargoyle!"

  "Maybe he was just looking to see what damage was done by the storm,"commented the reporter.

  "He took something out and put it in his overcoat pocket! Jerry, now thatI think back, Potts acted queerly that first day when the policeinvestigated Mr. Rhett's office. He didn't want anyone to go near thegargoyle! Another thing, he's been spending money as if it wererainwater!"

  "You're suggesting--"

  "That it was Albert Potts who stole the bonds! Weren't they left in Mr.Rhett's desk? Potts knew it and had a perfect chance to take them! Heimplied that Rhett walked off with them! Actually, he hid the bonds inthe gargoyle, knowing that if they were found there, no blame would belikely to fall upon him. Whenever he needed money, he cashed abond--that's why only a few have shown up at out of town banks!"

  "Say, maybe you have something!" exclaimed Jerry, pulling up at the curb."If he had hid the bonds in the gargoyle, it would be natural for him towonder if they still were safe after this storm! He might have decided toshift them to another place."

  "My idea exactly! Jerry, let's nab him and turn him over to the police!"

  "Not quite so fast, my little chickadee. If we accuse Potts, and it turnsout we're wrong, well, he could make it hot for us."

  "We'll have to take a chance," Penny urged.

  Leaving the car at the curb, the pair walked hurriedly to the bank. Thebuilding was dark and the lights were off inside.

  "Sure you saw Potts on the balcony?" Jerry asked as they huddled againstthe wall for protection against the biting wind.

  "Yes, and I think he's coming now!"

  Penny was correct. They heard footsteps coming down the marble stairway,and a moment later, the bank secretary unlocked the door. The waitingcouple made no move until he had locked himself out, but as he startedaway, Jerry tapped him on the shoulder.

  Potts whirled around, obviously startled. His face blanched.

  "Hello, Potts," said Jerry. "Working late, aren't you?"

  "Why, yes," stammered the man, edging away.

  "Can you spare a match?"

  Potts half reached into his pocket as if to proffer one, then saidtestily: "I haven't any. Sorry."

  "Sure now, you must have a match," said Jerry, brushing against him."Maybe in your overcoat pocket."

  Before Potts could prevent it, he had thrust his hands deep into each ofthe outside pockets. The bank clerk jerked angrily away. However, it wastoo late. Jerry triumphantly brought to light a heavy manila envelope.

  "Give that to me!" Potts cried furiously.

  Sidestepping him, Jerry pulled several bonds of large denomination fromthe envelope.

  "The stolen bonds!" exclaimed Penny. "Mr. Potts, whatever possessed youto do it?"

  The bank secretary never answered the question. Instead, he wheeled andstarted at a run down the street. As he reached the corner, a policemanwho had just finished making a report to headquarters, turned from hisphone box.

  "Stop that man!" yelled Jerry.

  The policeman grasped Potts, bringing him up short. After that, the banksecretary did his explaining to the desk sergeant at police headquarters.So unconvincing was his story, that he was immediately locked in a cell.

  Meanwhile, Jerry and Penny related all they knew about the case. Allscout cars were ordered to be on the alert to pick up Anton. Mr. Rhettwas brought to the station within the hour, and promptly identified therecovered bonds as those he had left in his office desk.

  At first, Potts firmly maintained his innocence, but after police hadsubjected him to a lie detector test, he realized his case was lost. Whenone of the detectives who was questioning him, remarked that his wifelikely would be implicated in the theft, Potts broke completely:

  "No! No! My wife had nothing to do with it," he insisted. "I wanted togive my family better things--that was why I took the bonds. I thoughtMr. Rhett would never return and that he would be blamed for the theft."

  "How did you cash the bonds?" he was asked.

  "I was afraid to take them to a bank myself," Potts confessed. "Instead,I paid a woman in another town to do it for me. But she did it only as afavor, and had no idea the bonds were stolen. I alone am to blame."

  A check by police revealed that Potts had spent only $2,000 of the totalamount stolen. Mr. Rhett declared that this sum easily could be made up,so that the bank would sustain no loss. He was inclined to be lenientwith his secretary, but police were insistent that the man be brought totrial.

  Jerry and Penny, knowing that they had a big story to write, did nottarry long at the police station. However, the police desk sergeantpromised to keep them informed of any new developments in the case. Trueto his word, he called them soon after they reached the _Star_ office.His news was that Anton had been captured by the police and now wassafely locked in a jail cell.

  "Well, that rings the gong on the case," Jerry announced as he hung upthe telephone. "Thanks to you, Penny, it's all wound up."

  "And it's nearly edition time!" barked the city editor. "Let's get goingon that story."

  He looked at Jerry who was known as the best writer on the paper, andthen his eyes moved on to Penny who waited with bated breath.

  "This was her story from start to finish," said Jerry as the editorhesitated.

  "Get going!" ordered the editor again, and now he looked straight atPenny. "Give it to me in takes."

  Penny hurried to a typewriter. The lead, telling of Mr. Rhett's return,Potts' arrest and recovery of the stolen bonds, almost wrote itself.Keeping her own part and Jerry's entirely out of the story, she wrotesmoothly and with speed.

  When she had finished half a page, she called: "Copy boy!" and rippingthe sheet of paper from the typewriter gave it to him to carry to theeditor's desk.

  With a fresh sheet in the machine, she wrote on until she had a second"take" ready. Again she called the copy boy and, as he snatched it fromher hand, rolled still another sheet into the typewriter.

  At last she was on the final page and glanced over it before she typed"30" at the end. The story had been well told, written tersely in themanner DeWitt liked. With a feeling of exultation, she realized she haddone a good job.

  Getting to her feet, she dropped the last page into the copy basket.Earlier sheets already had been copy-read and were in the process ofbeing set into type. Any moment now, the edition would roll and paperswould be on the street.

  Penny turned from the desk to see Jerry sitting with his feet propped upon one of the tables. He was gazing at her quizzically and grinning.

  "Well, you did it again, Penny!" he remarked.

  "We did it together," she corrected.

  "With the help of our silent partner," he added lightly.

  "Silent partner?"

  "The hurricane. It damaged a lot of Riverview property, but on the otherside of the ledger, it helped write '30' to the Rhett case."

  Penny nodded as she reached for her hat and raincoat. Just then, a copyboy ran up.

  "Telephone for you," he said. "It's your housekeeper, Mrs. Weems. Shewants to know if you're safe."

  "Safe and sound and on my way home," laughed Penny. "Tell her I'vealready started."

  "And that she's being driven by her faithful chauffeur," chuckled Jerry,as he reached for his hat. "Which reminds me, we have a little package todeliver to the Rhetts'."

  "The Zudi drum! I forgot all about it!"

  "Haven't you forgotten another important matter too?" teased Jerry,escorting her through the swinging gate. "Me, for instance."

  "You?"

  "My reward for tonight's work. Girl reporters, even cute little numberslike you, can't snatch my bylines without paying the piper!"

  "And what fee do you require?" Penny asked with pretended innocence.

  "We'll go
into that later," he chuckled, pinning her neatly into ashadowy corner of the vestibule. "Just now, I'll take a little kiss ondeposit!"

  THE END

  Transcriber's Notes

  --Replaced the list of books in the series by the complete list, as in the final book, "The Cry at Midnight".

  --Silently corrected a handful of palpable typos.