CHAPTER 23 NIGHT ADVENTURE

As Jerry made the startling announcement, Penny glanced anxiously at her father. In the excitement of the moment she had not thought how much of a shock it might be to him to learn that Mrs. Deline was an agent employed by a foreign country. To her astonishment, he looked neither surprised nor dismayed.

“So you have the proof, Jerry!” Mr. Parker exclaimed. “That’s fine! But what’s all this about a code? How did you stumble onto it?”

“No time for details now,” Jerry answered tersely. “Penny turned the trick—she and Louise saw Mrs. Deline bury a package in the sand.”

“And Mrs. Deline brought that package from the lighthouse,” Penny interposed eagerly. “Mr. McCoy must have given it to her.”

“What’s the plan of action?” Mr. Parker demanded. “Army men already have gone to the lighthouse to search that place thoroughly.”

“Our job is to keep watch of the dune where the package was buried. Naturally we have no way of knowing what time anyone will show up there. It may be an all night wait.”

“I’ll be with you in a minute,” Mr. Parker declared. “Just as soon as I get an overcoat.”

He started toward the elevator, then came back to the group.

“What about Mrs. Deline?” he asked. “She’s here in the hotel. Went to her room only a few minutes ago.”

“She’ll be placed under arrest,” Jerry said. “Better call her on the telephone and get her down here. Don’t let her suspect that you think anything is wrong.”

Mr. Parker vanished into the nearest telephone booth.

“I can’t understand it,” Penny murmured to Jerry. “I was sure Dad was head over heels in love with Mrs. Deline. Why, it didn’t even seem to ruffle him when he learned the truth about her.”

Jerry grinned. “Maybe,” he drawled, “that was because he knew all the time.”

Penny was dumbfounded. “You mean—” she stammered, “You mean that Dad’s been acting a part? Pretending to admire Mrs. Deline while actually he didn’t?”

“Something like that. You see, your Dad became interested in the outlaw radio station and the men who operate it. By making inquiries before he left Riverview, he obtained information that made him think Mrs. Deline might be involved in some way. He knew she never had been in China but spent many years in Japan. He learned also that instead of being a newspaper correspondent, she had carried on secret work for various governments.”

“Dad knew all that! And he never let on to me!”

“He couldn’t very well, Penny. If you had guessed the truth, you’d have given it away by your manner—no matter how much you tried to act natural.”

“What a little nit-wit I’ve been!”

“You have not,” Jerry denied warmly. “Anyone else would have acted the same. Without knowing it, you helped your father a lot. You turned up evidence he never could have obtained alone.”

“Where do you fit into the picture, Jerry? Did Dad send for you?”

“You don’t send for anyone in the Army,” Jerry explained, grinning. “By pure luck I was assigned here on a special mission. Your father learned I was coming, so we united forces.”

“Then you’ve both known from the first about Mrs. Deline?”

“We’ve had a dark brown suspicion, Penny. But no proof until tonight.”

Penny drew a deep breath. Before she could ask another question, her father came hurrying down the hotel corridor.

“Mrs. Deline’s not in her room!” he reported. “She doesn’t answer.”

“She went upstairs only a few minutes ago,” Penny recalled.

“Yes, she did, but she’s not there now.”

“Maybe she’s asleep,” Jerry said, “and failed to hear the ’phone. We’ll have to check.”

Without explaining why the matter was urgent, Mr. Parker arranged with the desk clerk to have one of the hotel maids go to Mrs. Deline’s room. While the trio waited in the upstairs corridor, the woman rapped several times on the bedroom door, and failing to get a response, unlocked it with her master key.

“Mrs. Deline!” she called, softly at first, then in a louder voice.

There was no answer.

The maid then snapped on the light. “Why, there’s no one here!” she cried. “The bed’s not been slept in!”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” muttered Mr. Parker.

With Jerry and Penny, he entered the bedroom. Everything was in perfect order. However, Mrs. Deline’s suitcase was gone and all her belongings had been removed from the closet.

“She’s skipped without paying her room rent!” the maid exclaimed. “I’ll call the manager!”

Penny was peering into the waste paper basket beside the desk.

“Look!” she drew the attention of her father and Jerry. “Burned letters and papers!”

Digging into the basket, she brought up several charred sheets of paper. They were unreadable and crumpled in her hand.

“This was a bad break for us—Mrs. Deline getting away!” Jerry exclaimed in disgust. “Evidently her work at Sunset Beach is finished. She’s moving on to another pasture.”

“But she can’t be far away,” Penny reasoned. “After all, we know when she came to her room.”

“There still may be a chance to nab her,” Mr. Parker said. “We’ll notify the police to guard all the roads and the airport. I’ll report to Major Gregg too.”

Without awaiting the arrival of the hotel manager, the trio hastened to the lobby. There Jerry and Mr. Parker made several telephone calls.

“Now let’s be on our way up the beach,” Jerry urged anxiously. “We’ve killed too much time as it is.”

Penny half expected that her father would refuse permission for her to go along. To her delight he merely said:

“I suppose there’s no keeping you here, Penny. Well, come with us. I guess you’ve earned the right by your good work.”

It was a dark night, warm but misty. No lights were showing outside the hotel, though far up the beach the powerful lighthouse beacon cut swathes across the black sea.

“What’s the plan?” Mr. Parker asked Jerry.

“The entire coast for fifty miles is being watched. I thought just on a chance we might keep vigil at the place where Mrs. Deline buried the package of explosives. Someone may show up there. On the other hand, Penny tipped off the fact that she knew where the bundle was buried.”

“Mrs. Deline watched Louise and me through a spy glass,” Penny recalled ruefully. “She knew we didn’t find the package though.”

“That’s our assignment anyhow,” Jerry said. “To keep watch of that particular place until relieved by Army men.”

The Parker car was on the hotel lot close by. Getting it, the trio took the beach road but stopped some distance from the lighthouse. Not wishing the car to attract the attention of any passer-by, it was left parked on a private driveway. Jerry, Penny and her father then crossed the dunes afoot and proceeded up the beach until they came to their station.

“Think this is the place?” Penny asked skeptically.

“I know it is,” Jerry replied. “Remember what I told you about taking observations? Let’s see if the package is still here?”

He began digging in one of the dunes. Almost at once he came upon the box of explosives.

“Exactly as we left it,” he reported, replacing the sand. “No one’s been here.”

“I doubt anyone will come,” Mr. Parker commented. “Probably afraid.”

High overhead and out of sight, Penny heard the drone of planes on coastal patrol. She stared up into the dark sky and then toward the sea. The tide was coming in and long rolling waves washed the beach, dashed themselves on the shoreline and retreated.

“We’ll have to get down out of sight,” Jerry warned. “Mustn’t be seen from the road or the ocean either one.”

“How about this spot?” Mr. Parker suggested, pointing to a hollow between two giant dunes.

The place seemed exactly right, so the trio flattened themselves on the sand. Jerry looked at the luminous dial of his watch.

“One fifteen,” he announced. “No sign of activity.”

“And no sign of any soldiers,” Mr. Parker added. “I hope that whoever is to take over here shows up before long.”

“I don’t,” Penny said, snuggling close between her father and Jerry. “I’m having fun!”

“If anything should develop, it’s apt to be serious business,” Jerry warned. “I’m inclined to think that we tipped our hand and nothing will happen.”

An hour elapsed. During that time there was no sound save the roar of the restless sea. The warm sand made a comfortable couch, and despite her best intentions, Penny caught herself dozing. She had all she could do to keep awake.

“What time is it now?” she presently asked.

“Two thirty-five,” Jerry answered. “It doesn’t look as if there’s to be any activity, but then the night’s young.”

“The night may be, but I’m not,” Mr. Parker grumbled, shifting into a more comfortable position. “Wonder when our relief is to show up?”

“Must be some mix up on orders. We’re probably stuck here for the night.”

“In that case, Penny should return to the hotel.”

“Oh, no. Dad! Anyway, if I left now I might attract the attention of anyone watching this place.”

“You thought that one up!” her father chuckled. “Except for ourselves, there’s no person within a quarter of a mile of this place.”

“You’re wrong about that,” murmured Jerry, stiffening to alert attention.

“What’s up, Jerry?” Mr. Parker said quickly. “You act as if you were seeing things!”

“I am, Chief! Look to the right—between us and the lighthouse!”

Mr. Parker and Penny gazed intently in the direction indicated.

“Can’t see a thing,” Mr. Parker whispered. “Your eyes must be tricking you, Jerry.”

“Wait just a minute.”

Even as Jerry spoke, a shadowy figure emerged from the mists. The man came swiftly down the beach, making no sound as he walked. When he was very close, the revolving beacon of the lighthouse singled him out for a fleeting instant. Brief as was the moment of illumination, Penny recognized the man.

“George Emory!” she whispered tensely. “What’s he doing here?”