Few guests were abroad when the detective joined the girls at breakfast. It was only a little after seven o’clock.
“Sleep well?” he inquired, looking over the menu.
“Not very,” Penny admitted truthfully. She might have added more had not Mrs. Leeds and her daughter entered the dining room at that moment. The two bowed slightly and selected a table in the opposite corner of the room.
“Social climbers,” Mr. Nichols said in an undertone. “I can tell their type a mile away.”
Breakfast finished, the girls prepared to leave for Raven Ridge. Their bags were already packed and downstairs.
“Now drive cautiously over the mountain roads,” the detective warned as he accompanied the girls to the waiting car. “If you can’t get back by evening send me a wire.”
As Penny took her place at the steering wheel she observed that Mrs. Leeds’ automobile had been brought to the hotel entrance by an attendant. Apparently, she too was making an early morning departure.
“You’re not listening to a word I am saying!” Mr. Nichols said severely.
“Yes, I am.” Penny’s attention came back to the conversation. “I’ll drive carefully and deliver your precious car back to you without a scratch.”
“I wasn’t exactly worried about the car.”