“I’ll have Jerry go to the house and try to learn how the fellow operates,” declared Mr. Parker. “We can’t break the story until we have absolute evidence that Gepper has obtained money under false pretenses.”
The next day Penny remained close at home. Mrs. Weems still treated her somewhat distantly, leaving the house immediately after lunch and declining to explain where she was going. Penny was quite certain that her destination was the Hodges’ cottage.
“Guess I’ll run over and see Louise,” she thought restlessly. “Nothing to do here.”
Before she could leave the house, the doorbell rang. A man of perhaps thirty, well dressed, with a leather briefcase tucked under his arm, stood on the front porch. He bowed politely to Penny.
“This is where Mrs. Weems resides, I believe?”
“Yes, but she isn’t here now.”
“When will she be home?”
“I can’t say,” replied Penny. “Are you an agent?”
The man’s appearance displeased her although she could not have said exactly why. His smile was too ingratiating, his eyes calculating and hard.
“My name is Bierkamp,” he explained. “I represent the Harold G. Bierkamp Investment Company.”