Mr. Kano lost some of his poise. “No!” he answered sharply. “I am an honest man and want no sad trouble with the police.”
Chancing to glance toward the street, Penny observed Jerry Livingston standing on the opposite corner. He was gazing thoughtfully toward the Curio Shop, and she knew that he must have been sent by her father to interview Mr. Kano. Inspired, she turned again to the old Japanese.
“You see that young man yonder?” she asked, indicating Jerry. “I have but to summon him and he’ll come here.”
“Detective?” demanded Mr. Kano, peering anxiously through the window. “Do not call him! I am an honest man. I will answer your questions.”
“Then tell me about the silken ladder.”
“I know little,” the shopkeeper insisted. “I made the rope for a man who said: ‘Do this or we will burn your shop down, Mr. Kano.’ So I made the ladder and he paid me well for fashioning it.”
“And what was the man’s name?”
“His name I do not know. But his eyes were small and evil. His skin was dark, his nose crooked.”
Mr. Kano ceased speaking with an abruptness which caused Penny to glance toward the door. Her first thought was that Jerry had entered. Instead a strange young man stood there, regarding her suspiciously.
As she stared at him he quickly retreated, but not before she had caught a fleeting impression of a face which matched Mr. Kano’s description with startling accuracy.