Penny picked up a filmy robe, shaking out the many folds. While it was clear to her that Al Gepper had employed the garment to materialize the so-called spirit of Cousin David, she could only guess how he had made it enlarge from a mere spot to a full sized figure.
“He must have wadded the cloth in his hand, and held it above his head,” she mused. “Then he could have slowly shaken it out until it covered his entire body. Thus the figure would appear to grow in size.”
In one corner of the cabinet Penny came upon a luminous slate.
“This was used for Cousin David’s message,” she thought. “Al probably had an assistant who wrote on it and thrust it through the curtain.”
While many questions remained unanswered, Penny had obtained sufficient evidence to indicate that Al Gepper was only a clever trickster. Greatly elated, she decided to hasten to the Star office to report her findings.
Noticing that she had neglected to return the two suitcases to their former places, Penny pushed them under the bed again. As she straightened, a door slammed on the lower floor.
For an instant she hoped that it was Mrs. Hodges or her husband who had come home. Then she heard footsteps on the stairs, and their rapidity warned her that they could belong only to a young person.
Frantically, she gazed about the room. The cabinet seemed to offer the safest hiding place. Slipping into it, she pulled the black curtain across the opening.
CHAPTER
21
STARTLING INFORMATION
Scarcely had Penny hidden herself when Al Gepper entered the room. With him was the hook-nosed young man known as Slippery.