“Don’t you ever answer doorbells, Lou?” she demanded. “I stood around front for half an hour, ringing and ringing.”
“Why, hello, Penny. I didn’t hear you at all,” apologized Louise. “The radio is on too loud. I see you reached home last night.”
Penny picked up a towel and began to dry dishes. “Oh, yes, and did I have a day!”
“What happened after you left Andover?”
“It’s a long story, so I’ll begin at the end. Last night, coming home with Jerry we stopped at a cafe along the river. Guess whom we saw!”
“Knowing your luck, I’d say Charlie Chaplin, or maybe the Queen of England.”
“This particular cafe wasn’t quite their speed, Lou. Jerry and I saw that same boatman I told you about!”
“The fellow you saw cruising about the Kippenberg estate? What’s so remarkable about that?”
“It just happens I’ve dug up other evidence to show he may know something about Grant Atherwald’s disappearance,” Penny revealed proudly. “Jerry and I overheard a conversation. It seems this man and a companion of his are mixed up with another fellow named Aaron Dietz.”
“Which doesn’t make sense to me,” complained Louise, scrubbing hard at a sticky plate.