“We’ll arrest him right away,” said the government man, turning to leave. “Thanks for the tip.”
“I am confident Miss Kippenberg and her mother had nothing to do with Grant Atherwald’s disappearance,” Penny went on. “Aaron Dietz plotted the whole affair himself. I guess he must have learned about Kippenberg’s cache of gold while he worked for the man. He believed that Grant Atherwald shared the secret and could tell where the money was hidden.”
“You’ve located the gold, too, I suppose,” Mr. Parker remarked whimsically.
“No, Dad, I slipped up there. I thought the gold was in a secret vault under the alligator pool, but I was wrong. I don’t know where it is.”
“We’ll let the G men solve that mystery when they take Kippenberg into custody,” replied her father. “Our work is cut out for us now. We’ll find Jerry, talk with young Atherwald, and rout Miss Kippenberg and her mother out of bed for an exclusive interview.”
“And this time I am sure they’ll answer questions,” declared Penny.
During the next hour the “story” was taken entirely from her hands. Jerry, her father and Salt, knew exactly how to gather every fact of interest to the readers of the Star. Sylvia Kippenberg, overjoyed to find her fiancé alive, posed for pictures with him, and answered all questions save those which concerned her father.
Not until a telephone call came from the Colonial Hotel, saying that Mr. Kippenberg had been taken into custody, would either Sylvia or her mother admit that the man had posed as the gardener.
“Very well, it is true,” Mrs. Kippenberg acknowledged at last. “James has been trying to avoid government men for over a year. Wishing to return for Sylvia’s wedding, he disguised himself as a gardener. Then after Grant’s disappearance, he remained here trying to help.”
“And it was your husband who managed to get rid of the alligator?” Penny interposed.