“It was easy enough to tell what had happened,” said Jerry. “You had told me you thought there was a secret vault beneath the pool. Then, too, I found your handkerchief floating in the bottom. The water had only been running in a few minutes.” He fished in his pocket and brought out a pin which he handed to Penny. “I also found this.”
“Thanks, Jerry,” said Penny. “That’s Louise’s cameo pin. She dropped it the day we were on the Kippenberg estate together.”
“The police gave you full credit for the capture of those men, Penny,” said her father with pride. “You yanked the drawbridge just in time to trap them.”
“Salt did his share, too,” mentioned Penny generously. “He went for the police just as soon as he realized Jerry and I had been carried away on the cruiser.”
“The only trouble was that the cops wasted too much time searching for you down river,” the photographer drawled. “We finally went back to Corbin and ran into Mr. Parker who suggested we come to the estate.”
“How did you happen to be in Corbin, Dad?” asked Penny curiously.
“You might know—I was looking for you. Isn’t that my usual occupation?”
“You’re not provoked at me, Dad?”
“No, of course not,” the publisher answered warmly. “You’ve all done fine work tonight. This is the biggest story we’ve run into in over a year! We’ll score a beat on the rival papers.”
“Then don’t you think Jerry and Salt have earned a raise?” suggested Penny.