“Yes,” agreed her father absently, “I’ll take care of it tomorrow.”
“And you might tack on another dollar to my allowance, Dad. I’ll also have a small bill to present. There will be several dollars for gasoline, lunches going and coming from Corbin, two ruined dresses, a pair of torn silk stockings, and—”
“That’s enough,” broke in Mr. Parker with a laugh. “If you keep on listing your expenses, I’ll be broke. You turned out to be an expensive reporter.”
“It was worth it, wasn’t it?” Penny demanded, placing her hands on her hips.
Her father agreed heartily. “It certainly was, Penny. The Riverview Star obtained a smashing story to scoop all the other newspapers, and I’ve got my elusive daughter back again safe and sound.”
Penny moved closer to her father. She grasped the lapels of his coat in her slender fingers and tipped her weary but still lovely face toward him.
“Dad, will you promise me one thing?”
“That depends on what you are after,” Mr. Parker told her gravely.
“Whenever the Riverview Star has a baffling mystery to be run down to earth, will you promise to call in your ace sleuth?”
“And who would that be?” demanded Mr. Parker with a puzzled frown. Then as Penny laughed gaily, he also started to grin. “So you are the ace sleuth? I guess I was a little slow in understanding. But you seem to be right. This is the third mystery you’ve solved. Maybe we will use you on the next mystery.”