“Likely as not. I don’t believe the locals would bother her. Anyway she’s got the wind up and you can tell she’s scared silly in spite of all her back talk.”
“You know what I think they’re after?” Penny said thoughtfully.
“Well, if I had just one guess,” Salt replied, “I’d say they are after Mr. Kippenberg.”
“I agree with you there.”
“Sure, why else would they come sleuthing around at a time like this? The answer is simple. Daughter gets married. Papa wants to see his darling do it. Therefore, boys, we’ll spread a net for Daddy and he might plump right into it.”
“So that’s the way a G man’s mind works?” laughed Penny.
“But I would take it that Kippenberg is no fool,” Salt went on. “If they really have a ‘man wanted’ sign hung on him he would be too cagey to come around here today.”
They were standing beside the stone balustrade which bounded the terrace. Below them the green foliage of the gardens formed a dark background for the playing fountains. A cool breeze drifted in from the river and rattled a window awning just over their heads.
“We’re in an exposed place here,” observed Salt uneasily. “Maybe we ought to find a hole somewhere.”
“We’ll never learn anything in a hole,” Penny objected. “In fact, we’re not making much progress in running down any sort of story. I do wish we could have heard more of that conversation.”