“Of course, you’re not certain the man is your father.”
“Yes, I am!” Penny insisted. “I was almost sure of it earlier this evening. Now I know! Oh, Lou, something terrible has happened to Dad!”
Louise drew her chum into the hollow of her arm. “Brace up!” she said sternly. “You’re not going to cave in now, are you?”
Penny’s slumping shoulders stiffened. She brushed away a tear. “Of course I’m not going to cave in!” she replied indignantly. “I’ll find Dad—tonight, too!”
Enroute to the airplane spotting station, the cab neither met nor passed any vehicle. Leaving Louise in the taxi, Penny clattered up the tower steps and burst into the overheated room where Salt Sommers was making out a report. Her words fairly tumbled over one another as she told him what had happened.
“Will you notify police for me?” she pleaded.
“Of course,” Salt assured her, reaching for a telephone. “My relief’s due in five minutes now, so I’ll be free to join in the search.”
While the photographer waited impatiently for a connection, Penny asked him if he had seen a yellow taxi pass the tower.
“Not since I’ve been on duty. The cab must have taken another road.”
Salt completed the call to the Riverview Police Station and was told that every radio-equipped cruiser in the city would be ordered to watch for the yellow cab. As he hung up the receiver, a low humming sound was heard outside the tower.