After Webb had gone into Mr. Cordell’s office, Penny debated her next action. Could Webb and Cordell be friends? Or was this merely a business call? In any case, the two men were obviously of such different type and personality that she failed to understand what basis there might be for a friendship.
Deciding she could accomplish nothing by waiting and questioning Mr. Cordell, she left the office. As she passed down the corridor, an open window at its far end, drew her attention.
Pausing for an instant, she glanced out upon the rooftop of the Riverview Star building. The tin flooring, only a few feet below the level of the sill, easily could be reached by anyone climbing through the window.
Tempted to take a short cut to the office, Penny impulsively stepped through the opening. From the rooftop she could see the city spread out below in rigid pattern, and to the eastward, the winding river.
Crossing the dusty floor to the skylight above the Star photography room, Penny peered curiously down. No one was visible below.
“I wonder if a person really could get through that skylight,” she speculated. “It would be quite a feat, but I believe it could be done.”
A star athlete in high school, Penny felt a challenge. Giving no thought to her clothes, she squeezed through the narrow opening and snagged her sweater. As she freed herself, she noticed a tiny bit of blue cloth that had impaled itself on the nail.
The cloth was not from Penny’s garments, and looked as if it might have been torn from a man’s wool suit. Freeing it from the nail, she slipped it into her pocket for later examination.
Now, with her feet dangling into space, she considered how she was to get down into the room below. No longer was it possible to swing from the opening to the top of a filing cabinet, for Salt had carefully moved the heavy case to the far side of the room.
Seizing the skylight chain, Penny swung downward. The tiny brass rings cut into her hands and half-way down, she was forced to let go, dropping to the floor with a loud thump.