Penny came slowly down the stairway to face her father.
“Dad, if the fire was set only a few minutes ago, doesn’t that support my theory?”
“Which theory? You have so many.”
“I mean about the Hubell Tower,” Penny said soberly. “The clock struck thirteen on the night the Preston barn was destroyed! Don’t you see, Dad? The Hoods hold their meetings and then ride forth to accomplish their underhanded work!”
CHAPTER
15
TRACING BEN BOWMAN
“Penny, let’s postpone this animated discussion until morning,” Mr. Parker said wearily, reaching to switch out the bridge lamp.
“Then you don’t agree with me that the caretaker of the Tower may have some connection with the Hoods, Dad?” she asked in an injured tone.
“I certainly do not,” he answered firmly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to bed.”
Decidedly crestfallen, Penny followed her father upstairs. For several minutes she stood by the window of her room, gazing toward the Hubell Tower whose lights could be dimly seen across the city. Then, with a shrug, she too dismissed the subject from her mind and gave herself to slumber.
Mr. Parker had gone to the office by the time Penny arose the next morning. Finding a discarded newspaper by his plate, she eagerly scanned it for an account of the midnight fire. To her disappointment, only a brief item appeared on the front page. The story merely said that the barn of John Hancock, truck farmer, had been destroyed by a blaze of unknown origin. In the right hand column was another news item to the effect that Sheriff Daniels had made no progress in tracing the missing Clem Davis.