Judge Harlan stepped forward to inspect the radio equipment. “What is this?” he inquired. “A special joke of yours, Penelope?”
“It’s no joke,” she assured him earnestly. “Mr. Coaten has been trying to force Rhoda and Ted to agree to an adoption. We were suspicious of him, and so we arranged this little affair.”
“How is the sound brought into the house?”
“I had a microphone installed inside the wishing well,” Penny revealed. “The wires run through an underground tunnel.”
“Very clever, very clever indeed,” murmured the judge. “And the meaning of the conversation?”
“I don’t know,” Penny confessed. “Mr. Coaten is trying to cheat Rhoda and Ted, but how I can’t guess. They own no property.”
“Mr. Coaten spoke of the Texano Oil Company,” the judge said thoughtfully. “That gives me a faint inkling—”
He did not finish, for at that instant Rhoda came hurriedly into the room. Penny motioned for her to join the group by the loudspeaker.
“Rhoda,” said the judge, turning to her, “did your father own land in Texas?”
“Never,” she replied promptly. “The only person in our family who owned property was grandfather. He had a large farm but sold it long before his death.”