“Okay, a charge it is,” he agreed. He shifted gears and drove away.
No sooner had Penny dismissed the cab than she regretted it. Although she expected to catch a ride with the Star photographer back to the paper, the mansion had a deserted look. As she walked up the gravel path, she noticed that many of the shades were drawn.
“There’s no one here,” she thought. “I’ve wasted my time coming.”
Nevertheless, Penny walked on to the front door to ring the doorbell. Instead she found a brass knocker in the shape of an ugly carved face. She stared at it a moment, then let it fall against the brass plate.
As Penny had feared, no one came to admit her. She was turning away in defeat, when she fancied she saw a shade move in one of the upstairs rooms. Encouraged, she knocked again.
Still there was no answer, but distinctly she saw the curtain flutter. Stepping back a pace, she gazed upward.
A dark face was visible in a circular window of one of the tower rooms. For a moment appraising eyes focused upon her. Then the curtain jerked convulsively, and the man was gone.
CHAPTER
3
A THATCHED ROOF COTTAGE
Satisfied that the house was not deserted, Penny hammered harder on the massive oaken door with the brass knocker. Still no one came to admit her.
“Someone is here,” she thought, intensely annoyed. “Well, if he can be stubborn, so can I! I’ll make such a nuisance of myself, they’ll have to let me in.”