“Well, only a small but,” Peggy said. “The place happens to be in use right now.”
“Great,” Mal said sarcastically. “You can now add your name to the long list of those among us who have located perfect theaters that happen to be in use!”
“Wait!” Peggy said. “This is different. In the first place, nobody will admit to using it; in the second place, we think there’s something crooked going on there; and if we do a little bit of detective work, I think we can find out what it is. If I’m right, and if it’s being used by crooks, we can get the theater for ourselves by getting the crooks out!”
Their interest aroused by this unusual statement, the players began to question Peggy and Amy about their suspicions and about the circumstances that surrounded their discovery of the Starlight Theater. When the girls had told them about their interview with the janitor, and about their later visit to the alley behind the building, everyone seemed convinced that there was something peculiar going on at the place.
“The polished doorsill and the greased hinges and the new lock prove that it’s being used,” Peggy concluded. “And the janitor’s attitude seems to indicate that it’s being used for something illegal.”
“It sounds like an airtight case to me,” Pip said. “Why don’t we just take the facts to the police and let them investigate?”
“Because there are no facts yet,” Peggy said. “All we have are guesses. There must be thousands of places in use in the city, and thousands of janitors who don’t want to be friendly and tell what they’re used for, and I don’t think that the police would be willing to agree that they’re all run by gangsters.”
“Peggy’s right. We can’t go to the police without more evidence,” Randy said. “Before they’ll swear out a search warrant, we have to have something more definite for them.”
“Then let’s get it!” Pip said with enthusiasm. “What do you suggest, Peggy?”
“I think we ought to set up a lookout post in that back alley,” she answered decisively. “There’s a place under the fire stairs on the far side of the building where two people could hide and see without being seen, and it shouldn’t take more than a couple of nights of looking to find out what’s going on.”