ed up by nightfall. Mr. Crocker has promised to pay for having the
cottage cleaned. He gave me the name and address of a woman who will
do the work."

"That's fine," said the detective. "If she's any good as a
housekeeper, why not hire her ourselves by the week? Then you'd be
free to roam around and have a good time."

"The idea sounds all right to me," Penny declared quickly. "To tell
you the truth, I don't know much about cooking on an old-fashioned
stove."

"Let's drive down to the village now," suggested the detective. "We'll
have breakfast and then find the cleaning woman."

Penny and her father rode down Knob Hill to the little town of Kendon.
Fortified by an excellent meal at the Florence Cafe they set forth to
find the home of Anna Masterbrook. They were told that she was a
spinster who lived two miles from the village.

"Why, this is the same road we came over last night," Penny observed as
they drove along.

"Yes, it is," agreed Mr. Nichols. "For half a cent I'd keep right on
going until we reached Belton City."

"Oh, we'll both like it after we get the cottage in order," Penny said
cheerfully. "Mrs. Masterbrook may easily turn out to be a diamond in
the rough."

"I hope so," sighed Mr. Nichols. "But our luck isn't running very
well."

The car rolled over a low hill and Penny observed a curve just ahead.

"Dad, didn't we pick up Walter Crocker at just about this point?" she
asked.

"I think this was the place," he agreed.

The car swung slowly around the bend. Both Penny and her father turned
their heads to glance toward the ditch. They were surprised to see
Walter Crocker's automobile still tipped over on its side. Apparently
it had not been greatly damaged.

"Well, that's certainly odd," said Penny as they drove on past the
scene of the accident.

"Meaning just what, Penny?"

"Why, it seems queer to me that the car hasn't been towed to a garage,"
she replied thoughtfully. "Mr. Crocker told me his nephew had gone
back to the city. If that is true, why did the man abandon a good
automobile?"

CHAPTER IV

Inside Information

"The garage may be slow in towing the car into town," replied Mr.
Nichols. "I've noticed that things don't move at lightning speed
around Kendon."

"I suppose that could be the reason," Penny admitted reluctantly. "But
wouldn't you think that Walter Crocker would want to find out how much
damage had been done to his car before he left?"