ront door. Instead he went around to
the back porch and from a box which was stored there, counted out a
dozen eggs into a paper sack. He returned to the car.

"How much do I owe you, Mr. Crocker?" asked Penny.

The man named a price fifteen cents above the town market. She paid it
without a protest.

"How is your grandson, Perry?" Penny asked casually as she prepared to
drive away.

Mr. Crocker glanced at her sharply but the girl's face disclosed only
polite interest.

"Oh, the boy's fine," he answered gruffly. "He's somewhere around the
place."

Penny said goodbye and drove away without disclosing that she knew
Perry had been locked in the house during his grandfather's absence.
Such treatment seemed nothing short of cruel to her. She could not
understand why the townspeople would show such indifference to the
lad's fate unless they were unaware of existing conditions.

Upon reaching the cottage, Penny drew her father aside and reported
everything she had learned.

"You're sure that the boy told the truth about having no food?" the
detective inquired.

"I can't be absolutely certain," Penny admitted. "I've never been
inside the house."

"Always there are two sides to every question," Mr. Nichols said
slowly. "Folks around here with the exception of Mrs. Masterbrook,
seem to think that Crocker isn't a bad sort."

"I'm positive he's not the right person to have entire control of a
child, Dad."

"That may be. However, he gave the boy a home when no one else came
forward to take him in."

"How do you account for Walter Crocker's car being in Herman's barn?"

"I don't see anything so mysterious about that, Penny. They are
relatives. Walter probably asked Herman to have the car hauled there
until he came back from the city."

"How do we know he ever went to the city, Dad?"

"What?" asked Mr. Nichols blankly.

Penny repeated her question.

"You're not hinting that something may have happened to Walter Crocker?"

"Yes, I am, Dad. Herman Crocker is a sinister character."

"In your imagination."

"In any one's imagination," Penny said firmly. "We know that Walter
Crocker came here to collect money from Herman. That old man is a
miser. What would be more natural than to have the nephew conveniently
disappear?"

"Penny, you've been reading entirely too many wild stories."

"Dad, you are laughing at me!"

"Pardon me, but I can't help it," smiled the detective. "Herman
Crocker is an