he was unscrupulous.

"Search the room," the police captain ordered. "The Dillon pearls must
be here."

The men set about their task with system and thoroughness. They
examined every inch of the mattress, they went through all of the
clothing, even ripping out the linings of coats and jackets. The floor
boards were tested to learn if any had been recently loosened.

"You'll not find the necklace here," Cron said harshly.

Penny watched the search with growing uneasiness. She had felt certain
that the pearls would be found in the studio. The conversation she had
overheard while tied in the closet had led her to believe that the
necklace was in Cron's possession. It must be somewhere in the room.

She crossed over to a bookcase which the officers had not yet examined.
Instantly, she noted that Hanley Cron was watching her intently. She
lifted out the lower row of volumes. Nothing had been hidden behind
them.

"Little Miss Detective!" Cron jeered.

Penny took out a few of the books on the second shelf. She uttered a
little cry of surprise.

"My Black Imp!" she exclaimed, wheeling toward Cron. "So you were the
one who entered my room and stole it."

Triumphantly, she caught up the little clay figure from its hiding
place.

"Now I know you're crazy!" Cron snapped. "Someone sent that figure to
me in the mail. And rightly it should have been returned to me too!
You and that Coulter girl came here and robbed me of it."

Penny gazed thoughtfully down at the Black Imp. She recalled how
startled Max Lynch had been when he had viewed it on her father's desk.
Then later, either Cron or an agent of his, had risked capture to enter
the Nichols house and recover the little statue. Why was it so
valuable? What secret did it guard?

Suddenly, Penny knew. With a triumphant laugh, she raised the Black
Imp and hurled it against the wall. It shattered into a dozen pieces.

"Say, what's the idea?" a policeman demanded. Then he stared down at
the floor.

Among the broken fragments of day lay Mrs. Dillon's pearl necklace.

"There's your evidence," Penny said calmly. "I think even Max Lynch
may find it difficult to alibi this."

With a fatalistic shrug, the gambler turned to the policeman who
guarded him.

"You win," he said. "Buckle on the cuffs and let's go."

"There's something I'd like to learn before you take these men away,"
Penny mentioned to the captain. "Mr. Hoges has a letter in his
possessi