Signal in the Dark Part 36

"My men will search the vessel," Captain Bricker told them, "but no one appears to be aboard. Everything seems in order."

Spreading out over the ship, the policemen returned one by one to report they could find nothing amiss. Not even a watchman was aboard.

"This seems to be a wild-goose chase, Captain," Mr. Parker apologized.

"Sorry to have bothered you. We considered our information reliable."

The policemen began to leave. Penny, lingering on deck until the last, was being helped onto the ladder by Captain Bricker, when they both heard a sound below decks.

"What was that?" the officer muttered, listening alertly.

"It sounded like someone thumping on a wall," Penny cried. "There it is again!"

The noise was not repeated a third time, but Captain Bricker had heard enough to make him believe that someone remained below. Drawing his revolver, and warning Penny to keep back, he started down the dark companionway.

At a safe distance, Penny trailed him. His bright flashlight beam cut paths of light over the walls as he tried the doors.

"Anyone here?" he shouted.

A thumping noise came from a room on the right. Guided by the sound, Captain Bricker tried the door. It was locked.

A powerfully built man, the officer hurled his weight against the door, and the lock gave way. Keeping back, lest he become a target for a bullet, he kicked the door open. The room was empty! But, the flashlight beam caught the outline of a trapdoor in the floor. The officer flung it open. Below, in the hold, lay a man gagged and bound hand and foot.

Following the police officer into the room, Penny uttered a little cry as she recognized Ben Bartell. Blinking owlishly in the light which had been focused upon him, he was a deplorable sight. His face was bruised, his hair matted with blood, and one eye was swollen almost shut.

"Oh, Ben! What have they done to you?" Penny gasped in horror.

Captain Bricker cut the young man free, and pulled the gag from his mouth. He helped Ben into a chair and then went to another cabin for water.

"Who did this to you?" Penny asked, rubbing the reporter's hands to restore circulation.

He seemed too exhausted to reply so she did not urge him to speak. The captain brought water which Ben drank thirstily.

"He's evidently been tied up several hours," the officer commented.

"Since last night," Ben whispered, moistening his cracked lips.

"How did you get aboard?"

"I sneaked on when no one was looking--wanted to see what I could learn."

"Who were the men that tied you up?"

"Don't know. But before they caught me, I heard plenty. The men on this boat are mixed up in the dynamiting of the Conway Steel Plant."

Penny nodded, for this information correlated with what she already had learned.

"Was Webb Nelson involved in the plot?" she asked eagerly.

"He set off the dynamite according to what I overheard last night," Ben revealed. "But he got into a fight with the gang over his pay for the job. He tried to shake them down for a big sum, threatening to spill everything to the police if they didn't cough up. It ended up in a fight, and Webb was pushed overboard."

"Then we pulled him out of the river," Penny supplied. "But he refused to tell us a thing."

"He knew better than to spill the story because he would have implicated himself. And the gang aboard this boat had no fear either, because they figured he was only pulling a bluff."

"But who was behind the plot?" Penny asked, puzzled. "What did the men hope to gain by dynamiting the plant?"

"They did it on orders from a man higher up--a man who personally hates the owner of the Conway Steel Plant."

"Then it was a grudge matter?" Captain Bricker inquired dubiously.

"Not entirely," Ben returned. "Labor troubles are mixed up in it. This man, who represents a minor faction, has been trying to gain control over the employes without much success. By planning a series of accidents similar to the dynamiting, he thought he might bring the management around to his way of thinking."

"Who is the leader?" Penny demanded impatiently.

Ben hesitated. "I hate to say," he confessed, "because I'm not absolutely certain. In the conversation I overheard before I was caught, he wasn't mentioned by name. But by putting two and two together, I have a fairly good idea."

"Guessing won't do in this business," said Captain Bricker.

"I know that," admitted Ben. "But here is one bit of fact I gained. The big boss was at the factory on the night of the explosion. In fact, he was nearly caught, and a photographer snapped a picture of him as he fled."

"You're sure of that?" Penny demanded excitedly.

"Yes, I heard the men talking about it. The boss has been worried for fear that picture will show up and convict him."

"Now I'm beginning to understand," Penny murmured. "It explains why the _Star_ photography room was broken into several times. Someone was after those plates which weren't there!"

"What became of the pictures?" Captain Bricker asked. "They'll prove valuable evidence."

"Why, Salt Sommers has the camera and plates in the press car. Of course, we don't know what the plates will show until they're developed."

"We must have them at once," the captain said. He turned again to Ben.

"Now did you know any of the men who attacked you?"

"Not a one. But I can give you a fairly good description of most of them.

They're waterfront riff-raff."

"In that case some of them may have their pictures in our files," the captain said. "I'll issue orders to round up all loiterers in this neighborhood. You should be able to identify most of them in a police line-up."

"I'm sure I can."

"Now about the higher-up, who engineered the scheme. You said you had an idea who he is."

"That's right," agreed Ben. "The men spoke of him as a publisher. I don't like to accuse him outright, because I'll be suspected of trying to get even with a man I hate."

Light came swiftly to Penny. Into her mind leaped many facts. .h.i.therto puzzling, but which now seemed suddenly clear. The open skylight--the building adjoining the _Star_--Webb Nelson's call upon the editor of the _Mirror_.

"Ben, you don't need to accuse anyone!" she cried. "I'll do it myself.

The man is Jason Cordell, and I think we can prove it too!"