You should have seen ’em go!”

“Didn’t you notice the license number?” Penny asked hopefully.

The boy shook his head.

Having learned all she could from him, Penny questioned other persons. Only one woman in the crowd was able to provide additional information. Her eye-witness account differed slightly from the boy’s, but she confirmed that a middle-aged woman in a black coupe had taken the accident victim to a hospital.

“Which hospital?” asked Penny.

The woman could not tell her. She did say, however, that the accident victim seemingly had suffered only minor scratches.

A police car drove up. Penny, frantic to find her father, did not wish to be delayed by questions. Without revealing who she was to members of the investigation squad, she hailed a taxi. Mercy Hospital was only a few blocks away. It seemed reasonable that her father would be taken there for treatment.

A few minutes later, standing anxiously at the information desk of that institution, she learned that Mr. Parker had not been admitted as a patient. The nurse in charge, noting the girl’s agitation, kindly offered to telephone other hospitals. After six calls, she reported that she was unable to trace the accident victim.

“Are you sure that your father sought hospital treatment?” she asked Penny.

“Perhaps not. Dad wasn’t badly hurt according to witnesses. He may have gone elsewhere.”

Thanking the nurse for her help, Penny taxied swiftly home. Mrs. Weems, in an old coat and a turban, was pouring salt on the icy sidewalk in front of the house. From the look on her face it was evident she had not heard the news.

“Mrs. Weems, Dad’s been hurt!” Penny cried, leaping from the cab. “In an auto accident!”

“My land!” the housekeeper gasped and allowed the bag of salt to fall from her gloved hand. “How bad is it?”

“I think he was more stunned than anything else. But I’ve not been able to learn where he was taken. He didn’t telephone here?”

“Not unless it was since I’ve been outdoors.”

Picking up the bag of salt, Mrs. Weems followed Penny into the house. Without removing coat or hat, the girl dialed the Star office. 

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