ight against it. She could find no lock or catch.

There were several windows high overhead but without a ladder she could
not hope to reach them. She was growing more disturbed than she cared
to admit, when Susan called to her.

"Penny, I think there's some sort of lever over here by the car."

Penny flashed her beam in that direction and was relieved to see that
her chum was right.

"It must operate the door, Susan! We should be out of here in a jiffy!"

Confidently, she grasped the long handle and pulled with all her
strength upon the iron lever.

From below came the low rumble of moving machinery. Penny and Susan
riveted their eyes hopefully upon the door. It did not open.

Instead, a square of floor upon which the roadster was resting, slowly
began to sink.

Uttering a frightened scream, Susan tried to open the car door.

"Save me!" she cried frantically.

Penny leaped nimbly down upon the running board.

"It's all right," she laughed shakily. "We're only descending in an
elevator."

"We'll be killed before we ever get out of this dreadful place!"

The elevator struck the lower floor with a gentle thud. Penny then
climbed into the car and drove it a few feet forward. Relieved of its
weight the platform slowly rose again until it had resumed its former
position.

"We're worse off now than we were before," Susan moaned.

"I think this must be the way out," Penny comforted.

She indicated a tunnel-like opening directly ahead. Susan who had been
looking in the opposite direction had noticed a small room which
appeared to be an office. She called her chum's attention to it.
Together, they cautiously peered inside.

Save for a battered desk and several chairs the tiny room was empty.
Cigarette ashes and old papers were scattered over the floor, giving
evidence that the office had been used recently. Penny tried the desk
and found it locked.

She picked up a few scraps of paper from the floor. They were without
interest.

A folded newspaper lying upon one of the chairs drew her attention.
Opening it, she noticed that an article on the front page had been
underscored with pencil lines. The headline read:

"AUTO ACCESSORY THEFTS
ON STEADY INCREASE HERE"

The story hinted that Belton City police had been unable to cope with
the situation and that local insurance companies long harassed by an
organized gang, had turned the case over to private detectives.

Above the latter sta