"It's come to me--in a flash!"
"What has, Dad?" Penny asked, wondering how badly her father had been stunned.
"Why, all the evidence I had in my portfolio! Names! Pictures! I know every man who was mixed up in the tire deal. Jerry gave it all to me."
"You remember everything?" cried Penny. "Dad, that's wonderful! It's just like Doctor Greer said. You've regained your memory as the result of a sudden blow."
"Things did seem to rush back to me after I hit my head on the ice."
Gripping Penny's hand, Mr. Parker pulled himself to his feet. Still giddy, he staggered and caught the iceboat for support. Then recovering, he exclaimed:
"We've got to go back there right away!"
"Where, Dad?"
"To the warehouse. We were tricked, but not by Sam Burkholder! Policeman Burns is one of the men I aim to expose!"
CHAPTER 25 _FINAL EDITION_
Penny and her father had no definite plan as they raced toward Johnson's warehouse in the iceboat. Their only thought was to return and somehow prevent the escape of the tire thieves.
"Dad, is Harley Schirr one of the gang?" Penny shouted in Mr. Parker's ear.
"Schirr?" he repeated impatiently. "Of course not!"
"Then why didn't he want you to publish the tire stories in the _Star_?"
"Oh, Schirr's a natural-born coward," Mr. Parker answered. "He likes to snoop and give unasked advice. Let's forget him."
The _Icicle_ slowed to a standstill near the warehouse. Penny and her father leaped out and climbed the slippery bank. Nearby they saw a loaded truck about to pull away from the building.
"We never can stop those men now!" gasped Penny.
"Yes, we can!" cried her father. "A police car is coming, and this time it's no fake!"
As he spoke, an automobile bearing the notation, "Police Department" in bold letters, skidded into the driveway. Detective Fuller was at the wheel and at least four policemen were with him.
"Stop that truck!" Mr. Parker shouted. "Don't let it get away!"
Detective Fuller and four companions leaped from the police car. As the loaded truck started off with a roar, they blocked the road.
"Halt!" shouted Detective Fuller.
When the order was ignored, he fired twice. The bullets pierced the rear tires of the truck. Air whistled out and the rubber slowly flattened.
For a few yards the truck wobbled on, then stopped. Two detectives leaped for the cab.
"All right, get out!" ordered Detective Fuller, covering the men.
The truck driver and two others slouched sullenly out of the cab. As flashlights swept their faces, Penny recognized one of the men.
"Hank Biglow!" she identified the driver.
"And this man is Ham Mollinberg, a brother of Ropes," said Mr. Parker, indicating a red-faced fellow in a leather jacket. "The man beside him is Al Brancomb, wanted for skipping parole in California."
"Any others in the warehouse?" demanded Detective Fuller.
"There should be," said Penny excitedly. "Where's Mr. Burns?"
"What Burns do you mean?" questioned one of the detectives.
"Connected with your police force, unfortunately," informed Mr. Parker.
"That's why I planned to consult the Prosecutor before I spread the story on the _Star's_ front page. You boys have done good work in Riverview and I didn't want to make the department look bad."
"Burns, eh?" Detective Fuller repeated. "We'll find out what he has to say!"
The policeman, however, was not to be apprehended so easily. Four men, including Ropes Mollinberg, were captured inside the warehouse. Burns had left the building some minutes earlier and had returned to Riverview.
"Don't worry, we'll get him!" Detective Fuller promised Mr. Parker. "How about these other eggs? Can you identify them?"
"They're all members of the outfit," the publisher said without hesitation. "One of my reporters, Jerry Livingston, spent weeks watching these men and getting wise to their methods."
"Then he can testify against them."
"He can if he gets back," agreed Mr. Parker. "Jerry's in Canada and for some reason we've been unable to locate him."
Penny and her father remained at the warehouse until the handcuffed prisoners had been taken away. They were jubilant over the capture. Not only would the tire-theft gang be broken up, but the _Star_ had achieved another exclusive front-page story.
"The best part of all is that you've recovered your memory!" Penny declared to her father. "After this, you won't dare fuss when I tell you I'm going ice-boating!"
"You're right," agreed Mr. Parker. "The _Icicle_ is the best pal I ever had!"
Within an hour after Penny and her father left the warehouse they were notified that Mr. Burns had been taken into custody. Evidence piled up rapidly against the policeman. As it definitely was established that he had accepted money from Ropes Mollinberg, he was stripped of his badge and put behind bars.
Police were not compelled to search the Williams' garage. Before they could act, Sam Burkholder came voluntarily to Central Station, offering to make a clean breast of his part in the Black Market dealings. Both he and Mattie were held as witnesses against the tire thieves.
"Will Mattie be kept in jail long?" Penny asked her father.
"I doubt it," he replied. "Apparently, Sam acted alone in selling illegal tires. Since he's showing a disposition to cooperate with police, he'll probably escape with a heavy fine."
With the tire theft case soon to come up for trial, Penny was disturbed lest Jerry Livingston fail to return from Canada in time to testify. For many days she tormented herself with wild speculations. Then one afternoon her worries were brought to an end by the arrival of a telegram. Nothing had happened to the young reporter. He had failed to reply to messages only because he had been out of touch with civilization.
In his wire, Jerry stated that he would return to Riverview at once to aid in the search for the publisher.
"Jerry doesn't know yet that you've been found!" Penny said to her father. "We must wire him right away to set his mind at rest."