The girls walked across the street in order to get a better view of the building and, as soon as they turned to look, Peggy's eyes lighted. "Look up!" she said. "There's a theater up there, all right!"
"How do you know?" Amy asked wonderingly.
"Look at the windows! The first five floors have windows all the same height--a normal ceiling height. But the top floor has windows that must be twenty feet high! That means that the ceiling height is over twenty feet up there. What else could it be but the theater?"
"You must be right!" Amy agreed with excitement. "What do we do now?"
"Let's see if there's a janitor or anyone who can tell us about it; if it's being used, and what for. Even if someone's using it, we might be able to rent it from him if we can pay him more than he's paying now. Let's go and look!"
They ran across the street and into the vestibule of the building, but when Peggy tried the door, she found it locked. A small sign on the door read O & O TRUCKING Co. And the same name was written over the bank of mailboxes. Apparently there were no other tenants in the building, and nobody seemed to be in the O & O offices.
"We can always write to them," Amy suggested, "or we can try them on the phone until we find someone in."
"I guess we'll have to," Peggy agreed. But then she noticed the doorbell, almost invisible under many layers of thick green paint. "Wait a minute! Let's see if the bell works. Maybe there's a watchman, or somebody else."
A push at the button produced a loud ringing from deep within the building. Its sound seemed to echo for seconds after Peggy released the button.
"If there's anybody in there, that's going to bring him," she said. After a few minutes' wait, she decided to try again. This time, at the same instant that she touched the doorbell, the door swung open, revealing a man in dirty overalls who stood blinking at the light and regarding them with a scowl.
"Are you the superintendent?" Peggy asked politely.
"I'm the janitor. Whatta ya wanta know for?"
"Well, we're just wondering about the theater upstairs--"
"Theater? Ain't no theater here, kid," the man growled, and started to shut the door.
"Wait!" Peggy said, holding the door open. "There is a theater upstairs! We know there is! All I want to know is what it's used for."