United States or Montserrat ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
He was more sure than ever that the houseboaters and barber were connected, but he still had no clear evidence. Of course he had made a report of the day's activities to Steve, who at least hadn't tried to be nice about it. "An agent can't always think of everything," was Steve's comment. "But he can try. Sometimes, when he fails to take a factor into consideration, he gets away with it.
"Can't answer that until we know the plan," Scotty said reasonably. "Suppose you tell us." "Well, we needed evidence that the houseboaters were in the plot against our fathers, didn't we? I knew we could get it, if we could plant a radio. So we made a plan." "Lot of good a turned-off radio would have done," Rick muttered. Barby glared. "We decided that we'd go swimming with the lungs.
In a few minutes Rick had the agent on the wire and was giving him the details of the accident over the scrambler system. He concluded, "If Dad was drugged by the houseboaters, as Dr. Winston thinks, that means the enemy has his brain pattern!" Steve Ames asked, "Is Winston there?" "Yes." "Ask him a question for me. Would the brain waves be considered quasi-optical?"
"We have to get a look at the barber's machine. I don't know how we'll do it. But we can figure out something." In the back of Rick's mind was the thought that the houseboaters might have moved nearer Whiteside for the purpose of contacting the barber, as well as to get a better look at traffic between Spindrift and the mainland. If that were true, they had better hurry.
The houseboaters tie in because of the pram." "Okay. Then if both are involved, they have to contact each other sometime. They have to exchange information, at the very least." Scotty was with him. "And it would be easier for the houseboaters to contact the barber than vice versa. Because everyone has to get a haircut sooner or later. Right?" "One hundred percent. So we keep a watch on both.
If a story ever could be made public, the Morning Record would be the first to have it, but in all probability the facts would remain buried for some time. In a large room in the lab basement the four houseboaters and the barber waited under heavy guard for the arrival of a Coast Guard cutter.
Who the houseboaters and the barber really were, who paid them, how they had been tipped off to the project in the first place, and similar details would remain locked in top-secret files somewhere in Washington. "The key to the whole affair was uncovered in Washington yesterday. Most of you know about the physical arrangements on the fourth floor.
The houseboaters had done just the right things, including coming to Spindrift for help rather than bringing the scientist home in the slow-moving and rather uncomfortable pram. Instead, Hartson Brant had waited on the houseboat while one of the men brought the pram to the island with a request that someone follow him back in a more comfortable boat.
Barby and Jan had listened in silence, but Barby could contain herself no longer. "And we're going to help!" To Barby's astonishment, Rick nodded. She had expected opposition. "You and Jan can keep watch of the houseboat. Scotty and I will take the mainland. If the houseboaters start for Whiteside pier, you'll tell us. We'll pick them up as they land and trail 'em." Barby nodded, pleased.
Scotty drove down the main street, and as he passed the barbershop, he reported, "There's a man in the chair. Maybe our friend is waiting for him to leave." "We'll see." Rick's plans had not gone beyond this point. The objective had been to see whether the houseboaters made contact with the barber. But now he realized that a simple contact wasn't proof of anything.
Word Of The Day