Then, at Rick's suggestion, they had undertaken a search for the pram.
His point was simply that he had never seen a pram in the Whiteside
area--something that strangers would not have known. They might have
figured that tying up in plain sight was the best way of hiding their
boat. It would have been, if prams had been more common.
He motioned to Scotty. "Let's go. No sign of the pram."
Barby rose instantly. "Can we go with you?"
Rick considered, then nodded. He could see no objection to taking them
on what could only be a short plane trip.
As they hurried to the plane, Scotty said, "What bothers me is, why
didn't the JANIG team have someone at the landing?"
"They did," Rick replied. "I asked the same question. Their roving
patrol had been by there a short time earlier, but saw nothing
suspicious. After all, they can't post men everywhere. So two of them
take turns keeping watch on the tidal flats, in case anyone tries to
cross from the mainland directly to here. The other two keep moving."
"But it's funny anyone would attack Duke and Jerry," Barby objected.
"It isn't ... well, logical."
Rick grinned. Logic and his sister had never become well acquainted.
He answered, "Suppose the enemy had been keeping track of movements
by water to Spindrift? That isn't farfetched. They could do it easily
without being noticed. Then, late yesterday, they saw two men get in a
boat and come to the island. They were probably watching from cover.
And what did they see?"
Jan answered excitedly, "Jerry, and a man who looked like my father!"
"That's it, Jan. So, if I guess correctly, they waited, hoping the man
they thought was Dr. Morrison would come back. And he did, and they
were waiting."
"Sounds reasonable," Scotty agreed. "Except for one small thing. Why
attack Dr. Morrison when all they have to do is turn on a gadget and
his mind goes blank?"
Jan shuddered visibly. Scotty added hurriedly, "Sorry, Jan."
"Maybe it's not that simple," Rick said thoughtfully. "If they only
have to turn on a gadget, why did they need to drug Dr. Marks?"
There was no answer to that. As soon as they were air-borne, Rick
headed north, searching the coastline, swinging low now and then to
examine marinas where numbers of boats were tied up. Scotty kept the
binoculars working, but there was no sign of a pram.
"Do you suppose it's under cover somewhere?" Barby asked.
Rick shrugged. "Maybe. They might cover it if they thought anyone
would come looking for it."
"They'll surely think of that, won't they?" Barby asked.
"Not necessarily. After all, they tied up at the pier in plain sight.
I think they assumed no one would worry about a small rowboat. They
just didn't know prams are uncommon."
Scotty put the glasses down for a moment and rubbed his eyes. "How far
could they have come, anyway? We're miles above Spindrift, and no one
would row that far."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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