The Radio Detectives

by A. Hyatt Verrill

“Yea, I understand,” said Jim. “Say that’s a lulu of an idea—radio detectives. Well, I’ll bet we can detect this bughousey guy O. K.”

It was soon arranged that Jim was to see his cousin and that one of the boys’ loops would be set up in his home the following evening and that,

while Jim and Frank listened there, Henry and Tom would be at their sets and would call out as soon as they heard the messages from the mysterious speaker. All was arranged, but to the boys’ intense chagrin not a sound came to any of them which remotely resembled the well-known voice and short wave lengths of the man they were striving to locate. But they were not discouraged, for they knew from past experience that they could not expect to hear him every night.

The following day was Saturday and the boys devoted their holiday to putting up a set in Lathrop’s home. They now had four loop aërial sets ready to receive and located within a comparatively small area. They were sure that the station they were trying to find was within the few blocks between 20th and 27th Sts., but they were not at all sure whether it would be found to the east or west of Third Avenue. Moreover, as Jim pointed out, for all they knew he might be on 27th St. or 20th St. or even slightly north or south of one or the other, for he stated that his brother had told him that when close to a sending station the loop aërial could not be depended upon to give very accurate

directions and that only by taking cross bearings could a certain point be definitely located. This was exactly what the boys had in view, to take cross bearings, and then, by means of a map of the city, to locate the man or the station.

It may seem as if the boys were devoting a great deal of time and trouble to something of little importance, but they were, or at least Tom, Frank and Henry were, thoroughly convinced that the messages emanated from some one connected with a rum-running gang and they were as keen on finding his location and as interested as if they had been real detectives detailed to discover a fugitive from justice.

So on that Saturday night they sat at their various instruments, waiting expectantly and with high hopes. No one was stationed at Tom’s home, for, in order to provide two sets for the test, Tom’s and Frank’s had been dismantled and reinstalled at the houses of Jim’s cousin and of Paul Lathrop.

Henry was the first to pick up the sounds and instantly he hurried to the telephone and called Jim. But by the time he had Jim’s number the latter had also picked up the signals and had called the

others, for Tom had not disturbed his transmission set and ordinary phoning was the only means of communicating with one another at the boys’ disposal. For some time Tom, at the 23d St. house, could not pick up the sounds, but at last, with his loop pointed to the northeast, they came clear. “Congratulations,” was the first word he heard, instantly followed by the queer buzzing sound which Henry had described. “Golly, ’tis just like some one talking through a comb,” was Tom’s mental comment and deeply interested and tremendously puzzled he strained his ears and mind striving to formulate words or meanings from the strange sounds. Once or twice he was sure that the sounds were words—he thought he could make out “last night” following a query of “When was it?” from the other speaker but, as he told the others later, it was like trying to hear what a mosquito was saying.

So intent was he on this that he quite forgot to jot down the plain words of the other speaker and did not realize it until the sounds ceased and the conversation was over.