“So while the directors of the Ajax Corporation dawdled,” continued Stannart, “I contacted the competition. I had much to offer that they needed, as Mr. Serbot will agree.”
“And I,” said Serbot, “advised them to meet the price, which included—this.”
By “this” Serbot referred to the stolen portion of Kirby’s map, which he spread on the desk in front of him. Biff started to say something, then caught himself. Gregg Stannart recognized what was in Biff’s mind and promptly expressed it.
“I needed a go-between,” Stannart asserted. “Some way to enable Serbot to use the information I could give him without bringing suspicion on myself.”
“So you gave me that letter!” exclaimed Biff. He turned accusingly toward Serbot. “And you tried to steal it from me on the plane! It was all arranged beforehand!”
“All very nicely arranged,” agreed Stannart, “because I wanted to keep my job with Ajax if the El Dorado story proved to be a hoax.”
“Since I might have seen the address on the envelope you carried,” Serbot told Biff, “you and your father guessed that I sent Pepito to steal your precious map, which was exactly what I wanted. What you didn’t guess was that Stannart was in on the game. The funniest part”—for once, Serbot’s smile seemed real—“was that I had a carbon copy of Stannart’s letter to your father, here in my pocket all the time!”
Biff swelled with indignation until he happened to glance toward Kamuka. All this talk had left Kamuka totally unimpressed. In Kamuka’s eyes, Biff saw only the same appeal that had been present that day when Biff had pulled the other boy from the quicksand. Biff suddenly realized that now they both were in something equally deep and probably just as deadly. Since he couldn’t say anything that would help, Biff said nothing.
Stannart turned to Serbot and put the question:
“What should we do with these boys?”