The three struck camp quickly. They loaded their gear into the cabin cruiser. With a triumphant blast on the boat horn and a burst of shots from Charles Keene’s gun, they pointed the bow of the cruiser toward La Trinité.
They passed within a quarter of a mile of Dietz’s boat. They could see Dietz hauling in lines holding the baskets of oysters which Specks had filled on the bottom. They didn’t see Crunch. He must have been pressed into oyster diving also.
Ten minutes later, they could barely see Dietz’s white boat bobbing on the blue water over the imaginary pearl bed.
“We pulled it off, Uncle Charlie,” Biff said.
“That we did, Biffo me lad.”
“And now we can hunt for my father,” Derek added.
“And we’ll find him, too!” Biff said confidently.
Charles Keene frowned. He erased the frown quickly, but not so fast that Biff missed it.
Biff knew his uncle believed that Brom Zook must have been lost at sea. The thought sent Biff’s high spirits plunging downward.