Derek recognized the man now. He had been one of the two who had walked out of the airport terminal building with Biff.
The man crossed quickly to the chair where Derek was sitting.
“Derek! You—you escaped! I mean—tell me, what happened?”
The man seemed confused. He was obviously unable to believe what he saw.
Dietz was confused. More so even than he displayed to Derek. How had Derek managed to get away from Specks? What had happened in the short space of time he had been away? He would have to play this very cagey now. Earlier, when he had been in the same room with this boy he could tell that the youth had grown suspicious of him.
Dietz took a stab in the dark.
“Did Keene come?” he asked. “And you got away?”
That was true enough. Derek had gotten away from Keene. But how did this man know that he had been with Keene? He couldn’t know—not yet—that it had actually been Biff Brewster, not Derek Zook, who had left the airport with him. Derek’s mind spun dizzily for a moment. “Catch hold of yourself,” he said sternly to his whirling brain.
Derek began thinking. Both he and Dietz held their silence for a few moments, stalling for time, each trying to think how to learn what the other actually knew.
“Yes, I left Mr. Keene,” Derek finally replied.