“Why didn’t Derek come as soon as you cabled?”
“I got a cable about ten days after I sent for Derek. It was from his grandfather. The cable informed me that Derek was in the Swiss Alps for winter skiing. The grandfather had tried and tried to locate him. It seems Derek was off on a long cross-country ski race. You know, where the winner is the one who covers the most miles in a given number of days.”
“Be hard to locate someone on one of those jaunts, all right,” Biff agreed.
“So, being desperate, and not knowing if Derek would get here before the time limit expired, I cabled for you. And was I ever glad to see you come through the door of the terminal!”
“But you actually had the real Derek.”
Uncle Charlie laughed. “That’s right. But from the way things have gone, it’s a good thing I do have two Dereks.”
* * * * * * * *
The hands on the clock in the hearing room of the French consulate showed fifteen minutes of four. Seated in the first of the row of benches which lined the room were Herman Dietz and Specks Cade. Dietz wore a satisfied smile on his face. Things were going fine. Just fine. Fifteen more minutes, and Brom Zook’s claim would be worthless, voided by the expiration of the ninety-day time limit.
Specks’s feelings were just the opposite of Dietz’s. He was nervous. He kept shifting back and forth on the bench, looking at the entrance, watching the clock.
Ten minutes of four.