“The aircraft company has been keeping it quiet,” Teena said, “but somehow the news leaked out. It was all in this morning’s paper.”
Actually, Eddie doubted that he would have noticed it, even if they had taken the morning paper. The big thing around his house was the disappearance of the radioisotope. No promising clues had been found. The theft of the isotope remained as much a mystery as it had been from the first day. The few times he had seen his father, he had noticed how much deeper the lines of worry on his face had become. Eddie had avoided asking questions, yet he couldn’t help wondering if his father was in danger of losing his job at the college. Some of the things his mother had said seemed to hint at the possibility.
The newspapers had taken a dim view of the robbery. They protested against the carelessness which would enable the theft, in broad daylight, of such a valuable, secret, and hazardous thing as a radioactive isotope.
The blame, of course, fell primarily upon Mr. Taylor’s shoulders.
“Eddie,” Teena said, “you’re not even listening to me.”
“I—I’m sorry,” Eddie answered. “What did you say?”
“I merely said that some important blueprints are missing from my father’s department at Acme Aircraft,” Teena explained.
“Maybe someone put them in the wrong drawer or something,” Eddie suggested.
“They’ve looked everywhere, Eddie,” Teena said. “That’s why my father’s been getting home late every day. They’ve searched absolutely everywhere.”
“Well, I guess they can always make new blueprints,” Eddie said. He really couldn’t see why it was so important, especially not if you compared it to stolen radioisotopes.