Eddie listened as Mr. Evans reviewed the situation point by point. Two men—the one called Simms and the other known as Roy Benton—were involved in stealing the blueprints and the radioisotope. Mr. Evans didn’t seem at all worried about capturing them when the time was ripe. On each of the last three Saturdays, including today, Eddie and Teena had seen them fishing, or pretending to be fishing, over the sand bar in Moon Bay.
“We might assume, then,” the FBI man said, “that on the past two Saturdays the men’s real purpose for going out in the boat was to drop other metal tubes overboard. Other tubes similar to this one.”
“And remember,” Mr. Taylor said, “the first time Eddie and Teena saw them was the very Saturday after the isotope was stolen from the college.”
“Right,” Mr. Jamison said.
“So,” the FBI man picked up the line of thought, “the question is why the men dropped the metal tubes out on the sand bar. It’s a fairly safe bet that each tube contained a little of the radioactive material, plus other blueprints. Let’s assume that the reason behind the whole thing is to smuggle the blueprints out of the country.”
“That would go for the isotope, too,” the man from Drake Ridge said. “It was a new secret isotope, you know. Various foreign governments would like to get their hands on it.”
“But the men didn’t talk like foreigners,” Eddie said.
“Of course, they wouldn’t,” Mr. Evans said. “Might not even be foreigners. Unfortunately, there are a few greedy people who will do almost anything for money.”
“Even spy?” Teena said, aghast.
“Even spy,” Mr. Evans said. “But what we need to find out is how anyone is managing to smuggle the stuff out of here.”