The fellow scratched the back of his head while he considered the matter at length. "Some phidi trying to make a fool of me," he finally said aloud, as Hanlon heard through his roch's ears, as he had been watching through its eyes. "But how in the name of Zappa did whoever it was train this roch to bring me the note like this?"
This latter problem seemed to have greater interest for him than the warning. For his eyes were still watching the roch with puzzled inquiry ... but he did nothing about acting upon Hanlon's suggestion.
As the S S man watched the roch leave the peace keeper's headquarters, he fumed because it was apparent that the official was going to take no action on his warning. Were they in on this criminal activity, he wondered? Was it that wide-spread, that even the supposed law-keepers were party to it?
No, he finally decided, probably this fellow was just a dumb, unimaginative sort of dope.
He watched miserably as the fires were set and the business buildings wrecked. There was nothing else he could do to stop it, for he knew it would only put himself in useless danger to try—would jeopardize what he and the other secret servicemen were trying to accomplish here. But as soon as the damage had been done he found another roch, and sent it back to headquarters with another scathing note.
"You paid no attention to my previous warning, and as a result two of the buildings I told you about have been set on fire, the windows smashed on another, and two others have been wrecked by explosions. Why don't you use what small brains you possess, and stop this wave of crime? Or are you being paid to ignore it?"
Through the eyes of the roch Hanlon watched the official read the note, and saw him fly into a rage and pace the floor ... but what the man was thinking Hanlon was too far away to read.
"One thing sure, I'll have to get busy and make contact with these gangsters," Hanlon thought bitterly as he went back to his room and to bed. "Guess I'm near enough ready to tackle Yandor now. Let's see, shall I do it directly, or...?"
He undressed and climbed into the low, foot-high, five-sided bed these Estrellans used. There was no mattress or springs, but fortunately his rooms had several extra blankets, and these he had folded beneath him to make his sleeping more comfortable.
He was still wrestling with his problem when he finally dropped off to sleep.