“But I don’t take any chances now,” retorted Bob. “Extreme care is used with every single batch of plans that are sent over by the engineers.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean that you were careless, Bob,” smiled the Department of Justice agent. “I only meant that if you knew when radio secrets were going through you could use additional care and set up extra precautions.”
“You must be afraid something is going to be stolen.”
“That’s exactly what is troubling me,” confessed his uncle, “and I’m afraid that unknowingly you may be involved. I don’t want you to get caught in a trap if I can help it. That’s why I stopped here tonight. I wanted to have this talk with you, to warn you that there have been important discoveries by the engineers and that they may be through in a few days. From now on watch every single document that is sent through your hands. Don’t let it out of your sight from the moment it is delivered to you until you have filed it and placed it properly in the vaults. Understand?”
Bob, his face grave, nodded. “I’ll see that nothing like that happens. But who could be after these new plans?”
Merritt Hughes shrugged his shoulders.
“Bob, if I could answer that question this problem would be comparatively simple. The answer may be right here in this department; again it may be some outside force that we can only guess at.”
“Are you working alone on this case?” Bob continued.
A shadow of a frown passed over Merritt Hughes’ face.
“I wish I were; I’d feel more sure of my ground.”