Bradley smiled without mirth. "To understand their punishment, you must understand what has happened. Suppose I start at the beginning?"
"Best place," Chahda said. "Better start at Singapore, boss. Plenty I don't know, too."
"All right, Chahda. To begin with, I first heard about heavy water in Singapore from an informant with whom I deal. I'm no physicist, of course. I wouldn't know heavy water if I were served coffee made with the stuff. But I saw the implications right away and I sent a cable to Washington. You know about that because Steve Ames contacted Hartson Brant, if I'm right."
"You're right," Rick agreed.
"At the time I knew nothing except that heavy water had appeared in Singapore. I continued investigations at top speed. I managed to locate the house which was headquarters for the heavy-water dealers, again with the aid of an informant. At first I thought the stuff was coming overland, down the Malay Peninsula. Then I learned it was being shipped in by boat from Hong Kong."
Customers were starting to come into the Golden Mouse. Bradley lowered his voice so as not to be overheard. "At the same time, the dealers spotted Chahda and me. It wasn't hard to do for an expert such as we were up against. I walked into our hotel room and was jumped by Worthington Ko and some Chinese thugs. We had it hot and heavy for a while and some blood was shed." He grinned. "Not mine, I'm happy to say. I managed to get clear and decided I'd better drop out of sight. So I became a Eurasian seaman. It's a disguise I've used before, and it's quite safe."
Rick studied Bradley's face. He had a bone-deep tan, and his face, although pleasant, had no really distinguishing features. It was easy to see how he could become a Eurasian. Disguise, after all, was just putting yourself into a part. It wasn't a matter of make-up.
"I hurried to Hong Kong," Bradley went on, "sure that Chahda would piece together the story enough to follow me. I stopped at Saigon on the way and contacted our legation there. The minister had received the cable sent to all missions in the Far East giving your names, descriptions, and time of arrival in Hong Kong."
"The timing must have been close," Scotty said.
"It was. The legation had received the cable only hours before my arrival. It probably was the day you left New York."