"Apparently John was right," he greeted them. "You two do have a knack of sniffing things out."
Rick looked at the thin partition. "Is it okay to talk here?"
"It is now. I've checked. The occupants of nearby rooms are out. We'll be able to hear if anyone comes in."
Rick immediately launched into a recital of their activities since arriving in Las Vegas. Now and then Scotty elaborated. A few times Preston interrupted to ask for clarification on a point or two.
"Good," he said when they had finished. "I'll see that Deadrock gets his parts back."
"Who is Deadrock Ogg?" Scotty asked.
Preston smiled. "Quite a character, isn't he? Normally he's a Forest Ranger. At the moment he's on loan to me, serving as my outside security officer. He did a good piece of work, getting that license number. We'll hand it to the FBI bureau in Las Vegas and they'll take it from there."
"He must have had advance information, to be at the right spot to get it," Rick observed.
"No more than you had," Preston told him. "We reached the same conclusion that you and Luis Hermosa did, about how stolen goods could get off the base. We've been watching from the inside, and Deadrock has been watching at the Steamboat end."
"Then you already knew about Mac and Pancho leaving last night," Scotty stated.