“Then we pulled him out of the river,” Penny supplied. “But he refused to tell us a thing.”
“He knew better than to spill the story because he would have implicated himself. And the gang aboard this boat had no fear either, because they figured he was only pulling a bluff.”
“But who was behind the plot?” Penny asked, puzzled. “What did the men hope to gain by dynamiting the plant?”
“They did it on orders from a man higher up—a man who personally hates the owner of the Conway Steel Plant.”
“Then it was a grudge matter?” Captain Bricker inquired dubiously.
“Not entirely,” Ben returned. “Labor troubles are mixed up in it. This man, who represents a minor faction, has been trying to gain control over the employes without much success. By planning a series of accidents similar to the dynamiting, he thought he might bring the management around to his way of thinking.”
“Who is the leader?” Penny demanded impatiently.
Ben hesitated. “I hate to say,” he confessed, “because I’m not absolutely certain. In the conversation I overheard before I was caught, he wasn’t mentioned by name. But by putting two and two together, I have a fairly good idea.”
“Guessing won’t do in this business,” said Captain Bricker.
“I know that,” admitted Ben. “But here is one bit of fact I gained. The big boss was at the factory on the night of the explosion. In fact, he was nearly caught, and a photographer snapped a picture of him as he fled.”