The plain and gloomy secretary was already on the job, too. She led him in to face Major Holt. He blinked at the sight of Joe.
“Hm.... I have some news,” he observed. “We back-tracked the parcel that exploded when it was dumped from the plane.”
Joe had almost forgotten it. Too many other things had happened since.
“We’ve got two very likely prisoners out of that affair,” said the Major. “They may talk. Also, an emergency inspection of other transport planes has turned up three other grenades tucked away in front-wheel wells. Ah—CO2 bottles have turned out to have something explosive in them. A very nice bit of work, that! The sandy-haired man who fueled your plane—ah—disappeared. That is bad!”
Joe said politely: “That’s fine, sir.”
“All in all, you’ve been the occasion of our forestalling a good deal of sabotage,” said the Major. “Bad for you, of course.... Did you find the men you were looking for?”
“I’ve found them, but—.”
“I’ll have them transferred to work under your direction,” said the Major briskly. “Their names?”
Joe gave the names. The Major wrote them down.