"It's getting pretty late," he said, hoping his voice sounded natural. "Let's just knock off for now, I'll study it over, maybe I'll have something figured by tomorrow."
Historical research, huh? Some professors all right, this bunch—
The thing to do was to stall, not let them know he suspected anything.
"I tell you," he said casually, "do you have some place I could bed down here? Save me a trip into town and back."
Was it his imagination, or did Brown relax slightly?
"Why, yes, we do have a spare cot in Mr. Smith's room," Brown said. "Would that be good enough?"
"Sounds fine," Dolan said. He snapped the lid of his tool-box shut. "Let's go see what it looks like."
The two male gun runners held a council of war while Dolan was eating his breakfast.
"Subject's attention diverted," the senior gun runner said. "Unknown factor. Annoying."