As Link spoke, Hugh was staring through the plastic window of the room. A wall hid much of the interior from view. Suddenly he saw the very man they were seeking cross the room and disappear beyond the corner of the concealing wall.
Link caught a glimpse of him too. “Hey!” he burst out. “Wasn’t that him?”
“It sure was,” Hugh replied, feeling better now. “He probably just entered the room from another door along the next side corridor.”
Hugh gently turned the knob and the door swung open soundlessly. “We’ll slip in softly,” he whispered. “Then we can try to take him by surprise around the corner up ahead. We’ll have to watch our step because he’s probably desperate and will have his pistol ready for use.”
“He deserves to get twenty years for a theft like this,” Link whispered fiercely. “How did he ever expect to get away with it?”
“He won’t get away with it,” Hugh whispered confidently. “Right now he’s probably getting into a space suit so he can pop through the outer hatch and join his confederate outside.”
They had reached the corner on tiptoe. Hugh, in the lead, peered carefully around the corner. He gaped in surprise at what he saw:
Benasco was seated on the floor like a child with a new scrapbook, and he was chattering away ecstatically to himself!
“My, oh, my, what a splendid group!” he was saying. “There’s a tete beche pair of old 1989 Space Stations I’ve always wanted! And look at this one—a full sheet of Europa triangles! Oscar Benasco will have the most splendid collection of space stamps in all the Solar System!”
