The senior Intelligence officer looked across the desk at him as though he were a long lost brother with a precious family secret.
“Well, thank Heavens, you don’t!” he breathed. “Go ahead and tell me why you don’t agree.”
The English born flying ace took a couple of seconds out to think up the words he wanted to use.
“I believe I know what is in the back of Dawson’s mind,” he eventually said. “We have got something. It may prove to be nothing; to be absolutely worthless. But we don’t know about that yet. I’m speaking of this Second Lieutenant Marble with the Ninety-Sixth Squadron down in the Canal Zone. Perhaps there is the chance that he can give us a lead on what Tracey was working on. Is there any way you can contact him, sir?”
“Why, certainly!” Colonel Welsh replied quickly. “I can—”
“Contact him, nothing!” Dave cut in harshly. “I mean, not unless it is a personal contact. But Freddy’s only come up with half the stuff I had in mind. Right here in Frisco—right here in this room—we have a perfect lead.”
Colonel Welsh sat up straight and quickly glared about the office as though he expected it to fill suddenly with people.
“Here in this room?” he demanded, fixing Dave with his steady eyes. “What in the world do you mean?”
“Not in the room, exactly,” Dave said with a faint grin, “but the man who went out of the room. I mean, whoever it was that slugged Rigby and stole your decoded message to him. He’s here. And it’s a cinch he’s been keeping an eye on this place. So who says he won’t continue to keep an eye on it? You follow me, sir?”
“Not exactly,” the senior officer grunted. “But you’re right when you say he’s been keeping an eye on this place. I could name on the fingers of one hand the men who know this is not strictly a Civilian Defense office for this section of the city. And they’re all trustworthy. Yet somebody else found out, either Seven-Eleven in person, or somebody in his pay. Anyway, that’s the end of this place for Intelligence contact work. I’ve got to dig up a new spot now, one that I hope will be fool-proof. No, I mean spy proof, I guess.”