Riding back, to rejoin Al, who was waiting at the gate of the plant ground, Bob accosted his brother in some surprise.
“Aren’t you going to have lunch?” he asked.
“I had it,” Al told Bob and Curt. “I delivered that package for Mr. Bailey, and met his son, Jimmy-junior. He’s just about my age, and an awfully nice fellow. He invited me, so I stayed.” He dismounted and set his wheel inside the enclosure. “You ought to see the model airplanes he builds. They’re great!”
“Well, we can’t stop to talk about them now. Mr. Barney Horton left word with the gate-man we are to come into the administration offices to see him.” Bob led the way as he gave the information.
“It will give us a chance to look over the office staff,” Curt explained.
“Be careful, Al,” his brother warned him. “See that you don’t let anybody guess that you see any suspicious things. You show everything on your face, you know.”
“All right.”
Barney greeted them in his private office and introduced them to Mr. Tredway’s partner, Mr. Parsons, who was there.
If his manner was somewhat abrupt and his mind preoccupied, Bob made allowances for that. The man was overcome by the mishap and its sinister outcome.
His restless, seemingly uneasy, and almost furtive actions, however, were not so easy to account for. He seemed unable to meet the eyes of the comrades directly, and appeared to be nervous—even more than the circumstances justified, Bob thought.