 Jerry, hat ferox! Why do you suppose Captain Gardner wanted us to wear our civilian clothes instead of our uniforms when we go to his office? I don't know, I can't figure it out either. Don't you suppose the other cadets will think it's kind of funny, us and civvies? Well, they won't see us, Jerry. They're all in study halls. Oh, yeah, that's right. Well, I'm ready. Wait, let's tie this shoe. Gee, it feels funny to be wearing these clothes again. It does, doesn't it? I'll bet when this turns over and I go back with the circus, they won't even fit me. Oh, well, don't worry. The circus will give you a new clown suit. Clown? Hey, I'm no clown. I know, I'm just fooling. All right, there, I'm ready. Okay, let's go. Yeah. Yeah, I wish this was all over. So do I. But whatever happens, we've got to see it through. Oh, sure, I wasn't thinking about that. I mean, I wasn't thinking of Quitten or anything. I was just thinking of poor little Harold and his dad. Jerry, I wonder why things like this have to happen to people. Yeah, I thought the same thing. Now, here's Guy Linwell, a great fellow, a smart pilot and absolutely honest. And through no fault of his own, he has to get mixed up with a bunch of crooks like Yorca. Mm-hmm. But everybody's doing all they can to clear it up as soon as possible. Yes, and I for one will be glad when it is all cleared up and Harold can get back to classes. Yeah, me too. Wait, I'll open the door. Okay, thanks. Nobody in the halls. I guess we got over all right without anybody seeing us. Mm-hmm, yep. Or shall I knock? Sure, go ahead. Cadets Dugan and Phillips. Yeah, come in, boys. And Mr. Wallace, Mr. Taylor, these are the two boys I was telling you about. Oh, yes, how do you do, boys? How do you do, Cadets Dugan and Phillips? Thank you. These gentlemen represent the government in this case, boys. They flew into Wardville this morning, and they've just driven into Faroes. Yes, sir. You can just sit in on this conversation, boys, and then when Mr. Wallace wishes to ask you some questions, he may. Yes, sir. I was telling you, Mr. Wallace and Mr. Taylor, that I phoned Chief of Police Wood, and he sent two men out right away. One of them is an expert rifle shot, and we placed him in the press box over the grandstand at the football field. He can look right down into the front yard of Mr. Linwell's cottage. Good. Where's the other officer? He's stationed in the house next door. Linwell is keeping the window shades on that side of the house up at all times, so the police officer can watch him and Harold. What's on the other side of the house? A vacant lot. I see. I also arranged with the telephone company to put a phone in Linwell's cottage right away. Thought it would be a good idea to have communication with them at any time. Good. All right, now that seems to take care of the situation for the time being. Which one of you is Jerry Dugan? I am, sir. Jerry, what does this man, Yorga, look like? Can you describe him for us? You bet, yes, sir. He's pretty tall and dark and thin. He wears eyeglasses and carries a gold fountain pen. Oh, yes. Now, let me have that pencil once more. Will you please, Captain? Oh, certainly. Here you are. Yes, this is a foreign-made pencil, all right? And you boys are certain this matches the fountain pen Yorga used in McLeod's store? Oh, yes, sir. When will McLeod be here, Captain? He said he'd get over as soon as he could close up his store. Oh, that's too bad to make him close up shop. Isn't there anyone he can leave in charge? No, but that's all right. Most of his trade is with the Fair Oaks Cadets, anyway. I understand. Captain, I think I'll hang on to this pencil now. I want to be sure to have it in my possession when I meet Mr. Yorga, of course. Captain Gordon, it tells me, boys, that you described Yorga speaking with some sort of an accent. Yes, sir. What kind of an accent was it, do you know? Well, no, sir. I couldn't tell. Could you, Jerry? No, I don't know either. Well, it doesn't make much difference now. We know what government they represent. You do know? Yes, I'll tell you about that in a moment or two. The important thing now is to plot our operation. Now, here's the way it'll go. Tomorrow morning, Taylor and I will drive into town and straight to the Linwell House. Whoever of Yorga's crowd is watching will certainly know we're going in to question Linwell. We'll wait a while, then we'll send Harold out and up to McLeod's place. Of course, I'll have men all along the way, and absolutely no harm can come to it. I hope not, Mr. Wallace. No, I have ten men coming into town tonight, and they're all the best men available. The government is extremely interested in cleaning up this espionage case immediately. Now, if Yorga and his playmates don't make any move to grab Harold on the way to McLeod's, the boy is to stay there for a while, eat a dish of ice cream or something, then walk down Fair Oaks Avenue to the drugstore on the next corner. In the meantime, you boys will be at Mac's place. Harold will have talked with you in there, and just as he leaves the drugstore, my man there will telephone McLeod and tell him Harold is leaving. Now you boys come out a couple of minutes later, see Harold coming up the street and call to him that you'll wait. He'll call back that he isn't going to the school, but is going back to his father's. You understand that? Yes, sir. Then Harold is to go down to his father's house, through the alley. Gee, I mean... I know what you mean, son. You mean you think it's so shaded and lonesome down that alley that something might happen to your friend, is that it? Yes, sir. Well, don't you worry for a minute. Harold will be shadowed by our men every inch of the way. Of course, the men who are coming into Fair Oaks tonight will remain completely undercover until we nab Mr. Yorger and his playmates. And Mr. Taylor and I are to meet them later at a service station just outside of town. Now, Jerry and Lee... Yes, sir? It's going to be up to you boys to tell Harold and his father about our plans. Do you think you can remember them? I'm sure we can, sir. Fine. We'll go over them once more, and then I'll let you recite them back to me before we leave tonight. Mr. Wallace, you're certain there isn't any possibility of danger to Harold, are you? Captain, that leds in danger now plenty of it. I know all about the men we're dealing with, and they'll stop at nothing to keep Linwell from talking. We've got to use Harold as a decoy. That's one sure way to catch a crook. Throw right back at him the thing he wants most. It's a very old method of criminology to allow a man to go free of men trailing. He'll always give himself away. Just as this crowd will give themselves away by trying to kidnap Harold when they think he's alone. I see. I'm really worried about it, though. Please don't be. Because the case against them is really broken anyway. All we want is a chance to catch them on one more counter, a serious one, and it'll be all over. What do you mean, sir, the case is really broken? Yes, I was going to tell you about that. We found out what caused the crash during Linwell's test flight. Oh, you have? Lee, did you hear that? You bet I did. Well, what was it? These same men, Yorga and his crowd, weren't able to break Guy Linwell down into accepting a $10,000 bribe to make a forced landing. But they did break down one of the mechanics. How do you know that? Because we broke him down, too. One of the last men to see that bomber before Linwell took off was a mechanic who made some last-minute check-ups. After about eight hours of solid grilling, he finally confessed to accepting $5,000 to fix the ignition so the plane would crash just as Linwell had it over the vacant field. Well, how in the world could he do that? Well, yes, sir. I mean, if he did anything to the ignition at all, I don't see why it wouldn't have missed fire before he took off. Didn't Mr. Linwell warm up the plane before he went up? You're quite right. He did. But this mechanic had a little gadget, a little piece of equipment on the thermostatic principle. We found it later, rather the remains of it in the plane. It was no larger than a matchbox, and it was so regulated that after the engine had been warmed up for about 10 minutes, the thermostat would open up with the heat of the engine and cut the ignition. That's horrible. It's a miracle Linwell wasn't killed. I can't imagine a citizen of this country doing a thing like that, especially to someone he knew as well as Guy Linwell. Well, that is hard to understand, but this man has a wife and three children, Captain. And Jorger had not only offered the mechanic $5,000 to do the job, but threatened his family if he didn't do it. Well, it was just too much for the fellow. He couldn't withstand the temptation of the money, and when he thought his family might be harmed, he failed. Oh, that's a shame. Yes, it is. He's got a long, long prison sentence to serve now. We haven't publicized that story yet because we still want Jorger's crowd to think the focal point of their plan right now is Linwell. I understand that. But by this time tomorrow, the whole world will know the story. Then, of course, there's no suspicion placed on Linwell. Oh, of course not. We knew all along he didn't have anything to do with it, but we were stymied for a while until we found that thermostatic gadget. Yes, I imagine. Oh, excuse me. Come in. Oh, McLeod, come in. Thank you, Captain. Thank you. Mr. McLeod, this is Mr. Wallace and Mr. Taylor, two government men who are here on the Linwell case. Yes. How do you know? Oh, thank you kindly. Mr. McLeod, I'll come right to the point. Right to the point. Yes, sir. Tell me, did you have an opportunity to see the paper or papers that Jorger put in that envelope in your store? Jorger? Oh, that's the man's name? Yes, yes. Alexander Jorger. Oh, I see. Well, were you able to see the papers, Mr. McLeod? Oh, the papers. Oh, yes. Well, no, I'll tell you. You mind it was a bit dark in my place right at the moment. It was after four o'clock again, and I didn't hear the lift turned on yet, so I really didn't get a very good look at the paper or papers. Well, was there writing on them? Writing. Oh, yes, there was writing. I imagine there were about three or four sheets of paper, and Dr. Zohler was writing on both sides of all of them. Yes. I see. What kind of paper was it, Mac? Kind. Yes. Let me think. Well, as far as I can recollect, it had lines on it, ruled lines, and it was long, like a legal document. Like a legal document? Well, did you have a chance to see the address you wrote on the envelope? A address. Well, I knew you'll pardon me, Mr. Wallace, but I didn't think it would be very courteous of me to peer into a man's private affairs. Of course, I had no idea at that time what the man was. I merely looked upon him as another customer. Yes, for sure. I understand perfectly. Thank you. Tell me, Mac, is there a back room in your store? Back room. There is. Quite a large one it is. That's where I do my experiments. Experiments? Mac is working out a new invention with chemicals, Mr. Wallace. Oh, I see. Well, Mac, would it be all right if I stationed one of my men there tomorrow morning? One of your men? Of course, but there's really not a thing there that would interest Mr.... What's his name? Yorga. No, no, I know that, Mac. But we have a plan, which I'll explain to you later, in which we expect to lure Mr. Yorga and his playmates into trying to kidnap Harold Linwell. One of the places Harold is going to stop is your store. Oh, I see. I understand perfectly. Of course, you can take over my entire establishment if you like. Well, that won't be necessary, but thanks for your cooperation. That's perfectly all right. For Harold or any of the boys at Fair Oaks, I'd do anything. If it would save Harold and his father, I'd burn the place down. That's a spirit. Thank you very much. Well, now, boys, let's start in on our little rehearsal. See if you can tell me what the plan is for tomorrow. You first, Jerry. Yes, sir. Well, first, what time is this to start, Mr. Wallace? I'm not quite sure yet until after I talk with my men who are coming in tonight, but I'll get word to Captain Gardner and he can tell you. Oh, yeah, OK, thanks. Well, first, we'll go over to Mac. Oh, excuse me. Hello? Yes, Mr. Linwell? Oh, it's Harold's dad. What? When? We'll be right over. Yes, wait right there. What's wrong, Mr. Wallace? Mr. Linwell just told me that Harold has disappeared. He's just disappeared.