A few minutes later a mustached man appeared at the door, and as Bud glanced questioningly at the reporter, he nodded slightly.
“That’s the one!” Landry whispered.
The man walked to another booth and in a moment a waiter brought him coffee and buns. Presently another man, tall and heavy-set, entered the restaurant. At a nod from Landry, Koos followed close behind and seated himself at a table only a few feet from the foreigners’ booth. As before, the waiter brought buns and coffee to the second stranger. Koos ordered the same.
Bud suggested to Ames that they follow the men when they left. But Landry tried to dissuade him.
“You’d better wait and hear what Koos has to say before you get into trouble.”
Bud agreed that it was sound advice, but planned to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. He ordered a sandwich and milk.
It was only a matter of minutes before the suspect OPERATION SHUTTLE 137
pair rose and left. Koos immediately headed for Bud’s table.
“I understood them all right,” he began in a low voice. “The one who came in first was very happy because the Swifts had not denied the story he had given Landry. He feels sure Tom really was in the lost rocket!
“The big fellow,” Koos went on, “told the other that Rotzog thinks he can smash any American effort to launch a rocket, now that Tom Swift Jr. is gone!”
“What!” Bud cried, sliding out of the booth so fast he knocked over his empty milk glass.
With Ames at his heels, Bud rushed outside to question the Rotzog men further. But they were not in sight. Bud concluded that the two had ridden off in a car which was traveling down the street at a fast clip. Realizing that he and Ames could not overtake it in traffic, Bud returned to the restaurant with his friend.