“Turnbull thought of everything,” their prisoner explained. “The banks chosen to be robbed would always be near a river and the robot would disappear into the water and walk under the surface to a secret meeting place miles away. You know how fast those things can go if you want them to. Then he’d come up and we’d get the money.”
Astounded at the disclosure, Tom felt that he should get in touch with his father at once. But first he must learn all he could from the prisoner.
“The prof was teaching my friends and me a lot of scientific stuff,” said the ex-convict, smirking. “He
THE MASKED INTRUDER 169
showed us how to use all sorts of small machines like the monochromatic infrared beamer you took away from me. That gimmick I took out of the vent upstairs is a new type of electrical control button. A swivel switch, he calls it.”
Tom examined the gadget. Its sliding segment enabled the single button to do the work normally accomplished by an entire bank of toggle switches.
“I was supposed to hold on to it until Turnbull came to my house,” Steck explained.
“And just where is that?” asked Radnor.
The gangster grew sullen. “I’ve told you all I’m going to tell you.”
“Why did you tell us this much?” Bud asked, puzzled.
Steck was silent for a few seconds. Then he took a deep breath. “The reason I told you all this,” he said, “is because you got nothing to hold me on. And furthermore, I’m through with Robert Turnbull. I think the guy’s nuts. He’s got a twin who’s crazy, but I think Robert’s worse.”