Suddenly he saw something that made him freeze in his tracks. Marco was tiptoeing out of the Swifts’ private office, his left arm wrapped tightly around the silver model of Tom’s Sky Queen!
CHAPTER 12
THE SECRET RECORDER
“MARCO!” Tom shouted. “Stop!”
It was a strict rule that nothing was to be removed from the Swifts’ private office and Tom was at a loss to know why it had been disobeyed.
“Where are you taking that model?” Tom demanded.
The watchman gave a start, nearly dropping the replica of the Flying Lab.
“Why-er-you’re back,” he stammered.
“What are you doing with the model, I asked,” Tom persisted.
“Why-uh-I’ve always admired it, Tom.” The man hesitated. “That’s why I have it now.”
Tom was blunt. “What do you mean?”
“I was going to give it a thorough cleaning.”
“A cleaning!” Tom was genuinely puzzled. Was Marco sincere? As far as the young inventor knew,
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the watchman was trustworthy. “You always dust it in the office, don’t you?”
“Why, yes. But this time I wanted to get it extra clean. I-I wanted to make the surface clear before varnishing the wings.”
“I see,” Tom replied. “Don’t bother to do it now, Marco. Please put the model back on my desk.”
“All right,” Marco agreed, and turned and walked slowly back to the office, cradling the silver wings in his arms.
“I do believe I frightened the poor man,” Tom thought, as he looked for the drawing which he had come back to get. “Still, it’s strange that he would deliberately break a rule.” Tom stared at the model. “And it doesn’t need varnishing. Now why-”