Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 14 – And His Electronic Retroscope

“May I ask who is in charge here, senores?” he inquired in English.

“I am,” Tom replied. “My name is Tom Swift Jr. and these men are all members of my expedition. We’re from the United States.”

“I am Jefe Luis Rodriguez of the Yucatan State Policia,” the police chief said in a coldly official tone. “Your papers, please.”

Tom handed over the documents. The jefe scrutinized these for a moment, then said, “Native gossip has it that a group of Americans are disturbing the valuable Mayan ruins in these parts. Are you the ones?”

“I’ve examined some relics, if that’s what you mean,” Tom admitted. “You see, I’ve invented a new type of camera which reveals the original carvings on stone and also the age of any inscription. However, we haven’t begun digging yet, although we intend to.”

“By whose permission?” Rodriguez snapped in an unfriendly manner.

Tom, who was accustomed to pleasant, courteous treatment from the Mexican authorities, was amazed. “Our trip was arranged through the University of Mexico and your aduana, as you can see from our identification papers,” Tom explained.

“These papers state merely that you are to fly several Mayas back to your country for a medical

POLICE QUIZ 145

research project,” Rodriguez said. “They do not mention any archaeological work.”

“I’m sorry. I should have made that clear,” Tom said politely. “The Mayas have already been flown to the United States. Permission to excavate the local ruins was arranged after we arrived here. Serior Marco Barancos of the Institute of Anthropology and History in Yucatan is coming to supervise our work.”