Tom was sure Whaley meant the gravitex stabilizers, but he did not mention the invention by name, since it might give the prisoner information which he had been seeking.
“Did you need a time bomb to steal two machines?” Bud demanded hotly.
160 COSMIC ASTRONAUTS
“That wasn’t meant to hurt anyone!” Whaley insisted shrilly. “I didn’t want you to find out I took the machines. By blowing up the boat, the bomb would’ve destroyed all traces of the robbery.”
“And us with it, most likely!” Bud glared at the prisoner.
Tom briefed the two officers on the background of the case. Then he suddenly turned back to Whaley. “Now tell us how you first hooked up with Li Ching!”
“L-L-Li Ching?” Whaley’s face paled. “I’ve never heard of such a guy!”
“Oh no?” Tom’s eyes blazed. “I suppose you’ve never heard of the Sea Charger, either?”
Whaley licked his lips nervously and broke into vehement denials. Tom hammered away with questions but could learn nothing more.
Shortly a police patrol launch arrived on the scene. Whaley and Wixman were transferred aboard, both under arrest.
As Tom thanked the two police frogmen, one said, “We’ll question the prisoners further at headquarters, and the chief will let you know if we learn anything.”
“And it might be a good idea to notify the FBI,” Tom suggested. “They may have some questions of their own to ask Whaley.”
“We’ll do that.”
THE COSMIC SAILER 161
Tom and Bud sailed the Sunspot back toward the picnic site. En route, they talked about Whaley’s capture.
“He sure seemed scared when you mentioned Li Ching,” Bud remarked.
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127