The thought of Flambo’s ruby tie clasp flickered through Tom’s mind as he finally dozed off.
When he told the others at breakfast about Mirza’s breaking into the studio, Sandy exclaimed, “And to think it might have been my ring he was trying to steal!”
Bud lifted a forkful of bacon and eggs. “Maybe he’s the Thief of Bagdad.”
Sandy, who was just
THE CURSE OF SHAITAN 53
finishing her orange juice, choked and sputtered with laughter.
Bud slapped her vigorously on the back, then turned to Tom. “Seriously, skipper, I warned you that creep and his boss were up to no good!”
“I guess you’re right,” Tom conceded.
Later that morning a second phone call from Taos informed Tom that Flambo had arrived on schedule in New York. “But Mirza was not with him,” Garth added.
“How come?” Tom asked.
“Flambo told the police that just before taking off from Albuquerque, Mirza had informed him he was quitting his job and refused to accompany Flambo on the flight back. Apparently Flambo was angry at his employee. He stated that he knew nothing about Mirza’s present whereabouts and cared less.”
“That clears Flambo of suspicion-if he’s telling the truth,” Tom mused.
“Thanks for letting me know, Mr. Garth.”
“Don’t mention it. And please tell your sister I’ll have the new setting for her ruby ready on Monday.”
Tom soon forgot about Mirza and the attempted burglary as he plunged back to work in his laboratory. A study of the new element’s atomic structure had sparked a different train of thought.
“Why think in terms of a metal for the cap—
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