Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 20 – And His Megascope Space Prober

Phyl had a suggestion. “Don’t you think we should play safe and ask for a police escort to the field, Tom?”

He agreed and beckoned to the waiter. As Tom paid the bill, he queried the waiter about the man who had given him the note.

“To tell you the truth, sir, I never saw him before,” the waiter replied. “He wasn’t one of the guests.”

“What did he look like?” Bud persisted.

Again the waiter was unable to give much information. “The man just slipped me the note when I was standing near the door. I hardly got a look at him.” About the only description the waiter could offer was that the man was of medium build.

34 MEGASCOPE SPACE PROBER

Tom asked to see the manager and explained the situation quickly, requesting the man to call Captain Rock at the nearby State Police barracks.

Twenty minutes later a highway patrol car with two troopers pulled up outside the inn.

Corporal Gibbons, who had met Tom before, listened to his story and asked to see the warning note. “Do any of you recognize this writing?” Gibbons asked after reading the message.

Tom shook his head. Bud and the girls were also unable to identify it.

“Okay, we’ll run it through the test lab and send a copy to your security department, Tom,” Gibbons promised.

“One other thing,” Tom said, handing over the rental-car notice. “This card is printed, but it’s not a neat job-as if someone ran it off in a hurry on a hand press.

How about checking on the phone number?”

The corporal nodded. “Good idea.”

He gave the number to the police dispatcher over his car radio, then the group started off down the mountain road. The summer evening was beautiful, with a fresh breeze blowing through the pines. But the young couples were too worried to enjoy the ride.