“I’m afraid so, Sis,” Tom replied. “Probably by some competitor of Enterprises who thought he might learn valuable secrets by tuning in your conversations with Bud and me or Dad.”
A MYSTERIOUS GIFT 19
Sandy looked crestfallen, but Bud tactfully declared, “What a low-down trick!
How long a range would it have, Tom?”
His friend shrugged. “This transmitter looks powerful. It might transmit up to ten miles.”
The young inventor conjectured that the sender either had planned to shadow Sandy in order to listen in, or had planted an amplifying relay transmitter between Enterprises and the Swifts’ home.
“Mind if I turn this over to Security for further examination, Sis?” Tom asked.
“Keep it.” Sandy sighed regretfully.
After the girls left, Tom phoned Security and asked Phil Radnor, Ames’s assistant, to make a thorough investigation. Soon a security guard arrived to pick up the bracelet.
Meanwhile, the boys resumed their vigil for news from Nestria. At last Tom could stand the suspense no longer.
“Come on, Bud! Let’s grab a jet for Fearing-”
He broke off as the phone rang. Tom snatched it up. The radio operator on duty at the communications center was calling urgently.
“Just had a short-wave police message, skipper, warning our plant security to be on the alert. Someone’s coming to Enterprises to kill you!”
CHAPTER III
THE GATE-CRASHER
“TO KILL me!” Tom could hardly believe the message. “What’s this all about, Sparks?”
“Frankly, I don’t know,” the operator replied. “The police dispatcher was in a hurry, so that’s all we got. I suppose it might be some sort of crazy false alarm, but I hope you won’t take any chances I”