“You boys hit the road again and see if you can locate those guards,”
Captain Rock told one patrol-car crew. “I’ll be here at Enterprises for a few minutes longer.”
The tall, broad-shouldered captain accompanied Tom, Bud, and Ames to the security office. Here he gave them the full story of the threatened attack on Tom’s life.
“It was a gas-station attendant who phoned in the first alarm,” Captain Rock reported. “I took the call and decided to check it out myself, since you’re a pretty important wheel in our national space effort, Tom.”
“Thanks,” Tom said with a slightly embarrassed grin. “How did the gas-station attendant know about the threat?”
26 THE ASTEROID PIRATES
“He said this Oriental fellow had stopped at his station to inquire the way to Enterprises,” Rock replied. “The attendant thought something was wrong because the guy’s manner seemed kind of wild and distraught. Then, a minute or so after he’d left, another car pulled in, with two men in it.”
“The guards?” said Ames.
Captain Rock nodded. “They told the attendant they were pursuing an escaped mental patient -an Oriental with some kind of mad grudge against Tom Swift. They figured he was heading for Swift Enterprises to kill Tom. The attendant told them the way the Oriental had gone, and they took off. Soon afterward, the attendant heard gunshots. That’s when he called the State Police.”
“The hospital guards were armed?” Tom asked in surprise.
“They probably got permission because of this emergency,” said Captain Rock.
“What institution did he break out of?” Ames queried.
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