“This second man-the one in the back seat-can you describe him?” Chief Slater asked.
Mr. Wumbe thought for a moment. “He is young, muscular looking, and wore a blue suit with an open-necked shirt.”
Ames turned to Kwanu. “What about the briefcase? Did it contain any scientific secrets or other valuable information?”
The Ngombian official shrugged. “Valuable to my people and my country, yes. But the information would be worth nothing to an outsider.”
“Do you think someone from your country may have been behind the plot?” Chief Slater asked Kwanu.
“Yes, it seems the only answer. You see, we have suffered much political turmoil since we gained our independence, and there are certain factions which would like to block Ngombia’s economic progress. I assure you that my embassy will not make a diplomatic incident of what happened today.”
A HURTLED WARNING 23
Tom exchanged a look of relief with Ames and Slater.
“Thank you for taking that attitude, sir,” said the police chief. “We’ll make every effort to run down the guilty persons.”
As the group was leaving the hospital, Chief Slater was called to the phone. After a few minutes’ conversation, he rejoined the others. “The kidnap car has just been found abandoned,” he informed them. “It checks with a car that was reported stolen. The kidnappers probably took it to pull this job.”
Ames speculated that the criminals could have transferred to another car and thus slipped through the roadblocks unnoticed.
Tom flew the Ngombians and Ames in the atomicar back to Enterprises. Here they gathered around the conference table in the Swifts’ office.
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