Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 23 – And His Aquatomic Tracker

“We’ve phoned him, but no one answers. Radnor is on his way out to Feasler’s house.”

“I sure hope Dan’s all right,” Tom said worriedly. “That guy probably took his amulet by force. Then he must have gotten in by scaling the plant wall, knowing the amulet would protect him from our warning system.”

Ames nodded. “It’s a cinch he came here intending to kill you, skipper.

Luckily he mistook that wax figure for the real Tom Swift.”

Next morning Tom learned that Dan Feasler had been found by a police car.

He had been robbed of his amulet at gunpoint, knocked out, MYSTERY MILLIONAIRE 105

and dragged into an alley. Tom, acting on a hunch, drove Hank Sterling to Shopton Police Headquarters to view the prisoner in his cell.

“He’s the shark man, all right,” Hank said.

The prisoner stared back in sullen silence.

“That makes three raps you’ll be facing,” said Chief Slater, who had accompanied Tom and Hank to the cellblock. “Spying on a government restricted area, felonious assault, and attempted murder. Better start talking, mister, or we’ll throw the book at you.”

“I told you before I’ve got nothing to say.”

Tom and Hank drove back to Enterprises.

“Do you suppose he’s keeping his lip zipped to protect someone, skipper?”

Hank asked.

Tom shook his head. “More likely he’s protecting himself. I feel certain that he’s not the brains behind all this, Hank. I think someone paid him, and now he’s afraid to squeal for fear of that person’s vengeance later on.”

At the plant, Ames greeted Tom with exciting news. “I just got a cable from Italy, skipper. The police over there have traced that underwater lamp you found.