Tom returned the piece of gold to allay any suspicion. “You agreed to the deal?” he asked.
“Do I look like a fool? If this gold is from the Centurion, as I suspect, it is far too hot to handle. Also I feared the double-cross.”
“So you decided to double-cross him first.”
The man shrugged. “He never kept our second appointment, so I figure he went back to America. Then I read that your sister was in Paris, so I thought why not offer this information to Tom Swift for a modest reward?”
THE SECRET CRYPT 123
“Your Information won’t do me much good unless I can find that American,”
Tom pointed out.
“Naturally.” The man turned back his coat collar, displaying a cleverly rigged lapel camera. “That is why I took his picture. In my business it pays to be most careful.” He took a photographic print out of his pocket and handed it to Tom.
“There is an enlargement.”
Tom gasped. The photo was of Tristan Carlowl
“You know him, monsieur?” When Tom nodded, the informer smiled confidently and stood up. “When and if I read that the Centurion’s cargo has been recovered, I shall contact you in America and claim my ten-thousand-dollar reward-6 ien?”
Before Tom could stop him, the man disappeared into the passing crowd.
Tom paid the check and returned to the hotel in a taxi. Bud and the girls were amazed when they heard his story.
“Does this mean you’ll go back home and concentrate on investigating Carlow?” Phyl asked.
Tom shook his head. “Could be that’s what someone wants me to do. But I think we’ll go ahead with our visit to Vaxilis. I feel sure he figures in the Centurion sinking.”