“Okay, if you say so, Tom.” Suddenly Gus brightened. “Say, when you mentioned clues jest now, that reminded me o’ somethin’!”
Gus got up from the booth and hurried into the back room. When he emerged, he was polishing something with a dish towel.
“Flamm left this on the counter one day an’ I forgot all about it when Mr.
Ames an’ the police was here.” Gus handed Tom a cigarette lighter shaped like a tiny automatic pistol. “I got it greasy back there in the kitchen, but I guess it’s all wiped off.”
“Well, there goes any chance of fingerprints,” Tom thought wryly. He snapped the flame on and off, then turned the lighter over. Suddenly he noticed a letter Q stamped in the metal on the bottom-the same letter Sturko had scrawled!
“Thanks a lot, Gus.” Tom slipped the lighter into his pocket. “This may be important.”
The next morning Tom arose before the rest of the family, and cooked his own breakfast. He was just setting the dishes in the sink when the telephone rang. The caller was Arv Hanson.
96 3-D TELEJECTOR
“Sorry to bother you at this hour, skipper,” Arv apologized, “but I … I feel terrible… . Could you give me a lift to the infirmary?”
His voice sounded so weak that Tom was alarmed. “Stay put, Arv-in fact, get back to bed. I’ll be there in a jiffy!”
He phoned Doc Simpson, then dashed out to the garage and was soon speeding off in his sleek silver sports car. Arv Hanson lived by himself in a cottage on Lake Carlopa. Doc arrived there by ambulance moments after Tom.
While the medic hurried to examine the sick man, Tom went outside to wait.
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