104 3-D TELEJECTOR
which had been flung over a workbench nearby-, and pulled out Fred Flamm’s cigarette lighter.
“Where’d you get this?” Bud asked.
“From Gus Miller. It belonged to his partner.” Tom explained the hunch that had come to him the night before. “The new diner at Fernwood may serve a double purpose. Our enemy may expect that a lot of our rocket crewmen will eat there and members of the gang can pick up information.”
Tom showed Bud the letter Q stamped on the lighter and added, “Maybe all the gang carry these lighters as identification. If you hang around the diner and let people see this, you might stumble onto something.”
“Hey! That’s an idea, Tom!”
Bud drove to the diner in Fernwood and ordered dinner. As he waited to be served, he toyed with the lighter. The diner soon filled with people, many of them crewmen from the Fearing Island base. But Bud noticed no one who looked suspicious.
Bud ate his meal slowly. A young rocketeer, Bob Jeffers, came up to his table. “Hi, Buddy boy! Mind if I join you?”
“My pleasure, pal. Sit down.”
After finishing his meal, Bud lingered and began to toy with the lighter which lay on the table. Bud flicked it on and off as he chatted with Bob. His eyes strayed about the room.
Suddenly a stranger in a booth nearby noticed A MYSTERIOUS INTRUDER 105
the lighter. Bud saw a startled look come over his face. The man was huskily built, had wavy dark hair, and wore an unzipped leather jacket.
Bud watched him and kept fingering the lighter. The man glanced up and met Bud’s eyes. He flushed, got up abruptly, flung some coins on the table, and strode out of the diner.
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