It was the older woman, however, who stepped in and took charge of the situation. "We've got to do something about this," she said.

  "I'll say we have," Ostrander said. "If anyone has discovered where Rob buried that dope ... Well, we've got to stand by him,

  and we've got to find out how the dope came to be concealed in the car in the first place."

  Linda Carroll moved forward, put her hand on Rob's arm. "Rob," she said, "please forgive me ... 1 tried to keep you from finding out where 1 was ... 1 wanted to call on you, not have you call on me, and that was the reason Aunt Linda ..."

  "1 see," Rob said, stiffly. "If you wanted to take Merton into your confidence, but arrange with your aunt to have me kept in the dark, I suppose that's your privilege."

  "But Rob," she said miserably, "I didn't take Merton into my confidence. Merton did the same thing you did, only he. . well, he had more luck than you did. When he came here ... well, it was shortly after you had left here, and Aunt Linda had telephoned me and told me all about you being here and about the fact that you had said the car had been stolen and ... well, I was nervous and upset and 1 decided to come here and talk with her, and Merton happened to get here shortly before I did. Aunt Linda made short work of him. She told him the same story she'd told you, but as Merton went out he ..." She laughed and said, "Well, he had a break, that's all. He met me coming in."

  "You don't have to explain," Rob said with dignity.

  "Rob Trenton, don't you dare be like that!" she flared. "Naturally, having been caught red-handed we owed Merton a sort of explanation.

  "I had a dinner date for this evening, but I told Merton that if he wanted I d meet him here tomorrow. I told him that I'd talk with him then and explain. 1 arrived here about eleven-thirty, and - well, Merton showed up about ten minu;es after I arrived. He got Aunt Linda Mae out of bed He _ame on the bus, and the; last bus back had left we'] Aunt 1 nda offered him the guest; room, and that's all there is to tell. On, Rob, why do you put me-in such a position that 1 have to lell you all these things now?

  "Aunt Linda Mae had offered Merton a room for overnight, but I'd been furiously angry at him. And now you come with all this ... and it seems we're all three of us in a mess ..."

  .Ostrander interposed with a practical suggestion. "Look," he said, "let's forget the personalities, and forgo the dramatics. There isn't one -chance in ten thousand that Rob Trenton has done anything that was illegal or dishonourable. And he hasn't dragged us in. If dope was concealed in the Rapidex sedan, we're in already. Now let5s make up our minds that we're all going to stand together on this thing."

  "1 don't want any help from anyone," Rob said. "All 1 want is to know the facts, and then I'll paddle my own canoe."

  "The facts!" Ostrander exclaimed in surprise. "Why you told us the facts. Someone got hold of this automobile and used it as a means of getting dope smuggled into the country."

  "I've been reading something about schemes of this sort," Linda said. "But I never thought I'd be mixed up in such a deal. It's a new development in smuggling. Nowadays a great many tourists are taking their own cars over to Europe with them. It's become quite a racket for garage employees to stand in with dope smugglers. When a car is left in a garage overnight, or perhaps stored for a day or two, the garage men get in touch with the head of the smuggling ring. From then on it's easy.

  "The smuggling gang even furnishes its own mechanics. They're expert welders and they have receptacles that go on the car in places where no one would ever think to look. But even if anyone did look it would seem to be just a part of the car - something that had been installed when the car was built. No one even thinks that it might be a receptacle for anything. It's just a bulge in the frame where room was made for some revolving part or something of that sort.

  "Then the smugglers take the licence of the car, the registration, and after that they don't even need to follow the car

  around Europe. All they need to do is to wait until the car is loaded for shipment. Then they advise their accomplices in this country, who wait until the car is first put in a garage and then the drugs are removed and no one is ever the wiser.

  "That's the way it would have been with my car, only because of that blowout, Rob found and removed the part that had the drugs before the smugglers could get to the car."

  Ostrander nodded. "Yes, we can see that all right, now. But the point is that Rob should have telephoned the State Police. That's where he's in bad. He should have reported finding the dope."

  "1... well, I wanted to talk with Linda before I did anything," Rob said.

  Their silence was a mute indication of their disapproval.

  "Not that 1 thought she was mixed up in smuggling, or anything like that," Rob hastened to add, "but... well, it was her car and ... 1 thought she should know about it. I thought it would be a lot better if she telephoned the police."

  "Well, anyway," Ostrander said cheerfully, "that's all water under the bridge. Now let's use our heads on this thing. How much have you handled that gun, Rob?"

  "Why? 1 took it, put it in my pocket, and 1 fired it twice."

  "Well," Ostrander said, "there may be a fingerprint of the smuggler on it. Something like that might well be damaging evidence. Let's put this gun under lock and key. Then let's back this car you grabbed into the driveway. As soon as it gets daylight we'll drive up and locate the place where this houseboat was tied up. We'll make a survey of the extent of the damage and then we'll notify the pohce."

  "Why not notify them right now?" Rob asked.

  Ostrander shook his head and smiled. "Let's see if we can't all keep out of it," he said. "After all, Rob, you haven't the faintest j

  scintilla of proof at the present time. You've got to get some sort of evidence. You owe that to yourself - to Linda."

  "The police can see where that cup-shaped thing was welded Oi to Linda's car."

  "Sure," Merton said. "But where's Linda's car? And how are you going to convince anyone you didn't weld that thing on?"

  Rob was silent.

  "Her car may be anywhere," Ostrander pointed out. "It may be out of the state or in the bottom of the river. You've reported the theft to the police."

  "But," Rob said, "my place is being watched and ..."

  "Sure, your place is being watched," Merton Ostrander said. "You're not going back there. You can't afford to let the police grab you until you have enough evidence to clear yourself. You can't get evidence while you're in jail. And once the police get you in jail they'll only look for evidence that will hook you. But if we can keep you in the clear, the police may get evidence that'll lead 'em to this gang of smugglers."

  He turned and looked significantly at the older woman.

  "Oh, all right," she said, laughing. "There's another spare room that has a bed in it. It's not as comfortable as the guest room, but it'll do."

  "All right," Ostrander said. "Let's lock up this gun, keep a record of the numbers, and preserve what fingerprints may be left on it. Tomorrow we'll give the police an anonymous tip that the houseboat was the headquarters of a gang of smugglers. That's all we can do. Rob didn't notify the police because he wanted to protect us. Let's now try to protect him."

  With quick competence he examined the gun, counted the shells, noted the numbers.

  Linda Carroll's eyes were grateful as she looked at Merton Ostrander. "That's the only logical course, Merton," she said.

  "Well, young man, come on," the aunt said. "Let's get bedded down and get some sleep. You look as though you could use a few hours ... and a good hot bath."

  "1 hate to impose on you," Rob said.

  "No, it's all right. Linda is always getting herself involved in some sort of a scrape or other."

  "This isn't my scrape, Auntie," Linda said, laughing.

  "Come on, young man," the aunt said. "And I'm going to call you Rob. Now you can call me Linda Mae. My niece is plain Linda. She doesn't have any middle name. Come on, let's try getting a little sleep.

  "Merton, we're going to lock that gun up. Here, put it in this desk. All right, now you keep the key.

  "Rob, come with me. You're going to get a good bath and then some sleep. You certainly look as though you could use both!"

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Rob felt that he would never be able to sleep but the relaxing effect of the warm bath, the glass of hot milk Linda Mae brought him, and the sheer mental and nervous fatigue, caused him to sink into deep slumber within ten minutes of the time he placed his head on the pillow.

  He was wakened in the morning by sunshine filtering through lace curtains, striking his eyelids and bringing him back to blurred consciousness.

  For a few moments he lay in the delightful warmth of the bed, wondering vaguely where he was, and then suddenly, with realisation dawning upon him there was a sense of apprehension as he wondered how he could ever have slept so well with so much at stake.

  His head felt heavy from the effects of the beating he had received.

  Lobo, who had been lying in the corner with his head on his paws, watching Rob's eyes with unwinking scrutiny, waiting for his master to waken, whimpered with eagerness, got to his feet and moved over to the bed, nuzzling Rob's hand.

  The realisation of the dog's presence there in the room suddenly brought Rob back to a sense of his obligations. He looked at his watch, saw that it was past eight o'clock and jumped out of bed. Instantly his muscles, sore from the kicks he had received, registered a protest, but he managed to dress, ran

  132

  regretful fingers over the growth of stubble on his face and opened the door. The aroma of bacon and coffee came up from the lower floor.

  Rob ran stiffly down the stairs and in the kitchen found Linda Mae, attired in her housedress, glasses well down on the tip of her nose, frying bacon.

  She heard Rob walk in, pushed the glasses back up on her nose with the tip of her right forefinger and surveyed him speculatively.

  "Well!" she said.

  Rob said, "1 haven't any razor. I'm afraid I look disreputable, and I'm hungry."

  "Don't tell me your symptoms," she snapped. "There's a dozen eggs over there. Break them into that bowl and add half a cup of cream, then beat them all up. We're going to have scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and coffee. You can get busy and help things along."

  "I thought we were going to get an early start," Rob said. "I'm afraid I overslept."

  "Nothing to break our necks about," she said.

  "That car," Rob said. "Despite the fact that..."

  "Don't you worry about that car, young man. After you went to bed, I had Merton Ostrander drive it up the street half a dozen blocks and leave it in a parking place in front of the Midget Market. It won't attract any attention there. Last place on earth anyone would think of looking for a car. Besides, as Ostrander pointed out, those crooks aren't going to claim the car was stolen. And it may have been their car. Come on, now, get busy with those eggs. What are you going to do with the dog?"

  "I'll let him out in the back yard, if I may."

  "He won't run away?"

  Rob smiled and shook his head.

  "All right. Go ahead then." "How about the others?" Rob asked.

  "Linda's up and I heard Merton Ostrander stirring around up there. What do you think of him, young man?"

  . "Who?"

  "You know who. Merton Ostrander."

  "He seems to be very ... very competent," Rob said.

  "He seems to have a way of taking everything for granted - and getting away with it," Linda Mae said. "You'd get along better if you weren't so anxious to be fair all the time. Why don't you try a masterful approach some time? Come on now, put your dog out, and get those eggs broken ... and if you handle that dog, wash your hands over there in the sink before you start cooking. I don't want dog hairs all over my food."

  Rob let Lobo out the back door for a few minutes, returned, washed his hands at the sink and started helping with the breakfast.

  Linda joined them a few minutes later and then Merton Ostrander came in to say affably, "How's everything this morning with all the conspirators? I have a safety razor up there, Rob, if you want to remove the disguise."

  "That'll be swell," Rob said.

  "After breakfast," Linda Mae said, "we're leaving. We won't stop to clean up."

  "I understand you moved the car," Rob said to Merton Ostrander. "I'm sorry I bothered you."

  "No bother at all," Merton told him. "Just ran it down to a parking place at a market Linda Mae told me about and left the keys in the ignition. I was back here while you were still in the tub. I think Linda Mae is a pretty good conspirator. The fact that the keys are still in the car will make it appear the owner has just dashed into the market."

  Linda Mae pointed her sharp nose at him. "Well, I'll tell you one thing, young man, I'd be a lot smarter than some of the people 1 read about if I should decide to commit a crime. You read the newspapers and see the dumb things they do. It makes me tired to hear the way police brag in the papers, when anybody with any sense can see it was the crooks who were dumb."

  She kept her nose pointed at Merton Ostrander. "1 might even turn out to be a better detective than I would a mastermind crook. Don't be so glib when it comes to putting women in a classification. You might get fooled."

  Her eyes seemed to mock him, but Merton Ostrander's assurance evaporated under her steady gaze. He became plainly embarrassed. "Yes, Ma'am," he said, with exaggerated deference.

  "You're inclined to have things altogether too much your own way with women," Linda Mae went on. "It makes you conceited, which doesn't hurt you a bit, and sure of yourself, which irritates me to death. It's a good thing I'm not younger and you were making passes at me. I'd take you down a peg or two."

  "Yes, Ma'am," Merton repeated, colouring slightly, and winking at the others.

  "We'd better get started," Rob pointed out. "Do we have a car?"

  Linda said, "1 have my convertible here."

  "I'd like to know what's going on at my place," Rob said. "I know for sure there were people there last night watching it."

  "Sure. The police want to nab you," Ostrander said. "And the crooks want you. You can't angle with a bunch of crooks like that without expecting them to do something about it."

  They made a lark of starting out on the trip. By daylight things seemed far more reassuring to Rob Trenton. Linda drove her convertible. Her aunt sat on her right in the front seat. Rob Trenton and Merton Ostrander occupied the rear seat, with Lobo over in a corner on a blanket which had been carefully tucked into the cushions.

  Merton Ostrander from time to time gave Rob low-voiced advice, apparently trying to keep Rob's spirits up. "Just sit tight," he said reassuringly. "Absolutely tight. Don't tell anyone anything. Don't admit anything. We'll get Linda's car back and we'll look over the place where they kept the houseboat. There's no need for you to tell the police anything at all about being kidnapped, about your adventures on that boat or anything of the sort. We'll get that houseboat located, and then we'll phone in an anonymous tip to the police."

  "Suppose someone should remember me at the pay station? Suppose ..."

  "They won't," Merton Ostrander said. "We'll pick out one of those booths that are out by the side of the road and I'll do the telephoning."

  It took them less than an hour to reach the big drawbridge across the river, then another two or three minutes brought Rob to the side road which led to the landing where the houseboat had been moored.

  "See," Ostrander said easily, "There's nothing to it. We're in another state. They don't even have a State Police system here. All we'll have to do is ring up the sheriff's office. Now let's not drive clean down to the landing, Rob, unless ..."

  The car rounded a curve and Rob saw the group of curious spectators gathered by the pier.

  "It's okay," Ostrander said reassuringly. "The fire has attracted a lot of people. Drive right up, Linda. We'll pretend we're just curiosity seekers wondering what it's all about. Everyone remember now, we were looking for a place to have a picnic. We saw the group of spectators and came over to see what was causing the excitement"

  Linda parked the car alongside dozens of others. They opened the d.jors, piled out and joined the fifty or sixty spectators who were surveying the scene in idle curiosity.

  Ostrander, genial, affable and a good mixer, circulated around and in a short time had the story. Police had baulked the efforts of a gang of smugglers. The houseboat which they used as a headquarters had been burned and the badly charred body of one unidentified man had been found aboard the burned boat. Police had apprehended at least one member of the gang and the sheriff and coroner were out on the boat making an inspection.

  The boat, charred and blackened, was aground on a sand spit on the opposite side of the river. While Rob was watching, men appeared on the boat, climbed into a rowboat and started rowing across the river, back towards the place where the houseboat had been moored.

  "Here comes the sheriff, the coroner, the deputy and the dope smuggler now," one of the local men said.

  Rob watched them rowing towards the shore. When they were thirty or forty yards away he recognised the handcuffed man as one of his captors, the man who had posed as the contractor at the bus station and lured him into the automobile.

  "Look here," Rob said to Ostrander, "I can identify that man. I'm really a material witness who would tie him up with the smugglers ..."

  "It'll keep," Ostrander assured him in a low voice. "Don't be so damn civic-minded. Later on your testimony may be necessary. Not now. You don't want to drag Linda into a mess of this sort. Just keep quiet. They haven't anything on you."

  Rob nodded dubious acquiescence.

  "Well, I'm not so sure," Linda Mae said thoughtfully. Then after a moment she nodded her head, and said, "Yes, I guess you're right, Merton. We can't afford to have Rob sacrifice himself just to make an identification."

  "The way I see it," Ostrander said, "the police have started off on the right trail now. They have one of the smugglers and they'll get a story out of him. They've located the houseboat and in no time at all now they'll have the whole story. If Rob can only keep out of circulation for a while he'll be sitting pretty. If he can't, why then his name will be smeared, and Linda's name will be dragged into it."