Chapter XIX THE MISSING PAPER *
The affairs of the filing office gradually returned to routine with Boband Tully once more at their desks. There was a tremendous amount of workto be done, for hundreds upon hundreds of papers had been removed fromtheir usual places in the melee of the night before. Bob realized that itwould take days for them all to be restored to their places and he ratherhoped, as he contemplated the long and tedious task, that his uncle wouldhave work for him to do that would take him outside the office.
As the afternoon waned Bob tried to analyze the character of the otherclerks in the office. He had known them casually for more than a yearnow, but until this time he had never really tried to probe into theirinner characters.
It was a task that he was particularly well fitted to do, for he had arare gift of discernment of character and anything untrue in anotherusually sounded an alarm bell in Bob's mind.
One by one he checked them off his list of possible suspects inconnection with the disappearance of the radio paper. Could one of themhave tipped off anyone outside? It was an unpleasant possibility, but Bobknew that in his new work he would be up against many unpleasant things.
The list narrowed down until Bob's eyes rested on Tully's broadshoulders. The other was hunched over his desk, apparently gazing througha nearby window and certainly not much concerned with the work on thedesk in front of him.
Was Tully linked up with the mystery? Could he have been the one insidewho had learned of the arrival of the precious paper and given theinformation to someone outside?
Bob didn't want to believe that, yet he had checked all of the others offhis list. His eyes rested on Arthur Jacobs, the filing chief. Could ithave been Jacobs? It was possible, but Bob scouted serious considerationof the thought, for Jacobs' heart was too much in his work and his pridewas too great for such a deed.
Bob felt up against a blank wall. It was his job to sit tight in theoffice on the supposition that someone inside must have given outinformation. He felt now that there was little chance that this had beenthe case. There were plenty of other loopholes for the information toleak out and Bob was convinced that it must have leaked before the papercame into the filing office.
At five o'clock the other clerks left their desks, but Tully, Bob and thefiling chief lingered in the office.
Jacobs spoke to Tully.
"I don't care what you're doing outside this office," he said, "but aslong as you're here and at your desk you'll have to work. I don't believeyou did five minutes work this afternoon."
Tully's eyes dropped and he studied the toes of his shoes. His voice washeavy when he spoke.
"I know I didn't get much work done," he said. "But I was so blamedexcited over being a federal agent and then trying to figure out how thisinformation could have leaked out. I'll be back to earth again tomorrow."
"I'm glad of that for we need your help in getting this mess straightenedout."
Tully nodded and went on, while Bob hesitated.
"I wanted just a word with you alone," he told the filing chief. "Ididn't say anything earlier, but I'm also working on this case as aprovisional federal agent. That means I'm on probation. If I make good onthis case there may be a permanent job waiting for me."
"I rather thought you might be," smiled Jacobs, "after Tully blurted outthat he was a special agent. I kind of put two and two together and itlooked like it would be mighty strange if Tully were selected and notyou."
"It may be necessary for me to be away from the office at various times,"went on Bob, "but if I can't get word to you, my uncle will see that youare advised."
"Anything that really looks like a clue turned up?" asked Jacobs.
Bob shook his head.
"Not as far as I know, and I guess if there had been I wouldn't be atliberty to tell you."
Jacobs put on his coat.
"Coming down tonight?"
"I've some routine I can get out of the way," replied Bob. "I'll havelunch nearby and will be able to get through in a couple of hours."
"I should come back, but I'm all in. Don't work too late."
The filing chief stepped out of the office and closed the door behind himand Bob was left alone in the long, high-ceilinged office. The room wasin heavy shadows already, for the day had been cloudy and twilight hadcome early. He turned on the light over his desk, decided that he washungry, snapped it off, put on his coat and left the office. At the doorhe turned and made sure that the room was securely locked. Then he walkedrapidly down the corridor, turned, and signalled for an elevator.
Bob was walking through the main doors when someone hailed him and he sawhis uncle.
"Going to eat?" asked Merritt Hughes.
"Just about half a ton of food," grinned Bob. "It seems ages since I hadanything, yet it was only a few hours ago."
"Charge that up to excitement," replied his uncle, as they strode alongtogether.
"Any news of the man who broke out of the police station?" There was areal note of anxiety in Bob's voice.
"Not a word. He must have been a magician. The police are still combingthe city, but I doubt if they'll find him. He belongs to too clever agang."
"But where could he hide so securely in Washington?"
"An embassy, possibly," shrugged the federal agent.
Bob's eyes widened. It had never occurred to him that a representative ofa foreign government would give shelter to a criminal. Yet he knew thatany one of half a dozen foreign powers would give a great deal to possessthe new radio secrets.
"Don't take that suggestion too seriously," warned Merritt Hughes, whoguessed the trend of Bob's thoughts.
He leaned closer to Bob. "This case is causing all kinds of trouble. Theentire War Department is in a furore and I hear special intelligenceofficers are being assigned to see if they can't ferret it out."
"Does that mean they don't think the Justice Department capable ofsolving the mystery?" asked Bob.
"Not exactly that, I guess. It simply means that this case is of suchtremendous importance that everything the government can do will be donein its solution."
They turned into a quiet restaurant and selected a table well to the rearwhere they could talk without danger of being overheard for there wereonly a few diners in the place.
"Have you seen Condon Adams?" asked Bob.
The federal agent shook his head.
"I hear he's having a pretty hard time of it. The chief had him in on thecarpet and gave him a going over for letting this fellow slip away fromhim. But it could have happened to anyone. If we'd gotten there firstinstead of Adams, we might have been the victims."
They ordered their dinners and Bob leaned across the table.
"I've been trying to figure out everyone in the office," he said, "and Ican't find a single one on whom you can pin any suspicion. The leak aboutthat paper must have come from outside before the paper reached us."
"That's possible," nodded his uncle.
"Remember that another office was rifled before our own was visited,"said Bob. "That should indicate that the marauder had none too clearinformation on where to look for the paper."
"Now you've hit a point I've been considering. The more I think about itthe more convinced I become that the leak came before the paper reachedyour filing room. That means our job will be complicated. Maybe we'll geta break one of these days."
Dinner was served and they ate heartily, ignoring for the time the casethat had enfolded both of them in its mysterious tangle.
The dinner at an end, Bob leaned back in his chair and shoved his handsin his coat pockets. The fingers of his right hand crinkled a stiff sheetof paper and he drew it out and placed it on the table.
It was not an unusual sheet, at first glance, being about eight incheswide and eleven inches long, but it was of heavy material, probably apure rag paper.
But it was not the paper that caught and held Bob's attention. It w
as thecrest of the War Department which was centered at the top of the page.
Merritt Hughes saw Bob staring at the paper and looked at his nephewcuriously.
"What's the matter, Bob? Forget to file something this afternoon?"
When Bob did not answer at once, he reached over and picked up the paper.It was his turn to stare at the sheet and his eyes widened as he lookedup at his nephew.
"Great heavens, Bob. Where did this come from?"
Bob shook his head.
"I haven't any idea. I put my hands in my pockets just now and the paperwas in the right hand pocket."
"But you know what this is?"
Bob nodded. "Yes, I know. It's the missing paper with the radio secrets."
Agent Nine Solves His First Case: A Story of the Daring Exploits of the G Men Page 19