“Then the pearl fishery itself,” Biff said, “could be a very small area compared to the total area covered by the claim?”
“Right you are, Biff.”
“Then Dietz hasn’t got a chance, has he?”
“Oh, yes. He thinks he has a good one.”
“I don’t see how.”
Charlie Keene grinned. “If neither Brom Zook nor Derek appears at the French consulate to demand the claim within the ninety days, anyone can file for the rights. Dietz is just waiting to file in the same general area where the Zook claim is located.”
Biff knew now what had happened.
“And Brom Zook is missing.”
“That’s it, Biff. If neither Brom Zook nor Derek appears, then Dietz moves in, files his claim, and then it would be most difficult for Brom Zook to reestablish his rights.”
Biff nodded his head thoughtfully.
“Uncle Charlie, when does that ninety-day time limit expire?”
“Tomorrow afternoon, Biff. At four o’clock.”
“What!” Biff exclaimed. “Then we’ve got to act fast. We’ve got to find Derek!”
“Don’t worry, Biff, we’re still ahead of the game.”
“But Brom Zook will be robbed!”
“I don’t think so,” Uncle Charlie said, smiling as he shook his head.
“What’s to prevent it?” Biff demanded.
“You, Biff. Couldn’t you play the role of Derek Zook once more?”
Biff was taken aback by his uncle’s last statement.
“You mean if we don’t find Derek, you want me to substitute for him?”
“That sums it up, Biff.”
Biff shook his head. He knew he looked like Derek. But Uncle Charlie was really asking a lot.
“Gosh, Uncle Charlie. It’s one thing for me to substitute for Derek when it’s only a joke. Like at the airport. But to do this—this is for big stakes.”
“I know, Biff. But, considering the fact that you will actually be doing this so the just rights of a man will be established, I don’t think you would be doing anything morally wrong.”
“No, I guess not. We would be stopping Dietz from stealing what belongs to someone else.”
“That’s right, Biff.”
“Still—suppose I have to sign something? That would be forgery. I couldn’t do that, Uncle Charlie.”
“I know you couldn’t, Biff. And I wouldn’t ask you to. But I’ve looked into this affair as closely as I can. I don’t think you’ll be required to sign anything. The signing for the actual working permit to the claim will take place in Martinique.”
“I sure hope you’re right.”
“I’m rather certain that I am, Biff. Otherwise there wouldn’t have been much point in my having you come down here in such a hurry.”
“And my being here gives you more time to find Brom Zook.”
“Or Derek, now that he is here.”
“I wonder why he didn’t get here sooner,” Biff pondered.
“You can bet that really had me worried. I waited until just over three weeks ago before I cabled for Derek to come here. That would be plenty of time, now that the Atlantic can be crossed in hours instead of days.”
“Didn’t you get a reply to your cable?”
“No. That didn’t worry me too much. I just figured that Derek would know how serious things had become. His father must have given him a clear picture of the situation when he wrote him.”
“Why didn’t Derek come as soon as you cabled?”
“I got a cable about ten days after I sent for Derek. It was from his grandfather. The cable informed me that Derek was in the Swiss Alps for winter skiing. The grandfather had tried and tried to locate him. It seems Derek was off on a long cross-country ski race. You know, where the winner is the one who covers the most miles in a given number of days.”
“Be hard to locate someone on one of those jaunts, all right,” Biff agreed.
“So, being desperate, and not knowing if Derek would get here before the time limit expired, I cabled for you. And was I ever glad to see you come through the door of the terminal!”
“But you actually had the real Derek.”
Uncle Charlie laughed. “That’s right. But from the way things have gone, it’s a good thing I do have two Dereks.”
* * * * * * * *
The hands on the clock in the hearing room of the French consulate showed fifteen minutes of four. Seated in the first of the row of benches which lined the room were Herman Dietz and Specks Cade. Dietz wore a satisfied smile on his face. Things were going fine. Just fine. Fifteen more minutes, and Brom Zook’s claim would be worthless, voided by the expiration of the ninety-day time limit.
Specks’s feelings were just the opposite of Dietz’s. He was nervous. He kept shifting back and forth on the bench, looking at the entrance, watching the clock.
Ten minutes of four.
The claims referee finished some business with the only other person left in the room. He looked down from his bench at Dietz.
“You have business with the Claims Division?”
“Yes, sir. I have a claim to file.”
“Then let’s have it. It grows late,” the referee said impatiently.
“I will when it becomes four o’clock,” Dietz said. “It would not be proper for me to file my claim when there is still time for my friend Brom Zook to appear to ask for his.”
The referee looked down at the paper in front of him. He picked it up.
“Oh, yes. Brom Zook. I have it here.” He glanced at the clock.
Five minutes to four.
A dead silence came over the hearing room. Three men kept their eyes on the clock. Even Dietz fidgeted somewhat as the minute hand came nearer and nearer to the hour hand. Only three minutes and he would win.
The sound of feet striding briskly and firmly came from the rear of the room. Dietz swung around. His face went white. His heart pounded. It couldn’t be. It was impossible! Derek Zook was a prisoner guarded by Crunch. Crunch was a simple-minded soul, but a powerful man. Derek Zook couldn’t have escaped!
Biff Brewster came striding down the aisle.
The referee looked up. “And what is the matter concerning you that brings you before this Claims Division?” he asked.
“The matter of the claim to a pearl fishery, made by Brom Zook of Curaçao, sir,” Biff said.
The referee picked up some papers.
“You can establish your right to the claim?”
Biff nodded his head.
Charles Keene came down the aisle and stood by his nephew.
“I see by a letter which accompanies this claim that you must meet a certain requirement in order to establish your right beyond any doubt.”
Biff cast a quick glance at his uncle. Charles Keene said nothing. The clerk went on:
“Brom Zook has accompanied his filing of a claim asking to be granted the rights to fish for pearls in certain waters off the Island of Martinique, with an object which must be matched by any claimant other than himself. Since I know you are not Brom Zook, you must present this object to establish yourself as the rightful claimant to the grant. You have it, young man?”
Momentarily Biff panicked. Where had he put the pearl? Then he felt his uncle nudge him. “Your inside coat pocket, Biff,” Charles Keene whispered.
Biff’s hand shot into his coat pocket.
“The object referred to,” the referee went on, “is a pearl. A black pearl that must match perfectly the one I hold here.”
At these words, Dietz raised an eyebrow and smirked. He was positive no such pearl existed. If it did, Derek didn’t have it. He had searched Derek carefully. No pearl had been found.
Biff’s hand touched the small box. He pulled it out and stepped forward to the referee’s bench.
“Here, sir.” Biff said, holding the beautiful pearl in the palm of his hand.
The referee took it. Biff couldn’t resist turning around to see Dietz’s reaction. Dietz was grasping Specks’s arm. He seemed about to faint. He swallowed several times, shaking his head as if trying to remove from his vision something he couldn’t believe he was seeing.
The referee was examining the two pearls closely.
“Everything seems to be in order. There can be no doubt that these are matching pearls. Beautiful ones, too. My congratulations to you, young man, and to your father. He has truly made a discovery of great beauty and value.”
The referee placed the papers in a thick manila envelope and handed them over to Biff. “And now, seeing that no one else is here to present a claim, I declare the Claims Division closed for the day,” he said.
Biff joined his uncle, and the two strode happily toward the exit. At the door, they turned and looked back. Dietz was slumped back against the bench. Specks hovered over him like a nervous mother hen.
Two happier people couldn’t be found among the gay crowds of tourists swarming the streets of Willemstad than Biff Brewster and Charlie Keene. They were standing at the bottom of the steps leading from the French consulate.
“We pulled it off, Biff. We really outfoxed Dietz,” Charlie said exultantly.
“We sure did. But I was kind of shaky in there for a few moments. I mean when the referee asked about the matching pearl.”
Uncle Charlie laughed. “You felt like the best man at the wedding who forgot where he had put the ring, eh?”
Biff and his uncle had spent all their time before appearing at the Claims Division in looking for Derek. They had gone to the Zook home, long closed since Brom Zook had been in Martinique and Derek in Holland. They thought the boy might have gone there to hide.
They had also inquired at a small boarding house where Brom Zook had stayed on his infrequent trips to Curaçao. No sign or word of Derek anywhere. They had come to the conclusion that Dietz must be holding the Dutch boy.
“Yep, Biff, we’ve established Brom Zook’s rights to the claim, and we’ve got the matching pearls. Pretty good day’s work, I’d say. Couldn’t have done it without you, though. My compliments to you, Biff-Derek-Zook-Brewster.”
Biff laughed. “I’d like to get back to being just Biff Brewster again. Impersonating Derek Zook gets pretty rough at times.”
Uncle Charlie wasn’t listening. Biff had given him the papers establishing the claim and the two pearls. Uncle Charlie was examining the pearls.
“Real beauties, aren’t they? And valuable, too.”
“What do you think they’re worth, Uncle Charlie?”
“Hmmm ... several thousand dollars at least. They’d make a perfect pair of earrings for some exotic movie star or Italian countess or a member of the British nobility. Not worth a big fortune, but a considerable one. A pearl collector would probably want them at any price named.”
“And there’s plenty more where they came from,” Biff suggested.
“You’re right, there are.”
Biff was quiet. His thoughts were now back on Derek. True, he and his uncle had preserved Derek and his father’s pearl fishery claim, but unless they could find Derek and Brom Zook, what they had done so far was valueless.
“Uncle Charlie, we’ve just got to find Derek now.”
Charles Keene frowned. “I know it, Biff.”
“We can’t let Dietz find out that it wasn’t Derek who appeared before the claims referee. If he does, he could upset our applecart but good.”
“Yes. And it still has to be the real Derek who signs for the working permit in Martinique. Your impersonation can’t go to the extreme of signing Derek’s name.”
Biff glanced down the street. His eyes came to rest on the sleek, black limousine which had brought Dietz to the Claims Division. It was the same car in which Biff had ridden from the airport to the hotel. Looking at it gave Biff an idea.
“Look, Uncle Charlie. If Dietz did get Derek, he must still be holding him. Right?”
His uncle nodded his head in agreement.
“Although he doesn’t know it, of course, since he saw me in the Claims office, and thought I was Derek—”
“Go on, Biff, I think I’m reading you louder and your upcoming idea is getting clearer.”
“Thinking, as he must be, that Derek somehow escaped, wouldn’t he let his guard down now? He must figure the game is almost up.”
“Yes, that’s how I’d figure it myself,” Charlie replied. “And how wrong I’d be!”
“Exactly. So, believing Derek must have escaped, wouldn’t Dietz feel it no longer necessary to take any precautions in returning to his hide-out?”
“I get you, Biff. Following him ought to be a cinch now.”
“What are we waiting for then? Let’s get in your car and wait for Dietz and Specks to come out.”
The two walked over to Charlie Keene’s small, low-slung, two-seater sports car. They climbed in and waited. Keene’s car was parked four cars removed from the black limousine. The cars intervening gave Biff and his uncle a good spot from which to observe, without too much chance of being seen themselves.
Five minutes passed before a dejected Dietz and his pal Specks came out of the building. They got into the limousine, Specks at the wheel, and pulled away. Uncle Charlie started up his car and slipped into the thick traffic behind. There was little chance of their pursuing car being noticed by Dietz in the crowded downtown streets.
As Dietz’s limousine reached the northern outskirts of the city, traffic thinned. Charlie dropped back half a block, still keeping the black car within easy vision.
Once the city was left behind, Specks speeded up. The limousine roared along the road. Charlie let it pull away although he didn’t have to. His sports car was much the faster of the two.
“Aren’t you afraid we’ll lose him, Uncle Charlie?” Biff asked, worried.
“Not a chance, Biff. This road goes only one place. The end of the island. No major turnoffs. If we stick too close on his tail, he might spot us. I just want to keep the car in sight.”
They remained a good half mile behind the black car. Each time it rounded a curve and disappeared from sight, Biff’s worries increased. But each time, as his uncle rounded the same curve, Biff was relieved to see the black car ahead. Charlie kept the same distance between the cars.
“Look, Uncle Charlie,” Biff cried out suddenly. “He’s turning off.”
Charlie Keene nodded his head and tramped down heavily on the accelerator. The sports car leaped ahead. It roared down the road, rapidly closing the gap to the spot the black car had turned off. As they neared it, Charlie slowed. They came to a jagged road, angling off to the right.
“That’s where they turned,” Biff said.
Charlie nodded his head, but kept on going.
“Aren’t you going to turn in?” Biff asked anxiously.
“Not right away. We’re too close behind them.”
Charlie continued on down the paved road for a quarter of a mile, then U-turned and came back. He cut to the left into the rough road they had just passed, pulled up, and cut his motor.
Biff and Charlie got out. Charlie went ahead, inspecting the road. It was composed of sand and crushed shells.
“This is it, Biff. I’m positive. See those deep tracks? Hasn’t been time for the sand to have shifted and run back to fill them in. These roads with sand show tracks much as a snow-covered road does.”
Biff was convinced. Not only by his uncle’s skill at picking out fresh tracks, but because he hadn’t seen any other road in that vicinity. It had to be the road the black car had just turned down.
“Let’s figure our next move, Biff,” Charlie said. The two got back into the sports car.
“I think I know where we are. There used to be a big estate somewhere around here. It’s been closed up for some years. There’s one large house, a hacienda, and several smaller outbuildings. An ideal place to hide out, particularly if you wanted to hold someone prisoner. Let’s put our plotting machine to work for a few minutes.”
At first, Biff was all for barging right ahead, crashing right in and demanding of Dietz the whereabouts of Derek.
“Don’t think we’d better do that, Biff,” Uncle Charlie said. “We don’t know how many cohorts Dietz might have. He’s bound to have a servant or two. Particularly since he had to have someone to keep a sharp eye on Derek.”
“I see what you mean, Uncle Charlie. What’s your plan of action?” Biff asked.
“I’ll go up to the hacienda by myself. I can keep Dietz plenty busy with questions and accusations for a while. That will give you time to scout around the outbuildings and search for Derek.”
“But won’t Dietz want to find out how Derek got away?”
“Perhaps. But since Dietz thinks he is gone, what good will it do him to worry about locking the gate now that his prize has fled?”
Biff nodded his head. Then another thought came to him.
“But won’t the guard who let Derek get away be so worried and scared he’ll report to Dietz at once?” Biff asked.
“Whoa, there, my boy. You’re beginning to think like Dietz. Why should the guard be upset? He still has Derek, hasn’t he?”
“I forgot, Uncle Charlie,” Biff said sheepishly.
“Okay, let’s move on.”
They drove for about two miles along the winding sand-shell road until they came to the arched opening in the pink-stone wall.
“This is where we part for a while,” Uncle Charlie said. “I’ll drive on up to the hacienda. You wait until you see me enter. Then make like a beagle and sniff out the other buildings fast.” Charlie looked at his watch. “I’ve got six-fifteen. How ’bout you?”
“The same.”
“Okay, Biff. We’ll rendezvous outside this gate at exactly six forty-five. It will still be light by then. But darkness comes fast. Night falls as fast as a theater curtain in the tropics. One minute it’s daylight. The next it’s dark. Dusk lasts about one minute. All set?”
“Right. And I hope you see double when we rendezvous.”
“See double?” Uncle Charlie was momentarily puzzled.
“Derekandme,” Biff said, grinning.
“Oh. I get you. Guess I’d stopped thinking clearly for a moment this time. Good luck, Biff.”
Charles Keene started the car and drove toward the hacienda.
Biff waited until he saw him enter the building. When the door closed behind his uncle, Biff, keeping close to the wall, started out on his bird-dogging expedition.
Fortunately for Biff, the grounds had been landscaped. Palm trees, low palmetto bushes, and flower gardens, now filled with rank, weedy growth, gave him plenty of cover to scout around.
The first two buildings he inspected were empty. A third, smaller building, well removed from the main house, looked like the next likely place. As Biff approached it, he noticed that the windows of the building were barred.
Biff noticed that the windows of the building were barred
Biff noticed that the windows of the building were barred
Biff crept silently up to the building. He pressed close to the wall of the stone house and worked his way around to its rear. Cautiously he raised his head until his eyes were at the level of the window. He looked into the room.
Once more he was looking at himself in a mirror. This time Derek’s expression was even more startled than when the two boys had first met at the Miami airport.
Biff quickly pressed a forefinger against his lips. If Derek, startled as he was, made an outcry, any chance of freeing him would be gone.
Derek was seated on the edge of a small cot. The only other furniture in the room was a straight chair. Biff could see through a narrow opening into the second of the two rooms which made up the small stone house. The entrance to this house-prison must be in the other room, Biff figured.
Derek arose and came quietly to the window.
“Biff! You found me!” Derek sounded as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“And I’ve got to get you out of here. Fast,” Biff whispered.
“But tell me, Biff, what has happened? I’m all confused. I have to know—”
“No time now,” Biff replied. “If I can’t get you out of here right away, you’ll be in real trouble. Are you alone here, or are you being guarded?”
“There’s a guard right in the other room,” Derek whispered back.
Biff’s face fell. He had expected Derek to be under guard, but he’d hoped the guard wouldn’t be so close by.
“No way of slipping past him, I suppose?” Biff said.
“I would have little or no chance. The guard is a giant.”
“Have you been treated all right?” Biff asked.
“Oh, yes. The guard, while big enough to crush me with his bare hands, is really quite a simple soul. He’s friendly too, as long as I don’t try anything,” Derek went on.
“And he stays here all the time? Never leaves you alone?” Biff pressed his questions hurriedly. There wasn’t much time before he was to rejoin his uncle.
“No, Biff. He goes to the main house for my meals and his.” Derek looked at his watch. “He’ll be going any minute now. At six-thirty.”
“How can you be sure he’ll go at six-thirty?”
Derek grinned. “It would be funny if I weren’t a prisoner. My guard—his name is Crunch—can’t read. Can’t even tell time. He has me set an alarm clock for when it’s time for him to go get our food. When the alarm goes off, we eat.”
“And you set it for six-thirty.” Biff said this half aloud. His thoughts were racing as a plan was shaping up in his mind.
“Listen closely, Derek.”
The Dutch boy grasped the iron bars of the window in his hands and pulled himself nearer to Biff. Their heads were only inches apart.
“Do you remember an arched gateway leading into this place?”
“Yes. I remember it.”
“I’m to meet my Uncle Charlie there at six forty-five. He’s up at the hacienda, stalling Dietz. Here’s my plan. It ought to work, too, if Crunch is as simple-minded as you say he is.” Biff’s voice was a low, rapid whisper.
“Think it will work, Derek?” he finished.
“It should. I just hope you don’t get hurt.”
“Don’t you worry about me. You just make for that gate as fast as you can if you get out. Wait for my uncle. If I’m not there by the time you two meet, both of you go on ahead. Forget about me.”
Derek’s frown showed that he didn’t like the possibility that Biff might get caught. His “But Biff—” was cut short by the sharp ringing of an alarm clock bell.
Biff pulled quickly away from the window. He moved quietly but speedily until he stood concealed just behind the front wall of the small building. He poked his head around the corner, saw the doorway only six feet away, then drew back.
Moments passed. Biff heard the sound of a key grating in a lock. Again he poked his head cautiously around the corner of the building. He saw the door swing outward. Next he saw the guard come out. Biff gasped. Never had he seen a man of such tremendous size. Derek was right. This man was a giant! Big powerful shoulders topped a strong, barrel-shaped torso. His large head, thatched with shaggy hair, was out-size even on so massive a body. Biff shuddered to think what his fate might be if Crunch ever got his hands on him. And that was just what might happen. Biff was going to deliberately try to get Crunch to attack him.
Crunch swung the door closed. He started to put the key back in the lock. Biff acted.
“No use locking the door, Crunch,” he said, hoping the big man would not notice he was not dressed like Derek. “I’m out here.”
Crunch, startled, turned in Biff’s direction. He stared with his mouth agape like a child seeing something for the first time; seeing something that just couldn’t be.
“Yes, Crunch, I got out the back window,” Biff said.
Crunch turned bewilderedly to look through the door, as if expecting to see Biff in the act of escaping. He turned his head back to Biff. Biff took a step back. He cringed, pretending to be frightened. Actually, he didn’t have to pretend too much. The size of the man alone was enough to frighten anyone.
Crunch was still confused. He took a step toward Biff, then looked back at the unlocked door. He made a motion as if he were going to lock it.
Biff withdrew another few feet. He wanted the big man to chase him. It took Crunch a little time to figure out the situation. Then, as he saw Biff move farther away from him, he made up his mind. He lunged toward Biff. Biff turned and ran.
The plan was working out fine. Derek would have plenty of time and opportunity to get out of his jail and head for the gateway.
Everything was fine with one exception. Suppose Crunch overtook Biff? The boy could almost feel the massive arms of the giant closing around him. Crunch’s grasp would be as powerful as that of a boa constrictor.
Running in the mixture of sand and shell was difficult. Biff felt he was making no progress. It was like racing on a treadmill. Running was even harder for the giant. His long strides, his great weight forced his feet deep into the soft under-footing, slowing him more than it did Biff.
Biff had headed directly away from the big house and Derek’s recent prison. He wanted to draw Crunch as far away as possible.
Biff could still hear the big man pounding after him. The distance between them was widening. Biff halted, took refuge behind a thick palmetto bush and waited. He could hear Crunch coming on. As he came nearer, the big man’s breathing was loud. He was gasping for breath. The sand was his real enemy. It held him back, sapped him of his great strength.
Crunch passed within a few feet of where Biff was hiding. He continued at a staggering run. When Biff felt he was a hundred or more feet away, he crept out from beneath his sheltering bush and struck out for the gateway.
Biff glanced at his watch. It was already six forty-five. Had Derek made it? Had Uncle Charlie been able to get away without Dietz’s watching him? If he had, then he and Derek already would have met.
Suddenly it began to grow darker. Biff welcomed the quick nightfall. It gave him more cover. When he reached the gate, he welcomed the darkness even more.
Derek and Uncle Charlie were gone.
The sudden nightfall, the quick spread of darkness, was most fortunate for Biff. He selected a secluded spot not far from the arched gateway and holed in to catch his breath and figure out his next move.
Biff was very well pleased with the way he had tricked the giant Crunch. Derek had escaped. He must have met Uncle Charlie. The problem now was—how was Biff going to rejoin them?
As he sat on the warm sand, wondering if he should start the long walk back to Willemstad, he heard shouts and angry voices coming from the main house.
A knife of light cut into the darkness as the door opened. Out at a run came Dietz, Specks, and Crunch.
“Get the car, Specks,” Dietz’s order rang out. “Crunch and I will search the grounds. Meet us at the gate.”
Biff’s first idea at hearing the words was to move out fast, put as much distance as possible between him and the main house and the searchers.
Then a second idea came to him. It was a daring idea. It was a dangerous one. He decided to wait and see if he could put his plan into effect.
Two sweeping streaks of light told Biff that Specks was on his way to the gate in the car. It pulled up and stopped just outside the gate, not more than ten feet from Biff’s place of concealment.
Biff could hear Dietz and Crunch thrashing about in the underbrush.
“All right, Crunch,” Biff heard Dietz shout. “They’re not here. Come on to the gate.”
Moments later Biff saw Dietz join Specks by the front of the car. They stood in the glare of its headlights.
“That stupid fool!” Dietz said angrily. “I don’t know whether to believe him or not. Do you think he was seeing things?”
“Look, boss, Crunch is stupid. He’stoostupid to dream up a story like that.”
“Maybe you’re right. But why would that Zook kid come back here after he had escaped?”
“You got me, boss. Unless he hid something there and came back for it.”
“What? What would he have left when he got away? It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Biff smiled at Dietz’s confusion. “It sure doesn’t make sense—to you, Mr. Dietz,” he said to himself.
“And I don’t get Keene’s coming out here,” Dietz went on. “He certainly doesn’t think I’d tell him where Brom Zook is. He’s not that dumb.”
“Yeah—you wouldn’t tell him even if you knew,” Specks replied.
That was a piece of information valuable to Biff. Now he knew for certain that Dietz didn’t know where Derek’s father was. Nobody seemed to know.
“Mighty tough on Derek,” Biff said to himself.
The giant Crunch came up.
“Get in, you big lug,” Dietz commanded. “In the front, stupid, with Specks.” There was anger in Dietz’s voice. But no fear. Biff wondered why the giant Carib Indian stood such verbal abuse. He could tear Dietz apart.
Dietz climbed in, and Specks put the car in gear. It started off slowly. Biff went into action. Doubled up, running low, he overtook the car, hopped onto the rear bumper, and grasped the trunk handle. This was a dangerous thing to do. Biff realized it. But what better chance did he have of getting away, and getting away fast?
Biff appreciated the humor of the situation, too. Here was Dietz out looking for him, and all the time only the length of the limousine’s trunk lid separated the two.
“My enemy is giving me a lift to town,” Biff chuckled. “Darned nice of him.”
Biff had to hold on tight as the car gained speed. It lurched and careened around the sharp turns of the curving road. By the time Specks reached the paved highway, Biff had had enough. He knew he couldn’t be hurt too much if he were thrown off the car on the sand road. But if he fell off on a paved highway with the car going at high speed, he could be seriously injured.
He also realized that a following car would spot him easily, hanging onto the trunk.
As Specks slowed to turn onto the main highway, Biff dropped off the car and skipped over to the side of the road. The limousine headed for Willemstad.
“Now what?” Biff asked himself. “Do they pick up hitchhikers in Curaçao?” He walked out to the main road. He was just in time to see the taillights of the limousine disappear as the car rounded a curve.
Biff was startled by the sound of another car starting, just a short distance up the road in the opposite direction from Willemstad. The car’s lights came on. It headed toward Biff. Biff stepped back into the darkness. The car came at the dirt road gaining speed. Its tires screeched as the driver cut sharply off the paved road onto the dirt one.
Biff recognized the car.
“Hey! Uncle Charlie!” Biff shouted at the top of his voice as the sports car shot passed him. At first, Biff didn’t think his shout had been heard over the sound of the car’s engine. Then the car braked sharply. Biff ran up to it.
Charlie Keene hopped out.
“You’re okay, Biff? Crunch didn’t get you?”
“See for yourself, Uncle Charlie. I got away all right.”
Derek joined them.
“A million thanks to you, Biff. And a million more pardons for my ever having suspected you or your uncle.”
“Forget it, Derek. I don’t blame you for being suspicious. How could you help it when I even had your pearl?”
“Well, Biff, to be truthful, I did think for a while that maybe the real reason you wanted me to impersonate you at the airport was so you could get my coat.”
“That’s one joke I won’t be trying again for a long, long time.”
“It turned out for the good, though, didn’t it?” Derek replied. “Dietz still doesn’t know there are two of us. Either two Dereks or two Biffs.”
The boys laughed.
“How’d you know I’d be here?” Biff asked his uncle.
“I didn’t, Biff. I was afraid Crunch might have caught you. So was Derek. I was pretty sure that Dietz would head back for Willemstad as soon as I left.”
“What made you so sure?”
“I told Dietz that I’d left Derek there. If Dietz can prevent Derek from getting to Martinique, he still has a chance to jump the Zook claim.”
“Because I have to sign the permit for the working permit, Biff,” Derek said.
Biff was thinking fast. Another plan was developing in his mind.
“Look, Uncle Charlie,” he said, “If you and Derek could get to Martinique without Dietz, it would be a good break, wouldn’t it?”
“The best ever, Biff. What’ve you got in mind?”
“Suppose I take Derek’s place again.”
“You can’t, Biff. You can’t sign those papers. That would be forgery,” Charles Keene reminded him.
“Oh, I don’t mean that I’d go to Martinique,” Biff said.
“What are you getting at?” Uncle Charlie demanded.
“Suppose I go back to the hacienda? When Dietz and Company return, Dietz will think he still has Derek under his thumb, and that would give you and Derek plenty of time to get set up in Martinique.”
Uncle Charlie didn’t reply at once. He was considering Biff’s daring plan.
“Don’t like it, Biff. It would work out well for us, sure. But you might get hurt. I’m thinking of Crunch.”
“Oh, come on now, Uncle Charlie. I’ve been in tighter spots than the one I’ve described.” Biff spoke boldly, confidently. His inner feelings didn’t match his spoken optimism. “Derek tells me Crunch is really a gentle person.”
“Except when he’s aroused,” Derek cut in. “He didn’t harm me. Not once. But one time when I tried to follow him when he went for our meals, he picked me up and threw me on the cot as if I were a small puppy.”
“Believe me, Uncle Charlie, I have no intention of antagonizing Crunch,” Biff assured him. “And I’ll think up some reason for being there.”
Uncle Charlie rubbed his jaw. “Well, Biff, I still don’t like the idea at all. But it surely would give us the time we need. We’ve got to get the working permit. And I’ve got to fuel my seaplane.”
“You’re weakening, aren’t you, Uncle Charlie?”
“I guess I am, Biff. I’ll come back for you in a couple of days. Dietz will free you once I convince him you aren’t the real Derek Zook.”
“Good. We’ll do it then. But before I go back to the hacienda and surrender myself, I could use someFOOD! How about you, Derek? Hungry? You missed your nightly feed.”
“I’m with you, Biff.”
“I know an eating place not too far from here,” Uncle Charlie said. “Let’s go. Dietz won’t be back for a couple of hours anyway.”
An hour and a half later, Uncle Charlie and Derek dropped Biff off at the sand-shell road leading to the hacienda.
“Lots of luck, Biff,” Uncle Charlie said, placing an affectionate hand on his nephew’s shoulder.
“My best wishes go with you, too, Biff,” Derek said, holding out his hand. “And my thanks for all you have done and are going to do.”
Biff watched the sports car head toward Curaçao. Then he turned and walked down the starlit road. He didn’t feel quite so brave with his uncle and Derek gone. He couldn’t know how Dietz would react when he discovered “Derek” had again walked right back into the trap. Biff did think that he had a good story as his explanation for returning. It was a story he felt sure would prevent Dietz from harming him.
Once again, Biff’s plan was going to backfire.
Biff walked along the lonely, winding road, alert, ears tuned for any sound, and admitting frankly to himself that his nerves were on edge. It was nearly eleven o’clock by the time he reached the gate. The only light at the house was the single, bare bulb illuminating the front porch.
Was Dietz back? Had they all gone to bed? Biff didn’t think so. He slipped through the gate. Keeping in the shadows as much as possible, he went up to the house. He couldn’t hear a sound from within. He moved around to the rear, peeking through every window he passed. Nothing stirred. The silence was creepy. Biff felt he would welcome even Dietz. Now that he had decided on this course, he wanted to get started. He wanted to see Dietz’s reaction when “Derek” delivered himself into the hands of his enemy.
The sound of a car came to Biff’s ears from a distance. He ran swiftly back to the gateway, and scurried into the hiding place in which he had concealed himself before.