back."

"He'll have 'em." The photographer headed for the darkroom.

Rick and Scotty didn't wait any longer. They took the file of New York
papers from the rack and hurriedly leafed through them to the proper
dates.

"Here's one!" Rick found a pencil and jotted down the name of the ship
and its owner. The next date disclosed a ship of the same registry and
owner, but with a different name. They worked rapidly and it took only
a few minutes now that they knew what to look for, and presently they
had the job completed. Jerry, who had been phoning Duke, joined them
and looked over Rick's shoulder as he read aloud.

"All the same company and registry. It's the Compania Maritima Caribe
y Atlantica." He stumbled a little over the Spanish name. This was
good evidence. He looked at his friends, eyes shining. "Now for
today's paper. Got it Jerry?"

The reporter found it on Duke's desk and they spread it out on a
table. Three heads bent over it. There was no ship of that company and
registry listed as sailing tonight. Then Scotty spotted a separate
listing of ships now loading.

"Got one! But it's scheduled to sail night after tomorrow. And look!
It's the same ship that was here two weeks ago!"

Rick sat down at Jerry's desk. He still couldn't escape the feeling of
urgency. He had played his hunches before and he did so now. He leaned
over and picked up a copy of the New York phone directory. With the
others watching curiously, he leafed through it, found the right page
and ran his finger down it until he had the number, then he picked up
Jerry's phone and called it.

While the operator made the connection, he held his hand over the
mouthpiece. "A hunch. The shipping offices are closed now, but the
Port Director at New York will know."

A female voice said, "Port of New York Authority."

"Information on ship sailings, please," Rick requested.

The operator rang an extension and a male voice answered.

"I know you don't usually bother with information of this kind," Rick
said, "but this is the Whiteside _Morning Record_ and we need it for
tomorrow's edition. I'd like to know if there is any correction on the
sailing date of this ship." He read off the name and company and the
pier number.

"Just a minute, Whiteside. I'll be glad to look it up."

Rick waited tensely.

"Here it is. That ship was supposed to sail Friday night, but the
sailing has been moved up. She leaves tonight at midnight."

"Thanks," Rick sa