ve part of the object.

It was two minutes before nine when the phone rang. Both boys jumped,
but Rick got there first. "Hello?"

"Rick? ... This is Ken. Why don't you give us something hard to do? The
envelope arrived three minutes ago, and I was just taking the picture
out when Sandy walked in. He took one look and asked what I was doing
with a snapshot of Lefty Camillion. The hair is white and the mustache
is gone, but it's Lefty."

Rick gasped. "My sainted aunt! Of course! I should have known it
myself."

"There's more. Sandy recognized Lefty's small friend too. This is an odd
one, Rick. The man is Dr. Elbert K. Drews. He was fired six months ago
by Space Electronics Industries. It was a big story for us, because the
plant is located in the next town. The reason he was fired came out
during the monopoly investigations. Turned out he had been selling the
firm's industrial secrets to its competitors. It was a shock, because he
had such a big reputation as an electronics wizard. He got some kind of
national prize a year ago for developing a new high-speed system for
something. Let's see--here's my note. It says, 'Dr. Drews was the
originator of a new and unusual system for the rapid telemetry of data
from space. The system is considered remarkable for its compactness and
speed of operation. The ground installation is scarcely larger than a
console-model television set.' Hope that means something to you, Rick."

"Thanks a million, Ken. It seems to fit, but I'm not sure how."

"Let us know if you find out. And if we can do anything else, you know
the phone number."

"We'll call if anything comes up. Thanks again, Ken."

Rick hung up and stared at the phone thoughtfully, trying to fit this
new information into the scheme of things. Scotty had been sitting on
the edge of his chair since the conversation started. He said, with some
exasperation, "Well? Out with it!"

"Mr. Merlin is Lefty Camillion. His pal is an electronics wizard who was
fired by Space Electronics Industries for selling industrial secrets to
the firm's competitors." Rick rapidly sketched in the rest of the
conversation.

Scotty sank back into his chair. "His hair was black, and now it's
white. He must have been keeping it dyed, and decided to go natural. And
he shaved off that mustache. Probably that was dyed black, too."

"You're right." Rick shook his head in dismay. Lefty Camillion, whose
first name was Thomas, was a notorious crime syndica