Dr. Zee departed.
99 and Fang hurried to Max.
“You were marvelous, Max,” 99 said. “You were so far over those scientists’ heads, they slunk away in shame. How did you do it?”
“Rule 17,” Max smiled. “It never fails. I used it once when speaking on the subject of exotic mushrooms and cleared the hall in less than half the time it took me today.”
“The only one you didn’t fool, I think, was that Dr. Zee,” 99 said.
“Yes, and there’s a good reason for that, 99,” Max replied. “Unless I miss my guess, Dr. Zee is not really Dr. Zee.”
“You mean you think he’s-”
“Exactly. The diabolical Dr. X.”
“But, Max-we searched his stateroom. There was nothing to indicate that he was Dr. X.”
“Because we didn’t have the chance to search his stateroom thoroughly, 99. Remember? We were caught in the act.”
“I don’t know, Max. Why do you suspect Dr. Zee?”
“For the obvious reason that Dr. Zee suspects that I am not Dr. Smart.”
“You mean you suspect him because he suspects you?”
“Right. If he were really Dr. Zee, why would he suspect that I’m not really Dr. Smart? He’s suspicious, you see, because he suspects that he’s being sought.”
99 nodded. “I see, now. You’re suspicious of Dr. Zee because he’s suspicious of you, and he’s suspicious of you because you’re suspicious of him. That makes sense, Max. What do we do now?”
“Go back and have breakfast,” Max said.
“How will that help, Max?”
“It will fill the space in my tummy,” Max said. “And, it’s the only thing we can do right now. We can’t search Dr. Zee’s stateroom-because he’ll probably be in it.”
“When will we search his stateroom, Max?”
“Tonight. While Dr. Zee is at dinner, we’ll go over his stateroom with a fine-tooth comb.”
“All right, Max. But I still have my doubts about him being Dr. X.”
“I think someone is in for a big surprise,” Max smiled.
“Rorff!”
“Yes, yes, we’re going to breakfast,” Max said. “Come on.”
They left the auditorium, stepped out on deck, and headed for the dining room.
“I just hope that waiter hasn’t given away my scrambled turkey,” Max said.
That evening, at the dinner hour, Max, 99, and Fang entered the corridor that led to Dr. Zee’s stateroom.
“We’re taking an awful chance, Max,” 99 said. “You know what will happen if we get caught again.”
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Max replied. “I did a little scouting, and I’m happy to announce that that nosy steward is nowhere around.”
“I hope not, Max.”
“Ah… here’s the door. I’ll knock first-just to make sure Dr. Zee isn’t in there.”
Max knocked.
There was no response.
“All clear,” Max said.
“How do we get in this time, Max?” 99 said. “I don’t think it would be wise to use that explosive again.”
“I brought along another little gadget provided by the boys in Research and Development,” Max said. “It’s a hinge-remover. I’ll simply use it to remove the hinges from the stateroom door.”
99 looked closely at the gadget. “What is it called, Max?”
“A screwdriver,” Max replied, setting to work.
Thirty minutes later, Max had the hinges off the door. Rising from his knees, he inspected the job he had done. “Perfect,” he said. “I think I can give R and D a passing mark on this screwdriver gadget. Now, then, let’s lift the door away from the opening. 99, you get hold of the knob. And I’ll get hold of these hinges. Then we’ll pull-out and away!”
“Max…”
“Yes, 99?”
“Max, when I took hold of the knob, it turned.”
“I don’t think that will give us any trouble, 99. The fact that the knob turned simply means that- Oh, yes, I see what you mean. The door has been unlocked all the time.” He shrugged. “Well, that doesn’t mean that the screwdriver isn’t a success. I still say, someday, somewhere, sometime, it will come in handy for something.”
Max opened the door and leaned it against the wall.
“Where shall we look, Max?” 99 said, entering the stateroom.
“Well, we can skip the closet this time. We did it the last time we were in here.” He looked around. “Those brief cases,” he said, pointing, “let’s go through them.”
“Rorff!”
“All right, Fang, you check under the bunk again. But don’t breathe too much of that dust.”
Max and 99 began opening and inspecting the contents of the several brief cases.
“Any invisible guinea pigs?” Max asked.
“Not yet.”
“Ah… 99…” Max said, “are you sure you’d know an invisible guinea pig if you saw one?”
“I think so, Max. They look a little like big invisible rats, don’t they?”
“That’s right-just checking.”
“Max, there’s nothing here but papers,” 99 sighed. “Scientific papers. Papers, papers, papers.”
“I’m finding the same thing, 99 Papers, papers, papers.”
“I don’t even understand what they say,”
“Oh. well, that’s simple enough. These are scientific papers on-”
“Max? What’s the matter?”
“I think I know now why Dr. Zee was suspicious of me, 99.”
“Why, Max?”
“Dr. Zee is a space scientist.”
“Oh. Well, Max, you said someone was in for a surprise. I guess it’s you.”
“Surprised, yes,” Max said grimly. “But not beaten. These papers on space science could be a ruse. They could be a red herring. Or, to put it more succinctly-a scarlet ruse.”
“You mean you think Dr. Zee planted these papers here to lead us off the trail?”
“Exactly. He hoped that we would find these papers, think he was a space scientist, and chalk him off as a suspect.”
“Then we better continue to search the room, right, Max?”
“Right, 99.”
“There isn’t anything else to search, Max.”
“Then we’ll start back at the beginning. We must have missed something. 99, check that closet again.”
“Yes, Max,” 99 said, going to the closet.
“And I’ll look under the bed,” Max said.
“Bunk, Max.”
“No, I mean it-I’m really going to do it.”
“All right, Max.”
Max kneeled and peered under the bunk.
“Rorff!”
“What do you mean by that-‘there’s nobody here but us chickens!’?”
“Rorff!”
“Oh, yes, I see what you mean. Covered with those dust puffs, you do look a little like a chicken.”
“Max…” 99 called.
