Needle

Bob nodded in agreement. "He certainly picked a bad time for his wisecracks-right after Charlie said he wasn't going. He must have been feeling pretty bad."

"I didn't hear that. Did he say why he wasn't going? It's news to me."

"No." Bob remembered in time that he was not supposed to know, either. "No, there wasn't time for explanations after that; things happened too fast. I don't suppose it would be smart to ask now, either, though he may have told Red by this time. Shall we go back up and see?"

"I don't think it would do much good. Besides, I still haven't put the grating in that pool of mine-we've been spending so much time fixing the boat and working up here. What say we go out and do that? We don't need the boat; the stuff is out there, and we can swim across from the beach."

Bob hesitated. This seemed a good opportunity of seeing the doctor and getting another drug written off the list- he was not very optimistic on this point, as may be seen -but he was still not quite sure how to get away from his friend; he still had an exaggerated fear of betraying his real motives.

"What about Hugh?" he asked. "He hasn't come down from delivering that saw blade yet. Maybe he'd like to go."

"He's probably found something else to do up there. I think I'll go back myself, if you don't want to work on the pool. You coming, or have you something else to do?"

"I did think of something," Bob replied. "I think I'll look after it now."

"O.K. I'll see you later." Hay went back up the hill after the still-visible fighters without a backward glance, while Bob, wondering how much the other suspected, turned along the shore toward the big dock. He walked slowly, since he had much to think about; but he said nothing, and the Hunter forbore to disturb him. The alien had thoughts of his own, in any case.

At the shoreward end of the dock they turned up the road past the Teroa house, turned right there, and presently reached the home of the doctor. Here his plans, such as they were, were interrupted by the sight of a sign on the door which said the doctor was out on professional business, time of return uncertain.

The door was never locked, as Bob well knew. After a moment's consideration he opened it and went into the office. He could wait, and the doctor was bound to be back before too long. Besides, there were other books there, books which he had not read and which might prove interesting or useful. He investigated the shelves, helped himself to several promising titles, and sat down to deal with them.

He made heavy weather of the job: they were technical works, intended for professional readers, and they pulled no punches when it came to medical terms. Bob was far from stupid, but he simply did not have the knowledge needed to interpret very much of what they said. In consequence, his mind wandered frequently and far from the printed matter.

Naturally much of his thinking was about the afternoon's rather unusual events. More of it dealt with his problem. He had even asked the Hunter point-blank what he thought about the conclusions reached the night before-the strong suspicions Bob and Seever had developed toward Hay and Rice. He did so now.

"I have avoided criticizing your efforts," replied the Hunter, "since it seems to me that, however wrong your conclusions appear, you still have reason for them. I prefer not to tell you my opinions about Rice and Hay, or even about the other boys, for if I were to discourage your ideas on the grounds that they disagreed with mine, I might as well be working alone."

It was an indirect speech, but Bob suspected that the alien disagreed with their ideas. He could not see why- the logic used by the doctor and himself seemed sound -but he realized that the Hunter must have more knowledge about the creature they were seeking than he could impart in a lifetime.

Still, what could be wrong? Strictly speaking, they had reached no actual conclusions-they knew their limitations and had spoken only of probabilities. If the Hunter objected to that, then he should have a certainty!

"I have nothing certain," was the answer, however, when this line of reasoning was expounded to the detective, and Bob settled back to think some more. He got results, but this time he had no chance to discuss them with the Hunter, for just as the idea struck him, he heard the doctor's step on the front porch. Bob sprang to his feet, concentrating tensely; then, as the door opened, he turned to the entering figure.

"I've got some news," he said. "You can let Charlie go tomorrow, after all, and we can forget about Red too!"

Chapter XVIII. ELIMINATION

THE DOCTOR had stopped as he heard Bob's excited voice; now he finished closing the door behind him and moved to his usual chair.

"I'm glad to hear it," he said. "I have some news also. Suppose you give me the details first. Has the Hunter been making tests on his own?"

"No, I have. I mean, it's something I saw. I didn't realize what it meant until just now.

"Charlie and Red had a fight up by the new tank. It started when Red kidded him about not going away tomorrow-I suppose he must have seen you just before. Any way, they both went right up in the air; they were swinging for all they were worth. They both picked up a lot of bruises-Ken has a beautiful pair of shiners-and they both had first-class nosebleeds when we got 'em apart!"

"And you feel that this display of injury means none of the Hunter's race can't be present? I thought we decided that our fugitive would refrain from stopping blood flow for fear of betraying himself. I don't see what your story proves."

"You don't get my point, Doc. I know that a cut or scratch bleeding wouldn't prove anything, but don't you see the difference between that and a nosebleed? There's no cut out in the open for the world to see; there'd be nothing surprising if a fellow got hit on the nose and it didn't bleed. Those two were regular fountains-he'd have been bound to stop "em!" There was a pause, while the doctor considered this point.

"There's one objection remaining," he said at last. "Would our friend know what you have just mentioned -that a blow on the nose does not necessarily cause bleeding? After all, he hasn't had a lifetime of human experience like you."

"I even thought of that." Bob was triumphant. "How could he be the sort of thing he is, and be where he is, without knowing? He just would have to know what causes a nosebleed and whether it's necessary or not. I haven't asked the Hunter yet, but how else could it be? How about it, Hunter?" He awaited the answer, at first with complete confidence, then with mounting doubt as the alien considered the wording of his response.

"I should say that you are quite right," the Hunter replied at last. "I had not considered that possibility before, and there was the chance that our friend had not, either; but even in that case he would certainly have seen that there was no danger in stopping the bleeding at any tune. The boys who were fighting kept it up long after you were applying nose pressure and cold water and other odd remedies. You score first, Bob; I am willing to forget those two."

Bob repeated this to Dr. Seever, who received the information with a grim nod.

"I have an elimination candidate also," he answered. "Tell me, Bob, didn't you say your attention had been attracted to Ken Malmstrom yesterday?"

"Yes, a little. He didn't work so hard as usual on the boat and he seemed quieter, but I figured it was because Charlie was going away."

"And today?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since school."

"I'll bet you haven't," said Seever dryly. "You shouldn't have seen him in school, either. He had a temperature of a hundred and three right afterward, when he finally decided to tell his parents he wasn't feeling well."