“A-ha!” Max said. “That’s it! It’s my guess that Fred took Boris’s place on that sight-seeing tour!”
“But someone would notice him,” Blossom said.
“Hardly. There would still be the same number of people on the tour. If there were, say, twelve before, and Boris dropped out, and then Fred joined in, there would still be twelve. That’s the beauty of it-he could pass himself off as Boris!”
“I seenk you are right!” Boris said. “It is the only answer!”
“Let’s hit the trail!” Max said.
Boris opened the door. “Ladies, secret agents and dogs first!” he said.
Max, Blossom, Noel and Fang hurried through the doorway.
Boris closed the door behind them.
8
Crowded into the tiny space with Blossom, Noel and Fang, Max said, “Either this is an extremely short corridor or Boris made a mistake and ushered us into the hall closet!”
“Oh no! Not again!” Noel groaned. “Blankety-blank-blank!”
“We’re locked in!” Blossom reported.
“I think somebody ought to pound on the door and call for Boris,” Max said. “It’s a bit crowded in here, however, and I can’t reach the door. So consider this a request for a volunteer.”
“Rorff!”
“I appreciate the offer, boy. But padded paws are not the best instrument for pounding. I’ll keep you in mind, though. I suspect I’ll be needing a volunteer for something else later on.”
“I’ll pound,” Blossom said. “I’m backed right up against the door.”
“In that case, I suggest you kick,” Max said. “You happen to be facing me, and if you start throwing your fists around, I know exactly what’s going to happen.”
“I’ll kick,” Blossom said.
“All right. One-two-three-kick!”
Blossom kicked.
“Ouch!” Max yelled. “Backwards! You were supposed to kick backwards! In the event that you’re at all interested, you kicked me square in the shin!”
“I wanted it to be a loud kick,” Blossom said. “I had to kick forward first to get up steam.”
“Never mind,” Noel said, “I weel keek!”
“Let’s go back to pounding,” Max said.
“Oui — I weel pound.”
She pounded frantically on the door. “Booooooooreeeez!”
Nothing.
“Try again,” Max said.
“Boooooooreeeeeez!” Noel shrieked, pounding.
“Just as I suspected,” Max said. “He was so intent on helping us find Fred that he rushed off without us. Will he be surprised when he discovers we’re not with him! I just hope he doesn’t think we’re ungrateful.”
“Well, the only thing we can do is make the best of a bad situation,” Blossom said. Addressing Noel, she said, “Will you please turn your face to a corner for a while? Max and I want to hold hands.”
“Why?” Max said.
“Well, holding hands encourages conversation. I thought there might be something you could think of to say.”
“I can’t think of a thing,” Max said.
“All right, then, no talking. Just put your arms around me and-”
“Yes, I know, and pound on the door. But I’m afraid that wouldn’t help. We’ve already tried that. Boris is gone. Now, what we have to do is figure out how to get out of here. Any suggestions?”
“Rorff!”
“Veeeery good!” Max said.
“What did he say?”
“He suggested that I call the Chief and have him send someone to unlock the door.”
“Where is this Chief?” Noel said.
“At Control. A mile or so from here.”
“He will never hear you,” Noel said. “Boris didn’t hear, and he could not have been more than a block or so away when I called.”
“I believe that Fang was suggesting that I call the Chief on my shoe.”
Noel shook her head. “Using a shoe horn, maybe, but not just a shoe.”
“Just watch this,” Max said, “and I think you’ll change your mind. Now, I’ll just bend down…”
Blossom giggled.
“Sorry,” Max said. He tried again, then straightened. “I can’t seem to bend down,” he said. “Can one of you girls reach my shoe?”
Blossom tried. But there was just no space for bending.
Next, Noel tried. She, too, failed.
“Instead of bending down to your shoe, raise your foot,” Blossom suggested.
Max tried that.
Blossom giggled again.
“Sorry.”
“Rorff!”
“Excellent idea!” Max said. “Go to it, boy!”
“What now?” Noel said.
“Fang is going to call the Chief,” Max explained.
Fang: Rorff!
Chief: Is that you, Max? How’s it going?
Fang: Rorff!
Chief: Oh… Fang. I thought Max had picked up a cold. What’s the trouble?
Fang: Rorff!
Chief: Closet? What kind of a closet?
Fang: Rorff!
Chief: Oh… hall closet. All right, what can I do to help?
Fang: Rorff!
Chief: Do you have the address?
Fang: Rorff!
Chief: All right, I’ve got that. But which apartment?
Fang: Rorff!
Chief: Well, try to remember! The address is no help unless I have the apartment number.
Fang: Rorff!
Chief: Yes, that might work. But, incidentally, there is no “p” in “radar.” It’s spelled “r-a-d-a-r.” We’ll give it a try, anyway. You howl, and we’ll see if we can pick it up on the radar screen here at Control. Ready? Go!
Fang: Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooow!
Chief: Good work, Fang! We got it! You’re in apartment four-oh-one. I’ll have a man there in a jiffy! It just so happens that we have an agent on duty at the entrance. Regards to Max, Fang!”
Fang hung up. “Rorff!” he barked.
“That was nice of him,” Max said. “I was afraid he might be a bit peeved.”
“What happened?” Blossom said.
“The Chief sent his regards.”
“No, I mean is he going to do something?”
“Help is on the way,” Max said. “94 is on his way up.”
“Oh… that’s nice. I wonder if he’s still married.”
A few minutes later there was a sound outside the door. Then the lock was turned and the door opened.
“Good work, 94!” Max said. He indicated Noel. “Now, I have another assignment for you. I have reason to suspect that this young lady is a FLAG agent. Take her to Control and have her interrogated!”
“Couldn’t I go with him, instead?” Blossom said.
“I don’t think my wife would approve,” 94 said. “I better take the other one.”
“I want you with me,” Max said to Blossom. “Don’t forget, we’re still on the trail of Fred. And when we find him, you may have some influence with him. Our mission is to bring him back.”
“Oh, fudge.”
They hurried from the apartment. Rushing down the corridor they heard sounds of scuffling behind them, coming from the apartment.
“Sounds as if 94 is having a little trouble with that FLAG agent,” Max said. “I hope he doesn’t have to get too rough with her.”
Blossom sighed. “And to think, that could be me back there wrestling with 94!”
They descended in the elevator and got into Max’s car. He started the engine and the car roared off.
“Where are we going?” Blossom said.
Max turned to her, looked at her for a second, then pulled back over to the curb. “I guess we had better decide that before we go any further,” he said.
“It’s hopeless,” Blossom said. “There’s the whole of New York City to look in, and we don’t even know where to start.”
“I beg to differ. We know that Fred took Boris’s place on that tour. All we have to do is find Boris, ask him which tour it was he was on, then find the tour, and pick out the computer who took Boris’s place. That doesn’t strike me as being so difficult.”
“But how do we find Boris?”
“Now that, that’s difficult.”
“Rorff!”
“Where?” Max said excitedly.
“Rorff!”
“Oh… yes, I see!” He stepped on the accelerator and the car roared back into traffic.
“What did he say, for heaven’s sake!” Blossom said.
“He said Boris just passed by driving a sight-seeing bus,” Max replied. “That one right up there, straight ahead of us!”