Latty was trembling and still pale. "I--I d-didn't know there'd be any
trouble with the cops or I'd never have done it," he quavered. "Narko
offered me some dough to hide the guns. I needed money, so I took him
up. That's all there was to it."

"How long have you known this Narko?" Tom asked.

"I met him a few days ago in a restaurant. Believe me, I'd never laid
eyes on him before. And I wish I never had!" Latty added bitterly.

The man's story had a ring of truth. "All right, Officer, let's take him
in," Tom said. To the still-astounded Fred, he added, "We're sorry about
this."

Two hours later Tom and Bud sat in Chief Slater's office at Shopton
police headquarters. Captain Rock and the Shopton fire chief were also
on hand.

"We've had troopers, detectives, and fire inspectors swarming all over
Latty's place," Captain Rock reported. "They examined his house, the
garage, two sheds out back, and every inch of the grounds. But there's
no indication of any place where a bomb might have been planted to cause
an underground explosion in Shopton."

The fire chief nodded confirmation. "So that clue peters out," he said.

With the waning of daylight, the other groups had finally abandoned
their search of the Shopton area without turning up any information.
"I'll notify the FBI immediately," Chief Slater said.