wouldn't take long," Scotty pointed out. "They have to do their
unloading by hand at Creek House, but the ship would have cargo booms.
Two cargo nets swung to his deck would do it. It wouldn't take any
time at all."

Jerry consulted his watch. "We could go to Seaford tonight and make
arrangements."

Rick shook his head. "It's Saturday. The fleet doesn't go out on
Sunday. Monday will be soon enough."

"I have another idea," Duke Barrows said. "Suppose we take the State
Police into our confidence?"

"But we haven't any evidence to give them," Jerry objected.

"No need. Captain Ed Douglas is a good friend of mine. I can put it to
him as a friend, and not officially."

Rick rather liked the idea of having the State Police on their side.
He had a great deal of respect for the young officers, and he knew
that they operated with military efficiency, plus FBI criminology
training. What's more, Captain Douglas was a good friend of Hartson
Brant's, and Rick knew he would treat their story with confidence.

"I'm for it," he said finally. "Besides, if the State Police sort of
co-operated unofficially, they could have their highway patrols watch
out for the truck that is getting the stuff from Creek House. The
patrol car wouldn't even have to go into Seaford. They could just keep
an eye on Salt Creek Bridge, because that must be the loading point.
Cap'n Mike hasn't seen any trucks on Million Dollar Row."

"Fine." Duke Barrows rose. "It's still early. We'll get busy right
away. First stop Whiteside Airport to talk with Gus about putting
lights on your plane. Then we'll drop in on Captain Douglas."

Rick felt better. The pattern was clear now, even though there were a
lot of "ifs." If Cap'n Mike notified them, he and Scotty could fly
over the _Albatross_. If they saw it make contact with some offshore
ship and load contraband, they could return to Spindrift and notify
Captain Douglas. Then the State Police could be on hand at Creek House
to catch the Kelsos and Marbek in the act of unloading. And that would
settle the smugglers' hash once and for all! The prospect of flying at
night made him a little nervous, but he was sure it would be all
right. The only thing was, although he could take off from Spindrift
at night he couldn't land there, because the tiny strip gave no room
for errors in judgment. He would have to land at Whiteside.

"This is on the _Morning Record_," Duke said as he paid the check.
"And while we're work