Atom Mystery [Young Atom Detective] — Reading Companion

d Teena about his dream.

Teena smiled. “A dream sure isn’t much to go on,” she said, “but they say it’s pretty out on Cedar Point. I’ll go any time you want to, Eddie.” She handed him one of the sandwiches.

It was midafternoon by the time they arrived back at Teena’s house. They worked a while on a new jigsaw puzzle Teena had received on a recent birthday. Then Eddie said good-by and went on down the street toward his own home.

After putting Sandy on his long chain and filling his water dish, Eddie went in the back door. He put the Geiger counter in the closet and went into the kitchen.

“What’s for dinner, Mom?” he asked.

Mrs. Taylor turned from the sink. Eddie knew at once, just seeing the expression on his mother’s face, that something was wrong.

“Dinner?” his mother said absently. “It’s not quite four o’clock yet, Eddie. Besides, dinner may be a little late today.”

“But this morning you said it would be early,” Eddie reminded her, puzzled.

“This morning I didn’t know what might happen.”

Then Eddie heard the sound of his father’s voice coming from the den. There was a strange urgent tone in it. The door to the den was open. Eddie went through the dining room and glanced into the den. His father sat stiffly behind his homemade desk, talking rapidly into the telephone. Eddie caught only the last few sketchy words. Then his father placed the telephone in its cradle, glanced up, and saw Eddie.

If there had been even the slightest doubt in Eddie’s mind about something being wrong, it vanished now. Mr. Taylor looked years older than he had that very morning. Worry lay deep in his eyes. He fumbled thoughtfully with a pencil, turning it end over end on his desk.

“Hello, son,” he said. He didn’t even ask whether Eddie had discovered any uranium ore that day. Always before, he had shown genuine interest in Eddie’s prospecting trips.

“Dad,” Eddie said anxiously, “what—what’s the matter?”

“It shows that much, does it, son?” his father said tiredly.

“What’s wrong, Dad?” Eddie prompted. “Or can’t you tell me?”

Mr. Taylor leaned back. “Quite a bit’s wrong, Eddie,” he said, “and I guess there’s no reason why I shouldn’t tell you. It’ll be in the evening papers, anyway.”

“Eddie, you remember me mentioning this morning about that radioisotope shipment I was expecting today?”

“I remember,” Eddie said. “Did it come?”

“It did—and it didn’t,” his father said.

“What does that mean, Dad?” Eddie asked, puzzled.

“The delivery truck arrived at the school with it,” his father explained, “but while the driver was inquiring where to put it, the container disappeared.”

“The radioisotope was stolen, Eddie,” his father said slowly. “Stolen right out from under our noses!”

At the moment, Eddie didn’t pry for further information on the theft of the valuable radioactive isotope. His father had plenty on his mind, as it was. The main information was in the evening _Globe_, which Eddie rushed out to get as soon as he heard it plop onto the front porch.

He took the newspaper to his father to read first. After having finished, Mr. Taylor handed the paper to Eddie and leaned back thoughtfully in his chair.

“They’ve got it pretty straight, at that,” Mr. Taylor said, “but I’m afraid this is going to stir up quite a bit of trouble.”

“It wasn’t your fault, was it, Dad?” Eddie defended.

“It was as much mine as anybody’s, son,” his father said. “Probably more so. After all, I am head of the department. I knew about the shipment. That should make it my responsibility to see that it was properly received and placed in our atomic-materials storage vault. But there is little point in trying to place the blame on anyone. I’m willing to accept that part of it. The important thing is that we recover that radioisotope. Not only is it of a secret nature, but it is also dangerously radioactive if improperly handled.”

“But—but wasn’t it in a safe container?” Eddie asked.

“Of course,” his father said. “There were only two ounces of it in a fifty-pound lead capsule. As long as it remains in that capsule it’s safe. As you know, the lead prevents any radiation from escaping. Out of that capsule, however, those two ounces of radioisotope can be very dangerous.”

“Fifty pounds,” Eddie said thoughtfully. “That’s a pretty big thing to steal, isn’t it?”