Patman pulled a pad from his pocket and consulted it "I have the list of prisoners here. There's no one named Sol on it."
"I'm glad," Nancy said, "that he's not with Gimler and Sacco. We've talked to him. He's very nice. Probably he didn't come back to the island after being in Key Biscayne."
Nancy and Ned returned to their friends. She suggested that they separate into couples and make their search on the island some distance from one another. We'll be couple one, George and Burt, two; and Bess and Dave, three. In case of trouble call out your numbers instead of your names.
"And, Danny, how about your going around the island in the skiff? If you see anyone or anything suspicious, sound your horn."
"Okay," he agreed.
The three couples started off on their search. Bess and Dave stopped for a few minutes to look at the crocodiles, and Bess remarked, "If all the workers are gone, who's going to take care of these reptiles?"
Dave grinned. "How would you like the job?"
Instead of answering, Bess made a face at him.
Just then one of the old male crocodiles grunted, then hissed, and opened its jaws wide. Within seconds he closed them with such a resounding snap that the couple jumped.
Bess and Dave waited no longer. They took off for a copse of mangroves to start their hunt for the missing suspects.
Meanwhile, Burt and George tramped through a jungle area, looking up into trees, behind bushes, and on the ground. They stopped every few minutes to listen, but everything was quiet and there was no sign anywhere of the wanted men.
They came to a low coral cave and stopped. "Isn't that attractive?" George whispered. "I wonder if those men are hiding inside."
"I'll look," Burt said.
"No! They might trap you and attack!"
"I'll be careful. Just follow me, but wait when I get to the entrance."
The two advanced without making a sound. Slowly they neared the entrance. Then Burt picked up a stone and threw it inside. There was no reaction from within.
He cautiously peered around the rocky opening and saw the small interior. The walls were jagged and arranged in a moon-shaped pattern, but there was no cement or any other indication that the cave was man-made.
"It's empty," Burt reported. "Anyway, it's not much of a hiding place."
George looked inside. "Isn't that coral fascinating?" she said. "Think of the millions of tiny polyps climbing up and dying to form layer after layer of coral."
"Yes," Burt said. "But don't get sidetracked. Never mind the coral now. Let's look for those missing men."
The couple went deeper into the jungle. Rabbits and raccoons scurried away from them. Suddenly the stillness was broken by a loud noise. Something was crashing through the underbrush ahead of them. George wondered if it was an animal. Then they heard human voices.
"They may be the suspects!" Burt whispered. "Come on!"
All this time Nancy and Ned were searching along the waterfront, thinking the men might have hidden a second boat among the mangroves and would try to reach it. Suddenly Nancy stopped short.
"Look!" she said, pointing to a periscope out in the green waterway.
"It's moving in the direction of the island!" Ned said, excited. "Maybe it'll dock here!"
"Let's return to the pier," Nancy suggested.
She and Ned quickly made their way back, careful to remain shielded by trees at all times. Just before they reached the open areas, the submarine surfaced! It slid in noiselessly. The hatch opened, and two men appeared. They jumped to the dock and disappeared in the direction of the main building.
Nancy and Ned wondered if the men were aware of the recent events on the island. Obviously they were not worried about being seen. Or were they just desperate?
Nancy decided on a bold move. "Ned, are you game to go aboard and hide?"
"Sure thing."
"Wait just a second," Nancy said. She plucked a leaf from a trailing sea-grape bush. Next she picked up a small sturdy stick and scratched out the words, "Going aboard. Couple one."
She jabbed the leaf onto a tree twig and beckoned Ned to follow her. Quickly the two went to the open hatch and climbed down the iron ladder.
"Where can we hide?" Ned asked, looking around.
Nancy pointed to the upright lockers and opened one. It contained a coiled rope similar to the one she had seen on the sub in Key West.
Ned checked the adjoining locker. Behind some clothes, many boxes were stacked neatly from the floor to the ceiling. Each one was stamped High Speed Cameras. Bridgeport, Ct.
"That's a lot of cameras for a few guys," Ned remarked.
"Right," Nancy said, now suspicious. "Open the next locker."
Ned did, and found similar boxes concealed behind raingear. Further search revealed guns, grenades, and explosives in each locker! Ned shook his head in disbelief, and Nancy's eyes were wide with amazement.
"Ned!" she exclaimed, "Now I know what the secret of Crocodile Island is! Gimler and Sacco are taking expensive high-speed cameras out of the U.S. They're smuggling them to someplace, maybe Mexico!"
As the two hurried back to the ladder, Ned put a hand on Nancy's shoulder. "You're right. And this means we're in great danger. We'd better get out of here before—"
Just then they heard voices. Two men were conversing rapidly and walking toward Nancy and Ned. The couple, who did not want to be seen, scooted into the first two lockers. She hid behind coiled ropes. Ned managed to squeeze in back of the raingear and stood next to the boxes of cameras.
They left the doors slightly ajar so they could see who was coming. The two men they had seen leave the sub, reentered it. Quickly one of them turned a handle, which slowly closed the hatch. The other man rotated a wheel that retracted the periscope. Then he started the engine and the sub moved away.
Nancy and Ned held their breath, wondering what would happen next. The man at the wheel suddenly laughed. He said confidently, "We pulled that one off all right. No more bothering with Gimler and Sacco! Next stop Mexico!
CHAPTER XXSubmarine Prisoners
"Mexico!" Nancy thought.
She and Ned were terrified when they realized that they were being taken out of the country with no chance to call for help. They tried to keep calm and figure out some way to outwit these men.
The prisoners listened attentively when the men resumed their conversation. One said, "I had no idea when we went into shipping stolen cameras with Gimler and Sacco that we could make so much money. I don't know why we ever bothered with the small amount we got out of the Crocodile Ecology Company."
The other man said, "You forget, Williams, that we needed a cover. I'd say we just got out of there in time. That nosey girl detective and her friends are just too smart."
In spite of their predicament, Nancy and Ned smiled at this remark.
Williams said, "Nothing to worry about now, Captain Frederick, We're rid of the bunch."
The men talked about what they were going to do with all the money they had made.
Frederick said, "I'll show those relatives of mine in Mexico what I can do, even if they thought I was a no-good." He laughed raucously. "How easy the whole operation was! We stole a lot of cameras from the factory in Connecticut and bought a whole lot of others cheap on the black market. And sold them at a three hundred percent profit."
Nancy and Ned almost suffocated in the lockers but did not dare miss a word. They learned that the cameras were shipped out at night to a freighter going south. Then they were transferred to The Whisper, which carried them to the submarine. Then The Whisper returned to the key, which was home base. Whenever the submarine came there, the periscope would be hoisted. If any visitors were on the island, an alarm would be sounded and the sightseers sent away.
Williams said, "It's too bad we couldn't fill that order for five hundred cameras. If the buyer in Mexico had only given us a little more time, we wouldn't have had any trouble."