Reed managed to look proud and embarrassed simultaneously. "I never thought I'd get to meet you two," he said. "I've heard a lot about you."
Napoleon smiled deprecatingly, while Illya merely nodded. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Reed."
Solo turned to Wolff. "Waukesha County? The reports we read came from, uh..."
"Mukwonago," Illya interjected helpfully.
Reed nodded. "Oh, yes. That's a town in the southern part of the county. I live there, and send my reports from home."
"Well, then," said Napoleon, "It seems we're bound for Mukwonago. Will you be coming with us, Mr. Wolff?"
Wolff shook his head. "There's nothing I'd like better that to see how you two work, but I'm afraid I can't. We suspect Thrush of having its eye on the new atomic accelerator being planned at Weston, as well as infiltrating into the local civil rights movement and the local branch of the Nazi party, and our office is pretty well tied up. In fact, I'm on my way to Weston now. In any event, I probably know less about this than your do. Reed reports directly to New York, like all our part-time agents, and the request for the meeting and what information I have came from the New York office." He sounded a bit resentful.
"Can we count on our Milwaukee branch for assistance?" Illya asked.
Wolff nodded. "Certainly, but remember that it's a small branch, and they're having their troubles, too."
"Oh?"
"They can tell you about it if you check in with them. I'm not sure they want it circulated. I'm not even sure I believe it."
Napoleon and Illya exchanged glances. Checking with Milwaukee would be a definite part of their program.
"Now, then," said Wolff, "I hate to rush this, but I do have to get to Weston. New York said that you had been flown here more of less directly from your last assignment, and you would need some replacement equipment. If you'll come with me to the car, I'll fix you up and then you and Mr. Reed can be on your way."
A few minutes later, their briefcases well supplied with assorted weapons and gadgetry, Napoleon and Illya watched the Chicago agent swing his car out of the parking lot and through the service area toward the tollway entrance ramp.
"Well, Mr. Reed," said Napoleon, "suppose you tell us all about it on the way."
Reed looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, but I can't ride with you. I drove down in my patrol car, and I'd better have it back at the office by four o'clock, or the sheriff will be asking questions.
Illya frowned, "You mean he doesn't know you're down here to meet us?"
"Well, no," Reed said, looking intently at the left front tire of the rented car. "And if you could do me a favor..."
"Of course, Mr. Reed," Napoleon said. "After all, you are one of us."
Napoleon's intended reassurance seemed to make Reed even more uncomfortable. "Yes, well, thank you, but..." He hesitated, searching for words, then blurted our, "Don't mention to the sheriff where you got the information. He doesn't know I report to you on the side, and, well, all in all he's pretty hardnosed about moonlighting."
Napoleon blinked. "I wouldn't consider working for U.N.C.L.E. as 'moonlighting,' Mr. Reed."
"Now, Napoleon," Illya broke in, "you know that a good cover story is valuable in inverse proportion to the number of people who know about it." He turned to Reed. "Your secret is safe with us."
"Of course." Napoleon's cordial smile returned. "You can give us a quick rundown now, and we can arrange a meeting place for later conferences. We have transcripts of your reports, but a first-hand account is always more informative. Now, as I understand it, the problem is that a house disappeared briefly and then reappeared, and later the owner of this house disappeared and hasn't reappeared. We have a dossier on the owner, Dr. Morthley. Brilliant man, though a little eccentric. Now then, if you could repeat in detail just what you saw and did that first night..."
"It was about two months ago," Reed began, and proceeded to give a vivid description of his encounter, apparently forgetting his four o'clock deadline with the patrol car. "I stopped by to talk to Dr. Morthley the next day," he concluded. "You know, feel him out a bit. I must say, if he knew anything about it, he was a good actor. A lot of guys would try to bluff—you know, convince me that I hadn't really seen anything. That's when you know they're up to something. Morthley wasn't that way, though. He seemed quite concerned, but didn't have any explanation."
"Did he say whether or not he'd been working on an experiment that night?" Illya asked.
Reed grinned ruefully. "Yes. He did, but it was just a string of big words to me. Omniperceptual something—or was it omnidirectional? Something like that; I didn't understand any of it, and he said it couldn't have had anything to do with what I saw."
"And the Doctor himself disappeared yesterday?" asked Napoleon.
"Well, not exactly. I just found out about it yesterday. As near as I can tell, the last time anyone saw him was three days ago. There was two days' mail in his box; that's how I found out about it. The mail carrier on that route is my father-in-law."
"Do you always watch over the rural residents that closely?" Napoleon asked.
"No, but I've been trying to keep an eye on Dr. Morthley ever since the house disappeared. Something was going on out there. So when he didn't pick up his mail, I checked on it.
"Are there any nearby neighbors?" Napoleon asked. "Anybody who might have seen anything suspicious?"
"No close ones, really. The house sits between two curves in the road. Nearest houses are a half mile away, and with the curve and trees—and a couple hills—I don't think anyone in them could see anything. Old Mrs. Cartlin could probably see the place, though. She lives on another road, about a half mile away, but it's on a hill, and until the leaves are all back on the trees—"
"You haven't questioned her?"
"No. I didn't have any real reason to ask questions until he disappeared. No real reason now, for that matter. The sheriff says Morthley probably went on vacation, and as long as that's the official view I don't have any right to nose around. Besides, anything you say to Mrs. Cartlin is common knowledge all over that end of the county in a couple of days."
"Could you show us around the area this evening?" Illya asked.
"And," added Napoleon, "could you give us a list of the people living about two miles in each direction, particularly those in the direction of the nearest highway?"
"And one other thing," said Illya. "Would you tell us how to get to Mukwonago?"
"I don't know about showing you around tonight," replied Reed. "I'm supposed to be on duty at the sheriff's office we've got a couple of men sick, and everybody else is doubling up to handle the work. You could come up and see, though. That's in Waukesha, now, not Mukwonago. He rummaged in the glove compartment of the patrol car and handed them a map of Wisconsin. "I could get you the list of people by then, and maybe snow the sheriff into letting me off to guide you around. Make sure you don't tell him you know me, though."
"That sounds fine. We'll see you this evening, then." The two agents got into the car. Illya behind the wheel. Reed still stood near the left door, fidgeting. "Was there anything else?" asked Illya.
Reed looked as if he were about to blush. "There is one thing you could do for me, since it's getting so late; I won't have time to stop by my place before going to the office and..."