Then soon afterward, "We're coming into the outskirts of town."
Rick walked from the newspaper office to the sidewalk and leaned casually against the building, eyes on the direction from which the quarry and Scotty would come. He felt just fine. The little network was taking all the strain out of shadowing. He thought of the many times when such communications would have come in very handy indeed.
"Moving down Main Street," Scotty reported. "Watch it!"
Rick saw a truck come into sight and slow as it neared the barbershop. A man got out, thanked the driver, then stood looking around. He spotted the barbershop, but instead of going in, he went to the window of the Sports Center and stood quietly, ostensibly inspecting equipment. Rick decided he was just looking the street over before making contact.
"I'm on him," he said quietly for Scotty's benefit. "He's casing the street. He'll probably go into the barbershop any minute now."
Scotty drove down the main street, and as he passed the barbershop, he reported, "There's a man in the chair. Maybe our friend is waiting for him to leave."
Rick's plans had not gone beyond this point. The objective had been to see whether the houseboaters made contact with the barber. But now he realized that a simple contact wasn't proof of anything. Who was to say that the houseboater hadn't really wanted a haircut?
If only there were some way of overhearing the conversation....
Jerry Webster came out and stood beside him. "See your man?"
Rick gestured. "In front of the Sports Center."
Jerry grinned. "Don't tell me you don't have a complete plan! Why, I thought by now you'd have the barbershop wired for sound."
Rick stared at him. Wired! Why not? And it wasn't too late, if Jerry would help.
Jerry looked martyred. "Might as well. I'm in this up to my neck, anyway."
Scotty joined them. He had parked the car around the corner. "What's happening?"
"Just had a brain storm," Rick told him. He explained rapidly, and the two started to chuckle.
"It should work," Scotty agreed. "Go ahead. I'll take over the watch. Hey! There he goes."
The houseboater had just walked into the barbershop.
Rick ran to the next corner and into the grocery store. He hesitated briefly, then picked out two boxes of cereal, and added a box of sugar. He had them put into a bag, paid for them, and hurried back.