Read Online The Watercress File: Being the Further Adventures of That Man from C. A. M. P. by V. J. Banis - Free Book Online

explained quickly about WATERCRESS and its intended functions, and about his promise to Aunt Lily.
    â€œThey can’t hurt anything,” he finished. “And I’ve a feeling we might need their help.”
    â€œAll right,” Craig gave in finally. “But I have a feeling myself. I have a feeling we’ll both regret this before it’s all over.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    As it developed, the two agents were to need the help of WATERCRESS sooner than expected. In discussing their plans, it soon became evident to Jackie and Craig that the first step would be to check out Miss Temple. If there was an assassination plot underway, and the message had been intended for her, then that was the logical way to begin foiling the plot.
    It was obvious, however, that neither Jackie nor Craig, both of whom were knownto her, could attempt to do any snooping. That meant calling in someone else to help.
    â€œI still don’t like it,” Craig objected as they discussed the plan that Jackie had come up with. “Your aunts are both charming ladies, I’m sure, but I don’t think either one of them has the brains to accomplish anything for us. Even if they did, it’s just too dangerous a job to send them out on.”
    â€œWe don’t have much choice,” Jackie pointed out to him. “Someone has got to get inside Miss Temple’s apartment and see what can be found there. Neither one of us could get away with it; and besides, as long as Aunt Lily and Aunt Nasturtia are posing as cosmetic salesladies, I don’t see that there’ll be too much danger for them. Just to be on the safe side, I’ll equip them with warning signals, and hang around outside. If anything goes wrong, they can always let me know and I can be there in time to prevent anything from happening.”
    â€œI guess you’re right,” Craig admitted begrudgingly. “But I still don’t have much faith in them.”
    Although he would not admit to them before Craig, Jackie too had his doubts. Fond as he was of his aunts, he knew them to be scatterbrained and silly, dangerous traits in the spying profession. Still, as he had argued, they were the most likely prospects for getting inside Miss Temple’s apartment and “casing” the place.
    Aunt Lily and Aunt Nasturtia, however, were quite confident, and excited beyond compare. The plan was a simple one. They were to appear at Miss Temple’s door as saleswomen, and talk their way inside. Once there, Aunt Nasturtia would create a diversion by fainting. While Miss Temple was helping with Nasturtia, Lily would have her opportunity to look around for anything of particular interest.
    â€œBut what exactly will I be looking for?” Aunt Lily asked when the plan had been discussed.
    â€œThat’s the difficult part,” Jackie answered. “I don’t know myself. You’ll have to use your own judgment, and just look for anything that looks really out of the ordinary.”
    He gave her a large corsage to be pinned to the bodice of her dress. “It’s a camera,” he explained, showing her the mechanism concealed in the artificial blossoms. “When you get inside the door, just touch this switch, and it will start filming. It will continue automatically for an hour.”
    â€œOh, how exciting.”
    â€œJust remember to start it when you get inside,” he reminded her. He also gave each of them small, trivial-looking lockets to be worn about their necks on small gold chains. “These are alarms. If anything goes wrong, break the chain with a quick yank. That’ll bring me running from outside.”
    * * * *
    A short time later, Jackie was seated in a car outside the apartment building in which Miss Temple lived. He had dropped Aunt Lily and Aunt Nasturtia two blocks away, so that they would not be seen with him. That effort was wasted, however, for as they approached on the sidewalk, Aunt Nasturtia saw