Free Tiger Threat by Sigmund Brouwer

capsule,” Vlad said. “I tell him if I go to dentist to have other tooth pulled, too many questions for everyone. Don’t want people to get hurt because of questions. So I promise to let Big Frank pull it after next game.”
    I still found this hard to understand. That Vlad had been willing to let Big Frank pull the tooth with a pair of pliers because Vlad was afraid other people might get hurt if they knew about it.
    â€œThen Ray stopped Big Frank,” Vlad said. “I ran away with Ray so that Big Frank wouldn’t hurt Ray. Now we have to solve problem in different way.”
    Mr. Jewel was moving from side to side, barely holding his excitement. He looked like a little boy who needed to go to the bathroom. “The capsule,” Mr. Jewel said to me. “Tell Dr. Dempster about what was inside the capsule.”
    â€œHalf of a code,” I said, watching Dr. Dempster. “And you saw the X-ray. So you know where the other half of the code is.”
    Dr. Dempster didn’t reply. He stepped to the wall. He hit the light switch and put us in darkness.
    â€œIf you’re right,” he said. “There’s no sense advertising to the world all of us are here.”
    He paused and spoke from the shadows. “Especially if it involves the Russian mafia.”

chapter twenty - one
    Fifteen minutes after Dr. Dempster first injected freezing into Vlad’s lower gum, Vlad nodded. He was ready for the dentist’s drill.
    Dr. Dempster nodded back and began to work. The sound of the drill seemed very loud this late at night.
    It took another fifteen minutes for Dr. Dempster to work the crown loose. He used tweezers to lift it from Vlad’s lower jaw. He set the crown on a tray.

    â€œVery good work,” Dr. Dempster told Mr. Jewel and me from beneath his surgical mask. “That should have told me to suspect something.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Mr. Jewel asked.
    â€œThe rest of the dental work in Vlad’s mouth is horrible,” Dr. Dempster said. “But this crown and the other one were excellent. A lot of money was spent to make sure both crowns would last a long time.”
    Dr. Dempster used his tweezers to reach into Vlad’s mouth again. He pulled out a tiny capsule, identical to the other one that I had found. He did not drop it on the tray, however. He placed it in a small paper cup and handed the cup to Mr. Jewel.
    Mr. Jewel winked at us.
    â€œMy turn,” he said. “With luck, I should be less than five minutes.”
    Vlad stayed in the dentist chair. He was lying back. His eyes were closed.
    â€œThe code in the capsule must be worth a lot,” Dr. Dempster said to me. “Someone went to a lot of trouble to hide it. And if someone was sent from Russia as soon asthey learned about the capsules from the X-rays...”
    â€œYes.” I didn’t add to my answer.
    â€œSo you know, then, what Mr. Jewel will find in the capsule?”
    â€œI have a good guess,” I said. Mr. Jewel had brought his watch-repair tools with him tonight to open the second capsule as he had opened the first the day before. Although Vlad had explained a lot to me, I decided not to say any more.
    Dr. Dempster sighed. “Are you going to tell me about the code?”
    â€œI would rather not,” I said.
    â€œDo you have any idea how curious I am?” Dr. Dempster said. “I really, really wanted to ask Vlad about what was inside his crowns when I first saw his X-rays. I made sure he had the tooth to take home so that he would find the capsule. I wanted him to come back and ask me about it.”
    â€œBut you didn’t ask him directly,” I said.
    â€œIt wasn’t my business.” Dr. Dempster pulled his surgical mask down. “However,it seems you have made it my business. So I don’t mind asking now.”
    Vlad grunted and shook his head from side to side. Difficult to do anything else in the dentist