d. A
plainclothesman put a stethoscope on the questionable case. He beamed,
and made a suitable signal.

The truck went on, while zestful, Machiavelian plans took effect.

Five blocks farther, an unmarked empty truck came hurtling out of a side
street, sideswiped the truck from the Embassy, and went careening away
down the street without stopping. The trailing police truck made no
attempt at pursuit. Instead, it stopped helpfully by the truck which had
been hit. A wheel was hopelessly gone. So uniformed police, with
conspicuously happy expressions, cleared a space around the stalled
truck and stood guard over the parcels under diplomatic seal. With eager
helpfulness, they sent for other transportation for the Embassy's
shipment.

A sneeze was heard from within the mass of guarded freight, and the
policemen shook hands with each other. When substitute trucks
came--there were two of them--they loaded one high with Embassy parcels
and sent it off to the spaceport with their blessing. There remained
just one, single, large-sized box to be put on the second vehicle. They
bumped it on the ground, and a startled grunt came from within.

There was an atmosphere of innocent enjoyment all about as the police
tenderly loaded this large box on the second truck they'd sent for, and
festooned themselves about it as it trundled away. Strangely, it did not
head directly for the spaceport. The police carefully explained this to
each other in loud voices. Then some of them were afraid the box hadn't
heard, so they knocked on it. The box coughed, and it seemed hilariously
amusing to the policemen that the contents of a freight parcel should
cough. They expressed deep concern and--addressing the box--explained
that they were taking it to the Detention Building, where they would
give it some cough medicine.

The box swore at them, despairingly. They howled with childish laughter,
and assured the box that after they had opened it and given it cough
medicine they would close it again very carefully--leaving the
diplomatic seal unbroken--and deliver it to the spaceport so it could go
on its way.

The box swore again, luridly. The truck which carried it hastened. The
box teetered and bumped and jounced with the swift motion of the vehicle
that carried it and all the police around it. Bitter, enraged, and
highly unprintable language came from within.

The police were charmed. Even so early in the morning they seemed
inclined to burst in