But did they think to search the car?"

"They didn't get a chance," Burris said. "Anyhow, not then. Not until
they got around to picking up the pieces of the car uptown at 125th
Street."

Malone closed his eyes. "Where was this precinct?" he said.

"Midtown," Burris said. "In the forties."

"And the pieces of the car were eighty blocks away when they searched
it?" Malone said.

Burris nodded.

"All right," Malone said pleasantly. "I give up."

"Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you," Burris said. "According to
the witnesses, after Jukovsky fell out of the car, the motor started
and the car drove off uptown."

"Oh," Malone said. He thought about that for a minute and decided at
last to hazard one little question. It sounded silly--but then, what
didn't? "The car just drove off all by itself?" he said.

Burris seemed abashed. "Well, Malone," he said carefully, "that's
where the conflicting stories of the eyewitnesses don't agree. You
see, two of the cops say there was nobody in the car. Nobody at all.
Of any kind. Small or large."

"And the other two?" Malone said.

"The other two swear they saw somebody at the wheel," Burris said,
"but they won't say whether it was a man, a woman, a small child, or
an anthropoid ape. And they haven't the faintest idea where he, she,
or it came from."

"Great," Malone said. He felt a little tired. This trip was beginning
to sound less and less like a vacation.

"Those two cops swear there was something--or somebody--driving the
car," Burris said. "And that isn't all."

"It isn't?" Malone said.

Burris shook his head. "A couple of the cops jumped into a squad car
and started following the red Cadillac. One of these cops saw somebody
in the car when it left the curb. The other one didn't. Got that?"

"I've got it," Malone said, "but I don't exactly know what to do with
it."

"Just hold on to it," Burris said, "and listen to this. The cops were
about two blocks behind at the start, and they couldn't close the gap
right away. The Cadillac headed west and climbed up the ramp of the
West Side Highway, heading north, out toward Westchester. I'd give a
lot to know where they were going, too."

"But they crashed," Malone said, remembering that the pieces were at
125th Street. "So--"

"They didn't crash right away," Burris said. "The prowl car started
gaining on the Cadillac slowly. And--now, get this, Malone--both the
cops swear there _was_ somebody in the driver's se