t 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 seat now."

"Wait a minute," Malone said. "One of these cops didn't see anybody at
all in the driver's seat when the car started off."

"Right," Burris said.

"But on the West Side Highway, he did see a driver," Malone said. He
thought for a minute. "It could happen. The start happened so fast he
could have been confused, or something."

"There's another explanation," Burris said.

"Sure," Malone said cheerfully. "We're all crazy. The whole world is
crazy."

* * * * *

"Not that one," Burris said. "I'll tell you when I finish with this
thing about the car itself. There isn't much description of whoever or
whatever was driving that car on the West Side Highway, by the way. In
case you were thinking of asking."

Malone, who hadn't been thinking of asking anything, tried to look
clever. Burris regarded him owlishly for a second, and then went on:

"The car was hitting it up at about a hundred and ten by this time, and
accelerating all the time. But the souped-up squad car w