illed
himself to the eyebrows with aspirins and other remedies, and actually
succeeded in getting dressed. He seemed quite proud of this feat.

"O.K.," Malone said. "Now we have to go downstairs."

"You mean outside?" Boyd said. "Into all that noise?" He winced.

"Bite the bullet," Malone said cheerfully. "Keep a stiff upper lip."

"Nonsense," Boyd said, hunting for his coat with a doleful air. "Have
you ever seen anybody with a loose upper lip?"

Malone, busy with his own coat, didn't bother with a reply. He managed
somehow to get Boyd downstairs and bundled into a cab. They headed for
Sixty-ninth Street.

* * * * *

There, he made several phone calls. The first, of course, was to Burris
in Washington. After that he got the New York Police Commissioner on the
wire and, finding that he needed still more authority, he called the
Mayor and then, by long-distance to Albany, the Governor.

But by noon he had everything straightened out. He had a plan fully
worked out in his mind, and he had the authority to go ahead with it.
Now, he could make his final call.

"They're completely trustworthy," Burris had told him. "Not only that,
but they have a clearance for this kind of special work--we've needed
them before."

"Good," Malone said.

"Not only that," Burris told him. "They're good men. Maybe among the
best in their field."

So Malone made his last call, to the firm of Leibowitz & Hardin,
Electronic Engineers.

Then he beckoned to Boyd.

"I don't see what I've been sitting around here for, all this time," his
partner complained. "I could have been home sleeping until you needed
me. And--"

"I need you now," Malone said. "I want you to take over part of this
plan."

Boyd nodded sourly. "Oh, all right," he said.

"Here's what I want," Malone said. "Every red 1972 Cadillac in the area
is to be picked up for inspection. I don't care why--make up a reason. A
general traffic check. Anything you please. You can work that end of it
out with the Commissioner; he knows about it and he's willing to go
along."

"Great," Boyd said. "Do you have any idea how many cars there are in a
city this size?"

"Well, we don't want all of them," Malone said. "Only red 1972
Cadillacs."

"It's still a lot," Boyd said.

"If there were only three," Malone said, "we wouldn't have any
problems."

"And wouldn't that be nice?" Boyd said.

"Sure," Malone said, "but it isn't true. Anyhow: I want