He stopped. Lynch looked up at him. "How screwy can it get?" he said.
"The facts are nutty enough."
"You have absolutely no idea," Malone a.s.sured him. "I"m not even saying a word about this, not until I prove it out one way or another.
I"m not even thinking about it--not until it stops sounding so nutty to me."
"Okay, Malone," Lynch said. "I can see a piece of it, if no more. The Fueyo kid vanishes mysteriously--never mind all that about you getting him out of the interrogation room by some kind of confidential method.
There isn"t any confidential method. I know that better than you do."
"I had to say something, didn"t I?" Malone asked apologetically.
"So the kid disappears," Lynch said, brushing Malone"s question away with a wave of his hand. "So now I hear all this stuff from Kettleman.
And it begins to add up. The kids can disappear somehow, and reappear some place else. Walk through walls?" He shrugged. "How should I know?
But they can sure as h.e.l.l do something like it."
"Something," Malone said. "Like I said, it sounds screwy."
"I don"t like it," Lynch said.
Malone nodded. "n.o.body likes it," he said. "But keep it under your hat. I"ll give you everything I have--whenever I have anything. And by the way--"
"Yes?" Lynch said.
"Thanks for giving me and Kettleman a chance to talk," Malone said.
"Even if you had reasons of your own."
"Oh," Lynch said. "You mean the recording."
"I was a little suspicious," Malone said. "I didn"t think you"d give Kettleman to me without getting _something_ for yourself."
"Would you?" Lynch said.
Malone shrugged. "I"m not crazy either," he said.
Lynch picked up a handful of papers. "I"ve got all this work to do,"
he said. "So I"ll see you later."
"Okay," Malone said.
"And if you need my help, buddy-boy," Lynch said, "just yell. Right?"
"I"ll yell," Malone said. "Don"t worry about that. I"ll yell loud enough to get myself heard in s.p.a.ce Station One."
9
The afternoon was bright and sunny, but it didn"t match Malone"s mood.
He got a cab outside the precinct station and headed for 69th Street, dining off his nails en route. When he hit the FBI headquarters, he called Washington and got Burris on the line.
He made a full report to the FBI chief, including his wild theory and everything else that had happened. "And there was this notebook," he said, and reached into his jacket pocket for it.
The pocket was empty.
"What notebook?" Burris said.
Malone tried to remember if he"d left the book in his room. He couldn"t quite recall. "This book I picked up," he said, and described it. "I"ll send it on, or bring it in when the case is over."
"All right," Burris said.
Malone went on with his description of what had happened. When he"d finished, Burris heaved a great sigh.
"My goodness," he said. "Last year it was telepathic spies, and this year it"s teleporting thieves. Malone, I hate to think about next year."
"I wish you hadn"t said that," Malone said sadly.
Burris blinked. "Why?" he said.
"Oh, just because," Malone said. "I haven"t even had time to think about next year yet. But I"ll think about it now."
"Well, maybe it won"t be so bad," Burris said.
Malone shook his head. "No, Chief," he said. "You"re wrong. It"ll be worse."
"This is bad enough," Burris said.
"It"s a great vacation," Malone said.
"Please," Burris said. "Did I have any idea--"
"Yes," Malone said.
Burris" eyes closed. "All right, Malone," he said after a little pause. "Let"s get back to the report. At least it explains the red Cadillac business. Sergeant Jukovsky was. .h.i.t by a boy who vanished.
Vanished. My G.o.d."
"I was. .h.i.t by a boy who vanished, too," Malone said bitterly. "But of course I"m just an FBI agent. Expendable. n.o.body cares about--"
"Don"t say that, Malone," Burris said. "You"re one of my most valuable agents."
Malone tried to stop himself from beaming, but he couldn"t. "Well, Chief," he began, "I--"
"Vanishing boys," Burris muttered. "What are you going to do with them, Malone?"
"I was hoping you might have some kind of suggestion," Malone said.
"Me?"
"Well," Malone said, "I suppose I"ll figure it out. When I catch them.
But I did want something from you, Chief."