lac when it went off the embankment."

"Now, wait a minute," Malone said. "Here's a car with a driver who
appears and disappears practically at will. Sometimes he's there and
sometimes he's not there."

"Ah," Burris said. "That's why I have another explanation."

Malone shifted his feet. Maybe there _was_ another explanation. But,
he told himself, it would have to be a good one.

"Nobody expects a car to drive itself down a highway," Burris said.

"That's right," Malone said. "That's why it's all impossible."

"So," Burris said, "it would be a natural hallucination--or illusion,
anyhow--for somebody to imagine he did see a driver when there wasn't
any."

"Okay," Malone said. "There wasn't any driver. So the car couldn't
have gone anywhere. So the New York police force is lying to us. It's
a good explanation, but it--"

"They aren't lying," Burris said. "Why should they? I'm thinking of
something else." He stopped, his eyes bright as he leaned across the
desk toward Malone.

"Do I get three guesses?" Malone said.

Burris ignored him. "Frankly," he said, "I've got a hunch that the
whole thing was done with remote control. Somewhere in that car was a
very cleverly concealed device that was capable of running the
Cadillac from a distance."

It did sound plausible, Malone thought. "Did the prowl car boys find
any traces of it when they examined the wreckage?" he said.

"Not a thing," Burris said. "But, after all, it could have been
melted. The fire did destroy a lot of the Cadillac, and there's just
no telling. But I'd give long odds that there must have been some kind
of robot device in that car. It's the only answer, isn't it?"

"I suppose so," Malone said.

"Malone," Burns said, his voice filled with Devotion To One's Country
In The Face of Great Obstacles, "Malone, I want you to find that
device!"

"In the wreck?" Malone said.

Burris sighed and leaned back. "No," he said. "Of course not. Not in
the wreck. But the other red Cadillacs--some of them, anyhow--ought to
have--"

"What red Cadillacs?" Malone said.

"The other ones that have been stolen. From Connecticut, mostly. One
from New Jersey, out near Passaic."

"Have any of the others been moving around without drivers?" Malone
said.

"Well," Burris said, "there's been no report of it. But who can tell?"
He gestured with both arms. "Anything is possible, Malone."

"Sure," Malone said.

"Now," Burris said, "all of the stolen cars are red 19