n his chest. It looked like an old gunshot wound, they
said. Must have happened years ago."

"That's odd. The man who accosted Mrs. Laughton in the afternoon was
bitten by their dog. Later that night she said she shot the same man
in the chest. Since the scars are healed it obviously couldn't be the
same man. But there's a real coincidence for you. And speaking of the
dogbite, the Laughton dog died that night. His menu evidently didn't
agree with him. Never did figure what killed him, actually."

"Any record of treatment on the man she shot?"

"The _men_. You'll remember, there were two. No, we never found a
trace of either. No doctor ever made a report of a gunshot wound that
night. No hospital had a case either--at least not within several
hundred miles--that night or several nights afterwards. Ever been shot
with .30-.30?"

The state attorney shook his head. "I wouldn't be here if I had."

"I'll say you wouldn't. The pair must have crawled away to die God
knows where."

"Getting back to the man who ran over the child and killed Mrs.
Laughton. Why did he pretend to be drunk?"

It was the chief's turn to shake his head. "Your guess is as good as
mine. There are a lot of angles to this case none of us understand. It
looks deliberate, but where's the motive?"

"What does the man have to say?"

"I was afraid you'd get to him," the chief said, his neck reddening.
"It's all been rather embarrassing to the department." He coughed
self-consciously. "He's proved a strange one, all right. He says his
name is John Smith and he's got cards to prove it, too--for example, a
social security card. It looks authentic, yet there's no such number
on file in Washington, so we've discovered. We've had him in jail for
a week and we've all taken turns questioning him. He laughs and admits
his guilt--in fact, he seems amused by most everything. Sometimes all
alone in his cell he'll start laughing for no apparent reason. It
gives you the creeps."

* * * * *

The states attorney leaned back in his chair. "Maybe it's a case for
an alienist."

"One jump ahead of you. Dr. Stone thinks he's normal, but won't put
down any I.Q. Actually, he can't figure him out himself. Smith seems
to take delight in answering questions--sort of anticipates them and
has the answer ready before you're half through asking."

"Well, if Dr. Stone says he's normal, that's enough for me." The
prosecutor was silent for a mome