Then lets get out of here, Stone said. He got into the car in the garage and placed the shotgun on his lap, then Fred rolled out onto the street. Two men on motorcycles, who had been waiting at the curb, followed the car. As they turned onto Park Avenue, Stone noticed a motorcyclist sitting on an idling machine, talking on a cell phone. See that, Fred? I just spoke to him. He said we have no case, now. Everything depended on Francess testimony. I wish we had recorded her. Depends on how things work out. Drake nodded, motioned Mason to silence, said,Hello... On your last years model car, is it possible to turn on the radio when the ignition is locked...? Yeah, my neighbor thinks my kid got in his garage, turned on the radio and ran the battery down... Oh, yes, I see. Youre sure...? Thats true of all last year’s models...? Okay, thanks. Hell probably stop and make a phone call — to another pay phone. Theyll tell him where to go next. It could go on like that for quite a while until theyre sure that there’s no one on his tail. He looked around his nice corner office.I will unless somebody offers me a job that pays a lot with a fat pension plan and a big office and a large staff so that I dont have to work too hard and still get to shoot off my mouth all the time and have my name in the paper and my picture on television a lot. You know any jobs around like that? Frank, Sonny said, you get in your car, start it up and go home or wherever you want to go. He said,I submit, if the Court please, that theres some technical error, something that can be explained. Perhaps its a misprint. I object to counsel asking questions about this trip sheet of this witness on the ground that they are argumentative. The facts speak for themselves. Well try to getthis situation unscrambled later, without having the witness become hopelessly confused trying to explain some typographical error. Mason looked the place over with careful scrutiny, then said,Do you happen to remember whether there was a stepladder around here, Sheriff, a good, fall stepladder? Is that the man? Hamilton Burger asked. I dont believe Ive had the pleasure, Herbie replied. Gallops? Showalter did the talking for the next five minutes. He advanced a few theories which didnt sound plausible, said that he had even more officers going over the area where the shooter had stood now that it was daylight, and assured Jess that the shooter would be identified and apprehended. He wisely didnt put forth a time when this miracle of detection was going to take place. I chose the bench swing, which was the old-fashioned kind suspended from the porch ceiling by thin metal chains. We sat there for a moment inspecting each other, probably for signs of dotage and infirmity, and none of us would have been unhappy at the discovery of a tremulous jowl here or a mild tic there. Figure? That was a down payment, Stone said. Shed have gotten more if shed gone home with my scalp. I am, Stone replied. Killers sometimes do. Maybe he just called ahead to get the island reconnoitered, but his guy is careless about being seen. A copy was made of the letter. The original letter then disappeared..