The door swung open very suddenly, and Malone stepped back.
A short, wrinkled, dark-eyed woman in a print housedress was eying him with deep suspicion. “My daughter is not home,” she announced at once.
"I'm not looking for your daughter,” Malone said. “I'd like to talk to Mike."
"Mike?” Her expression grew even more suspicious. “You want to talk to Mike?"
"That's right,” Malone said.
"Ah,” the woman said. “You one of those hoodlum friends he has. I'm right? You can talk to Mike when I am dead and have no control over him. For now, you can just—"
"Wait a minute,” Malone said. He pulled out his wallet and flipped it open to show his badge, being very careful that he made the right flip this time. He didn't know exactly how this woman would react to the Queen's Own FBI, but he didn't especially want to find out.
She looked down at the badge without taking the wallet from him. “Hah,” she said. “You're cop, eh?” Her eyes left the wallet and examined Malone from head to foot. It was perfectly plain that they didn't like what they saw. “Cop,” she said again, as if to herself. It sounded like a curse.
Malone said, “Well, I—"
"You want to ask me stupid questions,” she said. “That is what you want to do. I'm right?"
"I only—"
"I know nothing,” she said. “Nothing of any kind.” She closed her mouth and stood regarding him as if he were a particularly repulsive statue. Malone looked past her into the living room beyond the door. It was faded now, but it had once been bright and colorful. There was an old rug on the floor, and tables were everywhere. The one bright thing about the room was the assortment of flowers; there were flowers everywhere, in vases, in pots, and even in window boxes. There was also a lot of crockery statuary, mostly faded, chipped, or worn in some way. The room looked to Malone as if its last inhabitant had died ten years before; only the flowers had been renewed. Everything else had not only the appearance of age, but the look of having been cast up as a high-water mark by the sea, which had receded and left only the tangled wreckage.
The woman cleared her throat, and Malone's gaze came back to her. “I can tell you nothing,” she said.
"I don't want to talk to you,” Malone said again. “I want to talk to Mike."
Her eyes were very cold. “You from the police, and you want to talk to Mike. You make a joke. Only I don't think the joke is very funny."
"Joke?” Malone said. “You mean Mike's not here?"
Her gaze never wavered. “You know he is not,” she said. “Ten minutes ago the policemen were taking him away to the police station. How then could he be here?"
"Ten minutes ago?” Malone blinked. Ten minutes ago he had been looking for this apartment. Probably it hadn't taken Lynch's men ten minutes to find it; they weren't strangers in New York. “He was arrested?” Malone said.
"I said so, didn't I?” the woman said. “You must be crazy or else something.” Her eyes were still cold points, but Malone suddenly saw a glow behind them, the glow of tears. Mike was her son. She did not seem surprised that the police had taken him away, but she was determined to protect him. He was her son.
Malone's voice was very gentle. “Why did they arrest him?” he said.
The woman shrugged, a single sharp gesture. “You ask me this?” she said.
"I'm not a cop,” Malone said. “I'm from the FBI. I don't know anything about why the cops might have arrested Mike."
"FBI?” the woman said.
"It's all right,” Malone said, with all the assurance he could muster. “I only want to talk to him."
"Ah,” the woman said. Tears were plain in her eyes now, glittering on the surface. “Why they take him away, I do not know. My Mike do nothing. Nothing."
"But didn't they say anything about—"
"They say?” the woman cried. “They say only they have orders from this Lieutenant Lynch. He is lieutenant at police station."
"I know,” Malone said gently.
"Lieutenant Lynch wants to ask Mike questions, so police come, take him away.” Her English was beginning to lose ground as the tears came closer, as she slowly lost control.
"Lynch asked for him?” Malone said. He frowned. Whatever that meant, he wanted to be there himself. And perhaps he could help the old woman in some way. Anyhow, he would try. She stared up at him stonily. “Look, Mrs. Fueyo,” he said. “I'm going down there to talk to Mike right now. And if he hasn't done anything, I'll see that he gets right on home to you. Right away."
Her expression changed a trifle. She did not actually soften, but Malone could feel the gratitude lurking behind her eyes as if it were afraid to come out. She nodded gravely and said nothing at all. He stepped away, and she closed the door without a sound.
He stood staring at the door for a few seconds. Then he turned and punched the elevator button savagely.
There wasn't any time to lose.
He walked back to the precinct station. Knowing the way, it took him about five minutes instead of the fifteen it had taken him to find the Fueyo residence. But he still felt as if time were passing much too fast. He ran up the steps and passed right by the desk sergeant, who apparently recognized him; he said nothing as Malone charged up the stairs and around the hall to Lynch's office.
It was empty.
Malone stared at it and started down the hall again without knowing where he was heading. Halfway to the stairs he met a patrolman.
"Where's Lynch?” he asked.
"The lieutenant?” the patrolman said.
Malone fumed. “Who else?” he said. “Where is he?"
"Got some kid back in the tank, or somewhere,” the patrolman said. “Asking him a couple of questions, that's all.” He added, “Hey, listen, buddy, what do you want to see the lieutenant for? I mean, you can't just go charging in to—"
Malone was down the stairs before he'd finished. He went, up to the desk.
The desk sergeant looked down. “What's it this time?” he said. “A track meet?"
"I'm in a hurry,” Malone said. “Where are the cells? I want to see Lieutenant Lynch."
The desk sergeant nodded. “Okay,” he said. “But the lieutenant ain't in any of the cells. He's back in Interrogation with some kid."
"Take me there,” Malone said.
"I'll show you, anyway,” the sergeant said. “Can't leave the desk on duty.” He cleared his throat and gave Malone a set of directions that took him around to the back of the station. He was repeating the directions when Malone left.
There was a door at the end of a corridor at the back of the station. It was a plain wooden door with the numeral 1 stenciled on it. Malone opened it and looked inside.
He was staring into a rather small, rather plain little room. There were absolutely no bright beam lights burning, and there didn't seem to be any rubber hoses around anywhere. There were only four chairs.
Seated in three of the chairs were Lieutenant Lynch and two other police officers. In the fourth chair, facing them, was a young boy.
He didn't look like a tough kid. He had wavy black hair, brown eyes, and what Malone thought looked like a generally friendly appearance. He was slight and wiry, not over five feet five or six. And he wore an expression that was neither too eager nor hostile. It wasn't just blank, either; Malone finally pinned it down as receptive.
He had the strangest impression that he had seen the boy somewhere before. But he couldn't remember when or where.
Lieutenant Lynch was talking.
"...all we want, Mike, is a little information. We thought you'd be able to help us, if you wanted to. Now, how about it?"
"Sure,” Mike Fueyo said. His voice was a little high, but it was well controlled and responsive. “Sure, Lieutenant. I'll help if I can, but I just don't dig what you're giving me. It doesn't make sense.” Lynch stirred a little impatiently, and his voice began to carry a new bite. “I'm talking about Cadillacs,” he said. “Red Cadillacs, 1972 models."
"What do you know about them?” Lynch said.
"Know about them?” Mike said. “I know they're nice cars. That's about it. What else am I going to know, Lieutenant? Maybe you think I own one of these big red 1972 Caddies. Maybe you think I got that kind of money. Well, listen, Lieutenant. I'd like to help you out, but I'm just not—"
"The Cadillacs,” Lynch said, “were—"
"Just a minute, Lieutenant,” Malone said. Dead silence fell with great suddenness. Lynch and all the others looked around at Malone, who smiled apologetically. “I don't want to disturb anything,” he said. “But I would like to talk to Mike here for a little while."
"Oh,” Lynch said sourly. “Sure. Sure."
"I'd like to ask him a couple of questions,” Malone said. “Alone."
"Alone.” Lynch said. “Oh.” But there was nothing for him to do, Malone knew, except bow to the inevitable. “Of course,” he said. “Go right ahead."
"You can stand outside the door,” Malone said. “He won't get away. And you'd better hold this.” Malone, knowing perfectly well that staying armed and alone in a room with a suspect was something you just did not do, unstrapped his .44 Magnum and handed it to the lieutenant.
He left reluctantly with his men. The door closed.
Malone could understand Lynch's attitude. If Malone solved the case, Lynch would not get any credit. Otherwise, it might go down in his personal record. And of course the NYPD would rather wrap the case up themselves; the FBI was treated as a necessary interference. Unfortunately, Malone thought, Lynch had had absolutely no choice. He sighed gently, and turned his attention to Mike Fueyo, who was still sitting in his chair.
"Now, Mike—” he began, and was interrupted.
The door opened. Lieutenant Lynch said, “If you need us, Malone, just yell."
"You'll hear me,” Malone promised. The door shut.
He turned back to the boy. “Now, Mike,” he began again. “My name is Malone, and I'm with the FBI in Washington. I'd like to ask you a few—"
"Gee, Mr. Malone,” Mike broke in eagerly. “I'm glad you're here. I'm really glad about that."
Malone said, “Well, I—"
"These cops here have been giving me a pretty rough deal, you know?” Mike said.
"I'm sure they—” Malone began.
"But I've been looking for you,” Mike went on. “See, I wanted to say something to you. Something real important."
Malone leaned forward expectantly. At last he was going to get some information-perhaps the information that would break the whole case wide open. He said, “Yes?"
"Well,” Mike began, and stopped.
"You don't have to be afraid of me, Mike,” Malone said. “Just tell me whatever's on your mind."
"Sure,” Mike said. “It's this."
He took a deep breath. Malone clenched his fists. Now it was coming. Now he would hear the all-important fact. He waited.
Mike stuck out his tongue and blew the longest, loudest, brassiest, and juiciest Bronx cheer that Malone had ever heard.
Then, almost instantly, the room was empty except for Malone himself.
Mike was gone.
There wasn't any place to hide, and there hadn't been any time to hide in. Malone looked around wildly, but he had no doubts at all.
Mike Fueyo had vanished, utterly and instantaneously. He'd gone out like a light.
CHAPTER 5
Thirty seconds passed.
During that time, Malone did nothing at all. He just sat there, while a confused montage of pictures tumbled through his head. Sometimes he saw double exposures, and sometimes a couple of pictures overlapped, but it didn't seem to make any difference, because none of the pictures meant anything anyhow.
The reason for that was obvious. He was no longer sane. He had cracked up. At a crucial moment his brain had failed him, and now people would have to come in and cart him away and put him in a strait jacket. It was perfectly obvious to Malone that he was no longer capable of dealing with everyday life. The blow on the head had probably taken final effect, and it had been more serious than the doctor had imagined.
He had always distrusted doctors anyhow.
And now he was suffering from a delayed reaction. He wasn't living in the real world any more. He had gone off to dreamland, where people disappeared when you looked at them. There was no hope for him any more.
It was a nice theory, and it was even comforting in a way. There was only one thing wrong with it.
The room around him didn't look dreamlike at all. It was perfectly solid and real, and it looked just the way it had looked before Mike Fueyo had-well, Malone amended, before whatever had happened had happened. It was a perfectly complete little room, and it had four chairs in it. Malone was sitting in one of the chairs and all the others were empty.
There was absolutely nothing else in the room.
With some regret, Malone abandoned the theory that he had gone mad. This left him with no ideas at all. Because if he hadn't become insane, then what had happened?
After another second or two, some ideas began to filter through the daze. Perhaps he'd just blacked out for a minute and the kid had gone out the door. That was possible, wasn't it?
Sure it was. And maybe he had just not seen the kid go. His eyes had failed for a second or two. That could certainly happen after a blow on the head. Malone tried to remember where the sight centers of the brain were. Maybe whoever had hit him had disturbed them, and he'd had a sudden blackout.
Come to think of it, that made pretty good sense. He had blacked out, and Mike had just walked out the door. It had to be the door, of course-the windows were out of the question, since there weren't any windows. And six-inch-wide air-conditioner ducts do not provide reasonable space for an exit, not if you happen to be a human being.
That, Malone told himself, was settled-and a good thing, too. He had begun to worry about it. But now he knew just what had happened, and he felt relieved. He got up from his chair, walked over to the door and opened it.
Lieutenant Lynch nearly fell into the room. He'd obviously had his ear pressed tightly to the door and hadn't expected it to open. The other two cops stood behind him, just about filling the hallway with their broad shoulders.
"Well, well,” Malone said.
Lynch recovered his balance and glared at the FBI agent. He said nothing.
"Where is he?” Malone said. “Where is he?” Lynch repeated, and blinked. “Where's who?"
Malone shook his head impatiently. “Fueyo,” he said. “The kid. Where did he—"
Lynch's expression was the same as that on the faces of the other two cops: complete and utter bafflement. Malone stopped and stared. It was suddenly very obvious that the lovely theory he had worked out for Mike's disappearance wasn't true in the least. If Mike Fueyo had come out the door, then these cops would know about it. But they obviously knew nothing at all about it.
Therefore, he hadn't come out through the door.
Malone took a deep breath.
"What are you talking about?” Lynch said. “Isn't the kid in there with you? What's happened?"
There was only one thing to do and, straight-faced, Malone went ahead and did it. “Of course not,” he snapped, trying to sound impatient and official. “I released him."
"You what?"
"Released him,” Malone said. He stepped out into the hall and closed the door of the interrogation room firmly behind him. “I got all the information I needed, so I let him go."
"Thanks,” Lynch said bitterly. “After all, I was the one who—"
"You called him in for questioning, didn't you, Lieutenant?” Malone said.
"Yes, I did, and I—"
"Well,” Malone said, “I questioned him."
There was a little silence. Then Lynch asked, in a strangled voice, “What did he say?"
"Sorry,” Malone said at once. “That's classified information.” He pushed his way into the corridor,
trying to look as if he had fifteen other jobs to accomplish within the next hour. Being an FBI agent was going to help a little, but he still had to look good in order to carry it off.
"But—"
"Thanks for your co-operation, Lieutenant,” Malone said. “You've all been very helpful.” He smiled at them in what he hoped was a superior manner. “So long,” he said, and started walking.
"Wait!” Lynch said. He flung open the door of the interrogation room. There was no doubt that it was empty. “Wait! Malone!"
Malone turned slowly, trying to look calm and in control of the situation. “Yes?” he said.
Lynch looked at him with puzzled, pleading eyes. “Malone, how did you release him? We were right here. He didn't come through the door. There isn't any other exit. So how did you get him out?"
There was only one answer to that, and Malone gave it with a quiet, assured air. “I'm terribly sorry, Lieutenant,” he said, “but that's classified information, too.” He gave the cops a little wave and walked slowly down the corridor. When he reached the stairs he began to speed up and he was out of the precinct station and into a taxicab before any of the cops could have realized what had happened.
He took a deep breath, feeling as if it were the first he'd had in several days. “Breathe air,” he told himself. “It's good for you.” Not that New York had any real air in it. It was mostly carbon fumes and the like. But it was the nearest thing to air that Malone could find at the moment, and he determined to go right on breathing it until something better and cleaner showed up.
But that wasn't important now. As the cab tooled along down Broadway toward 69th Street, Malone closed his eyes and began going over the whole thing in his mind.
Mike Fueyo had vanished.
Of that, Malone told himself, there was no shadow of doubt. No probable, possible shadow of doubt.
No possible doubt (as a matter of fact) whatever.
Dismissing the Grand Inquisitor with a negligent wave of his hand, he concentrated on the main question. It was a good question. Malone could have sat and pondered it admiringly for a long time.
The Queen's Own FBI Trilogy: Brain Twister; The Impossibles; Supermind Page 19
