Monitors blinked on and off, showing platforms and people who did not know they were being watched.

‘If he stayed on that train he should be at Fourteenth Street,’ Commander Penn said.

But if he was, he did not disembark, or at least we did not see him. Then our luck suddenly changed in an unexpected way.

‘My God,’ Lucy said. ‘He’s at Grand Central Station. How the hell did he get there?’

‘He must have turned east before we thought he would and cut through Times Square,’ Commander Penn said.

‘But why?’ Lucy said. ‘That doesn’t make sense.’

Commander Penn radioed unit two, which was Benton Wesley. She asked him if Gault had called the pharmacy yet. She took her headphones off and set the microphone so we could hear what was said.

‘No, there’s been no call,’ came Wesley’s reply.

‘Our monitors have just picked him up at Grand Central,’ she explained.

‘What?’

‘I don’t know why he’s gone that way. But there are so many alternative routes he could take. He could get off anywhere for any reason.’

‘I’m afraid so,’ Wesley said.

‘What about in South Carolina?’ Commander Penn then asked.

‘Everything’s ten-four. The bird has flown and landed,’ Wesley said.

Mrs. Gault had wired the money, or the Bureau had. We watched while her only son casually rode with other people who did not know he was a monster.

‘Wait a minute,’ Commander Penn continued to broadcast information. ‘He’s at Fourteenth Street and Union Square, going south right at you.’

It drove me crazy that we could not stop him. We could see him and yet it did no good.

‘It sounds like he’s changing trains a lot,’ Wesley said.

Commander Penn said, ‘He’s ‘gone again. The train’s left. We’ve got Astor Place on-screen. That’s the last stop unless he goes past us and gets out at the Bowery.’

The train’s stopping,’ Lucy announced.

We watched people in the monitors and did not see Gault.

‘All right, he must be staying on,’ Commander Penn said into the microphone.

‘We’ve lost him,’ Lucy said.

She changed pictures like a frustrated person flipping television channels. We did not see him.

‘Shit,’ she muttered.

‘Where could he be?’ The commander was baffled. ‘He’s got to get out somewhere. If he’s going into the pharmacy, he can’t use the exit at Cooper Union.’ She looked at Lucy. ‘That’s it. Maybe he’s going to try. But he won’t get out. It’s bolted. But he might not know.’

She said. ‘He’s got to know. He read the electronic messages we sent.’

She scanned some more. Still, we did not see him and the radio remained tensely silent.

‘Damn,’ Lucy said. ‘He should be on the number six line. Let’s look at Astor Place and Lafayette again.’

It did no good.