Jack took the little Rover from Alicia and placed it in the hall on the other side of the wall. It wheeled across the floor and ended up against the wall on the far side of the hall.

“What’s on the other side of that wall?” Jack said.

“Thomas’s room.”

Jack carried the truck into Thomas’s room—in no better shape than Alicia’s—and set the truck on the floor there. It ran across the room and butted against the far wall.

Jack watched it in dismay. “Damn thing wasn’t attracted to the wall back there. It just wants to go uptown. So much for enigmatic clues in wills.” And then a thought struck. “Or maybe it only wants to go as far as the front yard.”

Swell. Even if that were the case, they couldn’t exactly haul out picks and shovels and start digging up the front yard.

They’d already wasted too much time on that little piece of junk. But at least they had the key.

“Let’s get out of here.”

The truck kept running, spinning its wheels as it nosed against the wall. Jack resisted the impulse to drop-kick it down the hall, and picked it up instead.

“You’re taking that with you?”

He turned off the motor and tucked it inside his coat.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure.”

And he wasn’t. But sensed he shouldn’t toss it away. Too many aspects of this crazy situation converged on the little truck—”Rover” in the will and on its hatch, and the way it always ran in the same direction, “pointing” uptown. Jack wasn’t through with it yet.

10.

10.

At last! Alicia thought as they headed downstairs. We’re finally getting out of this place.

And they’d found nothing.

She began turning off the lights as they went.

“Don’t bother,” Jack said. “No use trying to hide the fact that we’ve been here—Thomas and his Arab buddy’ll know as soon as they see that smashed wall.”

They stepped out the back door, and Alicia jumped and yelped as a voice barked.

“Hold it right there!”

She turned and saw two hulking figures standing at the corner of the house. Enough light filtered in from the street to reveal the guns in their hands. Then the beam from their flashlight found her face, nearly blinding her.

“Hands up—both of you!”

The guards from the car?

“Jeez, what a jerk I am,” Jack muttered as he clasped his hands on top of his head. “Damn gas wore off.”

“This is my house!” Alicia said, squinting into the light.

“Back inside,” the voice said, waggling the flashlight as he spoke. “Both of you. We’ve got some people coming who’ll want to talk to you two.”