“What made you say that there was a bomb?”

“I didn’t say there was a bomb.”

“You told the officer, ‘You’ll blow it up’”.

“Well, Tommy is always saying, ‘Keep away from my stuff or it might blow up’”.

“Why does he say that?”

“Ask him. He’s the electronics expert, always fooling around with wires and stuff. It was his thing.”

Schweickart pulled on his beard several times. “An escape artist and an electronics expert. All right, can we talk to ‘Tommy’?”

“I don’t know. Tommy only talks to people he wants to talk to.

“Can’t you bring Tommy out?” Judy asked.

“I can’t just do it. It has to happen. I guess I could ask him to talk to you.”

“Try,” Schweickart said, restraining a smile. “Do your best.” Milligan’s body seemed to withdraw into itself. His face paled, eyes glazed as if turning inward. His lips moved as he talked to himself and the intense concentration pervaded the small room. Schweickarts smirk faded as he held his own breath. Milligan’s eyes drifted from side to side. He glanced around, like someone wakened from a deep sleep, and put his hand to his right cheek as if to feel its solidity. Then he leaned back arrogantly in his chair and glared at the two attorneys.

Gary let out his breath. He was impressed. “Are you Tommy?” he asked.

“Who wants to know?”

“I’m your lawyer.”

“Not my lawyer.”

“I’m the one who’s going to help Judy Stevenson keep that body you’re wearing out of jail, whoever you are.”

“Shit. I don’t need nobody to keep me out of anything. No jail in the world can hold me. I can bust out anytime I want to.”

Gary stared him down. “So you’re the one who keeps slipping out of the strait jacket. You must be Tommy.”

He looked bored. “Yeah … yeah.”

“Danny was telling us about that box of electronic stuff the police found in the apartment. He said it was yours.”

“He always did have a big mouth.”

“Why did you make a fake bomb?”

“Shit, it wasn’t a fake bomb. Can I help it if the damned cops are too dumb to know a black box when they see one?” “What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. It was a black box to override the telephone company system. I was just experimenting around with a new telephone for the car. I taped up those cylinders with red tape, and the dumb cops thought it was a bomb. ”

“You told Danny it might explode.”

“Oh, for Chrissakes! I always tell the young ones that so they’ll keep their hands off my stuff”

“Where did you learn about electronics, Tommy?” Judy asked.

He shrugged. “On my own. From books. Ever since I can remember, I wanted to know how things worked.”

“And the escape-artist stuff?” asked Judy.

“Arthur encouraged me on that. Someone was needed to get out of the ropes when one of us was tied up in the bam. I learned how to control my hand muscles and bones. Then I got interested in all kinds of locks and bolts.”