“Shaky?” Simon pondered. “And I bet the letter itself was typewritten.”
“It was.”
“It would be. Either Friend signed under the influence of scopolamine — which is a hypnotic — or else he was tortured into signing it.”
“You can explain anything, can’t you?” Kearney gibed. “Somebody’s trying to frame you, of course.”
“Of course,” Simon agreed coolly. “That should be obvious, even to a policeman.”
“Yeah? And how did they make this Varing dame disappear?”
“Probably through a secret passage...”
His voice trailed away as the thought hit him like a splash of cold water between the eyes.
“My God,” he said softly. “Secret passages. Of course. What a feeble-minded flop I am!”
“Hey!” Kearney squawked suddenly. “Where do you think you’re going? This ain’t the way to Headquarters.”