"No, sir. That is, not except a bunch of little kids. They came along just before the co—the police."
"A bunch of little kids?"
The detective named Stevenson said urgently, "Did you recognize any of them?"
"No, sir. They weren't from around the neighborhood."
Marshall said, "You'd never seen them before?"
"No, sir. They were just a bunch of little kids. Grade school kids. They were out with costumes on and everything, playing trick-or-treat."
"Did they go near the schoolyard at all?"
"No, sir. Except for one of them. You see, I was supposed to keep people away, tell them to go around the other way. And these kids came along. I told them to go around the other way, but they said they had to get to the subway."
"The subway?" echoed Stevenson.
"Yes, sir. They said they were out too late anyway and it was a long way to go to get home."