"You certainly had things taped," Scotty said admiringly. "I guess we ought to be mad. But you'd have an equal right to get mad because we tried to go it alone."
"We'll call it square," Ben agreed. "About Bartouki. We needed the evidence of the cat, and a statement from you that he had handed it to you. That was the only sure way of tying him in. Tonight we'll send a message via Interpol to the New York police."
So far, everything had been circumstantial evidence. Rick wanted to see if their guesses were correct. "Open the cat," he begged.
"Get the saw," Ben said.
Rick jumped to his feet. There was a toolbox in the closet. He brought it to the inspector.
Ben handed the cat to him. "Saw away."
Scotty held the cat firmly on a chair while Rick wielded the saw. Plastic sawdust flew from under the blade.
Rick felt the blade hit metal and stopped. "Hit something!" he said excitedly. "Metal, but soft. Like lead."
Scotty groaned. "Do you suppose Bartouki was telling the truth?"
"We'll soon know." Rick moved the saw blade to a different angle and began cutting around the cat, changing angles each time he hit the material on the inside. Before long, the Egyptian cat had a cut around its middle and Rick put the saw away. There were a hammer and screw driver in the toolbox. He inserted the tip of the screw driver into the saw cut and tapped the handle with the hammer.