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side door of the old school. I was deposited in a folding chair next to a long, cluttered table piled with the debris from the search party. A little gray-haired lady with the milk of human kindness coursing through her veins offered me a cup of coffee. |
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"And you say that damn thing rolled right up over the hood, caved in the roof and fell off on the surface of the road?" |
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"If that bucket of bolts wasn't sitting out there little more than a mass of molten metal, you could see for yourself," I shot back. |
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Kendall joined in the interrogation. "How far do you figure you traveled after that?" |
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A shrug seemed adequate. I had no way of knowing, and I wasn't really concerned. "Hell, I don't know. I was somewhere inside the village limits because there were street-lights all around me when I hit the sucker. After that, I must have traveled another three, maybe four blocks. Who knows?" |
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Madden and Kendall exchanged knowing looks. |
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"Why not let me in on your little secret?" I groused. |
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"First, let me make sure I've got your story straight," Kendall said straight-faced. "You say you first encountered the" |
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"Encountered, my butt, Sergeant," I spat back at him. "I plowed right into the sucker. The impact mangled the front end of the truck. That's why it came unglued on me |
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