That made sense, of a kind. It was a list of names. Whose names they
were, Malone didn't know; but at least he could see the list and
understand it. What puzzled him were the decorations.
Following each name was a queer-looking squiggle. Each was slightly
different, and each bore some resemblance to a stick-figure, a
geometrical figure or just a childish scrawl. The whole parade reminded
Malone of pictures he had seen of Egyptian hieroglyphics.
But the names didn't look Egyptian, and, anyhow, nobody used
hieroglyphics any more--did they?
Malone found himself thinking: _Now what does that mean?_ He looked
across at the facing page.
It contained a set of figures, all marked off in dollars and cents and
all added up neatly. One of the additions ended with the eye-popping sum
of $52,710.09, and Malone found that the sum made him slightly nervous.
This was high-powered figuring.
* * * * *
On to page three, he told himself. Drawings again, both on that page and
on the one facing it. Malone recognized an outboard motor, a
store-front, a suit of clothing hanging neatly on a hanger, a motor
scooter, a shotgun and an IBM Electrotyper. Whoever had done the work
was a reasonably accurate artist, if untrained; the various items were
easily recognizable and Malone could see a great deal of detail.
That, of course, was fine. Only it made no more sense than the rest of
the notebook.
Malone riffled through a few more pages, trying to make sense of the
contents. One page seemed to be a shopping list, with nothing more
revealing on it than _bread, bacon, eggs (1/2 doz.), peaches (frz.),
cigs., & ltr., fluid_.
There was another list, farther on. This one said: _Hist. 2, Eng. 4,
Math. 3, Span. 2. What for Elec.?_
That cast the first glow of light. Whoever owned the notebook was a
student. Or a teacher, Malone thought; then, looking back at the
handwriting, he decided that the owner of the notebook had to be in high
school, certainly no farther along.
He went on flipping pages. One of them said, in large black capitals:
=_HE'S BLUFFING!_=
A note passed in class? There was not any way of making sure.
Malone thought about the hypothetical student for a minute. Then
something in the riffling pages caught his eye.
There were two names on the page he'd stopped at.
The first was: _Lt. Peter Lynch, NYPD._ It was followed by two little
squiggles.