Highways in Hiding | Page 4

"I--er--"
"Her landlady told you that Miss Lewis was not in her apartment
because Miss Lewis was on her honeymoon, operating under the name
of Mrs. Steve Cornell. That about it?"
"All right. So now you know."
"Then where the hell is she, Doc?" The drug was not as all-powerful as
it had been and I was beginning to feel excitement again.
"We don't know, Steve."
"How about the guy that hauled me out of that wreck? What does he
say?"
"He was there when we arrived. The car had been hauled off you by
block and tackle. By the time we got there the tackle had been burned
and the car was back down again in a crumpled mass. He is a farmer by

the name of Harrison. He had one of his older sons with him, a man
about twenty-four, named Phillip. They both swore later that there was
no woman in that car nor a trace of one."
"Oh, he did, did he?"
Dr. Thorndyke shook his head slowly and then said very gently. "Steve,
there's no predicting what a man's mind will do in a case of shock. I've
seen 'em come up with a completely false identity, all the way back to
childhood. Now, let's take your case once more. Among the other
incredible items--"
"Incredible?" I roared.
"Easy. Hear me out. After all, am I to believe your unsubstantiated
story or the evidence of a whole raft of witnesses, the police detail, the
accident squad, and the guys who hauled you out of a burning car
before it blew up? As I was saying, how can we credit much of your
tale when you raved about one man lifting the car and the other hauling
you out from underneath?"
I shrugged. "That's obviously a mistaken impression. No one could--"
"So when you admit that one hunk of your story is mistaken--"
"That doesn't prove the rest is false!"
"The police have been tracking this affair hard," said the doctor slowly.
"They've gotten nowhere. Tell me, did anyone see you leave that
apartment with Miss Lewis?"
"No," I said slowly. "No one that knew us."
Thorndyke shook his head unhappily. "That's why we have to assume
that you are in post-accident shock."
I snorted angrily. "Then explain the license, the date with the reverend,
the hotel reservation?"

Thorndyke said quietly, "Hear me out, Steve. This is not my own idea
alone, but the combined ideas of a number of people who have studied
the human mind--"
"In other words, I'm nuts?"
"No. Shock."
"Shock?"
He nodded very slowly. "Let's put it this way. Let's assume that you
wanted this marriage with Miss Lewis. You made preparations,
furnished an apartment, got a license, made a date with a preacher,
reserved a honeymoon suite, and bought flowers for the bride. You take
off from work, arrive at her door, only to find that Miss Lewis has
taken off for parts unknown. Maybe she left you a letter--"
"Letter!"
"Hear me out, Steve. You arrive at her apartment and find her gone.
You read a letter from her saying that she cannot marry you. This is a
rather deep shock to you and you can't face it. Know what happens?"
"I blow my brains out along a country road at ninety miles per hour."
"Please, this is serious."
"It sounds incredibly stupid to me."
"You're rejecting it in the same way you rejected the fact that Miss
Lewis ran away rather than marry you."
"Do go on, Doctor."
"You drive along the same road you'd planned to take, but the
frustration and shock pile up to put you in an accident-prone frame of
mind. You then pile up, not consciously, but as soon as you come upon
something like that tree limb which can be used to make an accident
authentic."

"Oh, sure."
Thorndyke eyed me soberly. "Steve," he asked me in a brittle voice,
"you won't try to convince me that any esper will let physical danger of
that sort get close enough to--"
"I've told you how it happened. My attention was on that busted sign!"
"Fine. More evidence to the fact that Miss Lewis was with you? Now
listen to me. In accident-shock you'd not remember anything that your
mind didn't want you to recall. Failure is a hard thing to take. So now
you can blame your misfortune on that accident."
"So now you tell me how you justify the fact that Catherine told
landladies, friends, bosses, and all the rest that she was going to marry
me a good long time before I was ready to be verbal about my plans?"
"I--"
"Suppose I've succeeded in bribing everybody to perjure themselves.
Maybe we all had it in for Catherine, and did her in?"
Thorndyke shrugged. "I