In this early 87th precinct adventure, Detective Steve Carella is attempting to solve the case of a murder and attempted murder of two young female cousins attacked on their way home from a Saturday night birthday party. He thinks he has his man but it turns out to be the wrong guy, as the survivor cant pick him out of a line-up. Fairly short, succinct, and to the point, but classic McBain.
It was exactly the sort of case Detective Steve Carella despised. One girl had been raped and murdered; another savagely knifed. A cold-blooded madman was loose in the 87th Precinct. The survivor of the slashing said she could identify her assailant in the police line-up, but he certainly wasn't Carella's prime suspect.
