The case of the missing getaway car

RAY: This is automotive in nature, but not so technical that the average person doesn't have a shot at it. The inspiration for this was sent in by someone whose name has regrettably been lost. If that person catches me, we'll send them a twenty six dollar gift certificate.

Here it is:

There was a bank robbery yesterday morning in Springfield. Several on-lookers saw the red Mustang speeding away from the scene of the crime, but nobody got the plate number, even though the driver had a near collision with a tanker truck and had to slam on the brakes on several occasions to avoid injuring innocent pedestrians. The Springfield police notified the authorities in the surrounding towns, hoping to catch a lucky break.

The next morning, the police in a neighboring town thought they had a likely suspect. They remembered this suspect, who we'll call Bill, had a late-model Mustang that could easily have been the getaway car. And, because Bill had had a few scrapes with the law, they decided to pay him a visit. So the police show up with a search warrant, and explain the reason for their visit.

Bill was shocked and angered, and denied any involvement whatsoever. "Look," he said, "I've been sick for about a week, and neither the car nor I has left the premises!"

"Show us the car," they demanded.

Bill led them to the garage where he kept it, and there it sat, a beautiful, practically new red Mustang, perfect paint job, 18-inch alloy wheels, leopard-skin seat covers, the whole bit.

The two police officers trained their flashlights on the car, as each one of them kind of walked around it, looking for evidence. Finally, one of the officers said, "This car's clean. It wasn't involved in any robbery. I know it's been sitting here for days."

What did the officer see that clears Bill and his car?

Think you know? Drop Ray a note!

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]