[A4] inverter blew cig lighter?

[nancy tubbs]

I bought a 400 watt inverter, that I could plug into my cigarette lighter and then plug my laptop into.  Today I tried it out and I think it wrecked my cigarette lighter.  

Any suggestions, ideas?  Thanks!

Sequence of events:
1) Cig lighter working, powering cell phone charger (green light on).
2) Hooked up wires to inverter, plugged inverter into cig lighter (power switch was on if that matters). 
3) No power comes through inverter, no light, nothing.  Turned inverter on and off.  Turned car power and engine on and off. Nothing.
4) Cig lighter not working, no power to cell phone charger, no light.  Everything else seems fine.

This inverter can also be used by hooking the cables directly to the battery, which I thought I would try to see if the inverter itself was broken.  Um, why can't I find the battery?  Obviously I'm not a car expert - help!

Thanks very much,
Nancy