‘What’s N/Oh, mean?’ Eliza asked.
“No other identification,” said O’Hara.
They stared at the entry for a long minute. Finally O’Hara said, ‘He must’ve been on the hot list. Took them five years to declare him dead.’
The Magician said, ‘Not much there.’
‘It seems like it would be a common code name, Chameleon,’ Eliza said. ‘Maybe there’s more than one.’
‘Maybe,’ O’Hara said. ‘Or maybe he didn’t die at Hiroshima.’
‘He’d have to be, shit, close to seventy. That was more than thirty-five years ago.’
‘You don’t stop functioning when you’re seventy,’ said O’Hara. But he tucked the information in the back of his mind for future use.
‘Let’s go on to something else,’ Eliza said. ‘What other outside sources can Izzy tap?’
‘Name it. UPI, the New York Times, Washington Post, Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, the CIA, the British Secret Service, la Surete.
‘Can we feed the names we picked up from Daniov in this thing and scan some of them for information?’
‘That’s what it’s made for, and it’s not “this thing,” Sailor,’ said the Magician. ‘Just call it Izzy. Anything this smart should be treated with a little respect.’
They settled down to work, scanning the wire services and newspapers to get information on the victims, It was tiring because it was boring, typing in requests, getting ‘No info available’ back. Hours went by. It was amazing how many Simmonses and Richmans popped up, obviously not connected. Then they got a hit.
They had queried United Press International to scan Houston newspaper obits from October 1976 through October 1977 for Merrill Wendell Simmons. According to Daniov, he had killed Simmons three years earlier, which would have been in the spring. But the cutout had left his ‘football tickets’ at the box office, which would indicate Danilov was mistaken on the date. It might have been in the fall.
Danilov was mistaken. It had been three and half years.
The machine spelled out:
—UPI/Ref/Houston Chronicle/11.12 .76/p. 1 C @File:
HUCH/76/l1/12/NWS./2555-242.
‘Let’s see who he was,’ O’Hara said.
The Magician typed out the file number and the obit appeared on the screen.
—Houston, 12 November (UPI)—Millionaire oil tycoon Merrill Wendell (‘Corkscrew’) Simmons, former SMU quarterback, who parlayed a single oil lease won in a poker game into the sprawling American Petroleum Corporation, died of a massive heart attack at his home in suburban Houston tonight. He was 56 years old,
The business magnate had appeared in excellent health and had attended an SMU homecoming game in the afternoon. He complained of feeling ill while preparing steaks on an outdoor grill in his backyard and collapsed a few moments later. Simmons was rushed to Houston General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 7:25 p.m.
A fairly detailed biography followed.
‘Well, that’s one confirmed kill for Danilov. Who’s next?’ ft was their first break and it renewed their energy. They kept
seeking information, checking and cross-checking each name and the new leads it created. Slowly, the information began building up.
—Jack ‘Red’ Bridges, President, Bridges Salvage Corp., Tokyo, Japan, died, heart attack, 6.2 1.77.
—Arnold Richman, Sunset Oil International President, died on business trip to New York, 2.9.77,
—Abraham Garcia, President and Chairman of the Board, Hensell Oil Co., died of a heart attack on a business trip to Los Angeles, 9.18.78.
‘That’s the four of them. He must have been telling the truth,’ O’Hara said.
‘This Chameleon has a real hard-on for oil companies,’ the Magician said, ‘Three oil-company execs have been kayoed, plus the Thoreau was sabotaged.’
‘Let’s not forget Lavander,’ Eliza said, ‘he was in oil up to his eyebrows. And speaking of that, all of the companies these guys worked for are in this book. Just look, here’s Hensell... Am Petro ... Sunset...’
O’Hara looked at the decoded entries which Eliza had run off on the printer. On the second line of each of the three entries was the word ‘AMRAN.’
‘What’s AMRAN?’ O’Hara asked.
‘I dunno,’ the Magician said. Eliza just shrugged.
‘Can we find out from Izzy here?’
‘I’ll try Dow Jones.’
Half a dozen references popped tip immediately.
‘Bingo!’ cried the Magician. ‘Now we’re cookin’, man. Let’s scan the profile outline from the Wall Street Journal.’
‘What’s the date?’ O’Hara asked.
