'What about twenty-seven?'
Pierce turned back.
'What?'
'Twenty-seven. Isn't that what three cubed is?'
Pierce slowly nodded. Curt was smarter than he looked.
'I've got that box open if you want it.'
'I'll think about it.'
He waved and returned to the door. Behind him he heard the woman telling Curt that he shouldn't make paying customers wait.
In the car Pierce put the business card in his shirt pocket and checked his watch. It was almost noon. He had to get back to his apartment to meet Monica Purl, his assistant.
She'd agreed to wait at his apartment for the shipment of furniture he had ordered. The delivery window was noon until four and Pierce had decided Friday morning that he'd rather pay someone else to wait while he used the time in the lab preparing the next week's presentation for Goddard. Now he doubted he was going to go to the lab, but he would still use Monica to wait for the delivery. He also now had another plan for her as well.
When he got to the Sands he found her waiting in the lobby. The security officer on the door would not let her go up to the twelfth floor without approval of the resident she was going to visit.
'Sorry about that,' Pierce said. 'Were you waiting long?'
She was carrying a stack of magazines for reading while she waited for the delivery.
'Just a few minutes,' Monica said.
They went into the elevator alcove and had to wait. Monica Purl was a tall, thin blonde with the kind of skin that was so pale that just touching it might leave a mark. She was about twenty-five and had been with the company since she was twenty. She had been Pierce's personal assistant for only six months, getting the promotion from Charlie Condon for her five years of service. In that time Pierce had learned that the aura of fragility her build and coloring projected was false. Monica was organized and opinionated and got things done.
The elevator opened and they got on. Pierce hit the twelve button and they started to ascend, the elevator moving quickly.
'You sure you want to be in this place when the big one hits?' Monica asked.
'This building was engineered to take an eight point oh,' he replied. 'I checked before I rented. I trust the science.'
'Because you're a scientist?'
'I guess.'
'But do you trust the builders who carry out the science?'
It was a good point. He didn't have anything to say to that. The door slid open on twelve and they walked down the hall to his apartment.
'Where am I going to tell them to put everything?' Monica asked. 'Do you have like a design plan or a layout in mind?'
'Not really. Just tell them to put stuff where you think it will look good. I also need you to do a favor for me before I leave.'
He opened the door.
'What kind of favor?' Monica said suspiciously.
Pierce realized that she thought he might be making a move on her. Now that he and Nicole were no more. He had a theory that all attractive women thought that all men were out to make a move on them. He almost laughed but didn't.
'Just a phone call. I'll write it down.'
In the living room he picked up the phone. There was a broken dial tone and when he checked messages there was only one and it was for Lilly. But it was not from Curt at All American Mail. It was just another potential client checking on her availability. He erased the message and tried to figure it out, finally deciding that Lilly had put down her cell phone number on the mailbox application forms. Curt had called her cell phone.
It wouldn't change his plan.
He brought the phone to the couch and sat down and wrote the name Lilly Quinlan on a fresh page of his notebook. He then pulled the business card out of his pocket.
'I want you to call this number and say you are Lilly Quinlan. Ask for Curt and tell him you got his message. Tell him his call was the first you'd heard about your payment being overdue and ask him why they didn't send you a notice in the mail. Okay?'
'Why -what is this for?'
'I can't explain it all to you but it's important.'
'I don't know if I want to impersonate somebody. It's not -'
'What you are doing is totally harmless. It's what hackers call social engineering. What Curt is going to tell you is that he did send you a notice. Then you say, 'Oh, really? What address did you send it to?' When he gives you the address write it down. That's what I need. The address. As soon as you get it you can get off the call. Just tell him you'll come by as soon as you can to pay, and hang up. I just need that address.'
She looked at him in a way she had never looked at him before during the six months she had worked directly for him.
'Come on, Monica, it's no big deal. It's not harming anyone. And it might actually be helping someone. In fact, I think it will.'
He put the notebook and pen on her lap.
'Are you ready? I'll dial the number.'
'Dr. Pierce, this doesn't seem -'
'Don't call me Dr. Pierce. You never call me Dr. Pierce.'
'Then Henry. I don't want to do this. Not without knowing what I am doing.'
'All right then, I'll tell you. You know the new phone number you got me?'
She nodded.
'Well, it belonged previously to a woman who has disappeared, or something has happened to her. I'm getting her calls and I'm trying to figure out what happened to her.
You see? And this call I want you to make might get me an address where she lives.
That's all I want. I want to go there and see if she's okay. Nothing else. Now, will you make the call?'
She shook her head as if warding off too much information. Her face looked as if Pierce had just told her he'd been taken aboard a spaceship and sodomized by an alien.
'This is crazy. How did you ever get caught up in this? Did you know this woman? How do you know she disappeared?'
'No, I don't know her. It was purely random. Because I got the wrong number. But now I know enough to know I have to find out what happened or make sure she's okay. Will you please do this for me, Monica?'
'Why don't you just change your number?'
'I will. First thing Monday I want you to change it.'
'And meantime, just call the police.'
'I don't have enough information yet to call the police. What would I tell them? They'll think I'm a nut.'
'And they might be right.'
'Look, will you do this or not?'
She nodded in resignation.
'If it will make you happy and it will keep my job.'
'Whoa. Wait a minute. I'm not threatening you about your job. If you don't want to do it, fine, I'll get somebody else. It's got nothing to do with your job. Are we clear on that?'
'Yes, clear. But don't worry, I'll do it. Let's just get it over with.'
He went over the call with her once more and then dialed the number of All American Mail and handed the phone to Monica. She asked for Curt and then pulled off the call as planned, with only a few moments of bad acting and confusion. Pierce watched as she wrote down an address on the notepad. He was ecstatic but didn't show it. When she hung up she handed him the pad and the phone.
