Visions of Liberty

ventures. That case should be finished this afternoon.

“You got anything?”

“Lots of questions,” said Joe. “You got any answers?”

“Lots,” Ramirez laughed. “See what you guys can dig up in Switzerland.”

“Sure. We’ll be on the next ship out. Let us know if they find Murdock guilty of theft.”

“Will do.”

After Tony had signed off Joe asked me, “Who is our guy in Switzerland?”

“Gunter Lattman. Remember?”

“Let’s call him.” Gunter’s number appeared on the screen.

“Wait! How cooperative do you think he’ll be if you wake him up in the middle of the night.”

“You’re right,” Joe said, grudgingly.

“Send him a message, ask him to callus as soon as he can. Let him wake us up in the middle of the night.”

Joe nodded as the phone rang again. It was Andy, one of our investigators who’d gone with the All-Risk team to Murdock’s office.

“What did you find?” I asked.

“She didn’t leave much for us to find. Most of the computers have been wiped clean. We’ll see what we can recover, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. She’s had a whole week.”

“Anything at all?”

“Well… I don’t know. We haven’t moved anything yet. I’d like you to come down and have a look.

Joe, I mean. My gut feeling is he might smell something.”

I didn’t take offense. Joe’s “nose” had taken on a mystical quality in our company.

“We’re on our way.”

* * *

What had clearly been Murdock’s office had a wonderful, close-up view of the building next door. We entered through a general office/reception area with three desks. One other door led into a smaller office which had been Annabelle Pearson’s.

Joe stood in the center of Murdock’s office, deep in thought. We all knew better than to interrupt him when he was in this state.

This office, like the others, had been all but stripped clean. Other than a few papers in the trash cans, a few files lying around, some old newspapers and magazines, all that was left was two bookshelves full of

books. Mostly travel guides.

After a while Joe said, “It’s too obvious.” One of the All-Risk guys started to ask him, “What—and was silenced. “Wait,” somebody whispered to him.

Joe walked to one of the shelves and scanned the titles. They were mostly tourist guides to countries in Africa and South America. On one of the tightly packed shelves there was a hole where a book had been removed. The missing book was one of the travel guides.

“It’s like Murdock left instructions. ‘Ms. Pearson,’” he recited, “‘please destroy everything but don’t remove or touch anything on the bookshelves.’”

“It’s like Murdock’s trying to tell us, ‘Please waste your time looking for me here.’”

“Somewhere in Africa,” I said. “Starting with N.”

“Nigeria,” someone said.

“Niger.”

“Nairobi.”

“Nepal.”

“Nepal’s in Asia, muscle head.”

“Never mind.” Turning to Andy, Joe said, “What I’d like you to do is set up these books and shelves in my office,exactly as they are now. Make a list of all the countries; see what’s missing. And what the missing book probably is. See what you find out about trips Murdock took. Was he a traveler or a stay-at- home? Where did he go on vacations? What were his hobbies? Things like that. We need a better feel for this man.”

“Right,” said Andy.

“Wherever he is, I’ll bet he’s not where that bookshelf is pointing us to.”

“Perhaps he’s sitting there laughing at us while we’re looking everywhere else,” said one of the people from All-Risk. “Wheels within wheels.”

“That really helps narrow down the search,” I said.

“Or maybe Annabelle Pearson took it,” said Andy. “Maybeshe wants to go there.”

Talking to himself again, Joe murmured, “I’ll bet she does.”

* * *

“Want me to order you guys pizza or something before I head for home?”

Molly’s voice pulled me away from the screen. I rubbed my eyes, bleary from hours poring over files and documents. By contrast Molly (our receptionist) was bright and chirpy: she was about the only member of our staff who hadn’t been putting in twenty-six-hour days.

Joe seemed to be asleep, his feet up on the desk and his chair laying all the way back. With Joe, appearances are always deceptive. “Good idea,” he mumbled without opening his eyes.

“Want the usual?” she asked.

“Sure, pepperoni,” I said.

“Yeah,” said Joe, “with just a sprinkle of hash.”

“You too?” said Molly, looking at me.

“Not for me. I want to keep my head clear so I’ll stick to beer. If you could order a six-pack—make sure they’re ice-cold.”

“What’s the time?” asked Joe.

“Six.” Molly said. “Oh… and everybody else is wondering if you want them to stay another night, or can they all go home?”

I looked at Joe. “Tell ’em to go home, sleep—and keep their phones on in case we need ’em at three o’clock in the morning.”

“Thanks, Molly,” I said.

As she closed the door Joe stirred himself, stretched and sat up. He reached for the still-unopened packet of Maui Wowie Lights lying on his desk and pulled out a joint. “Time to look at that holo,” he said.

Joe and I shared a large office. Our desks half-faced each other so we could work privately or talk when we wanted to. A couple of very comfortable sofas lined the opposite wall—they’d proved their worth this week. The books and bookshelves from Murdock’s office had been set up against the wall to Joe’s left.

“Any inspirations?” I asked, waving at the books.

“Needle in a haystack. I think that’s a red herring. My gut has been bugging me about that holo; maybe, that’s where we’ll find our lead. Not in those books…. Heard from Andy?”

I shook my head. “Let’s give him a call and see what he’s got.”

“No need—he’ll call in when he’s ready.”

Joe punched a button on his keyboard and the holo shimmered in the center of the room for a moment before stabilizing.

“This is hardly what I’d have chosen for a Friday night movie.”

Joe grinned. “Me neither. I’d rather watch the football. So let’s run it—maybe we can catch the end of the game.”

Fat chance. Having seen it before, I had trouble keeping awake. Joe on the other hand looked like he was going to fall asleep at any moment, only moving to munch on pizza. But he was actually in a highly alert, trancelike state. Which deepened as the smoke in the room thickened. Just when he looked like he’d finally dozed off he’d wind the holo back saying, “Look at this.”

Dinner was over, but the five of them were still at the dining table. Murdock and Ackerman were toasting each other. “To our partnership,” said Ackerman. “May it prosper,” said Murdock. “He doesn’t mean it,” said Joe.