She rounded the last bend and there sat the cottage dead ahead. She squealed with delight and increased her speed. Ten feet from the front steps she watched in disbelief as Michelle, who’d been purposefully hanging back, blew by her, raced up the steps and sat down on the top step.
Viggie stopped short and stared in amazement at her. “You cheated,” she said.
“Exactly how did I do that? You ran. I ran. I won. Now pay up.”
“I like you, Michelle.”
“Okay, Viggie,” Michelle said warily. “But what about our deal?”
Viggie ran past her and into the house. Michelle quickly followed. By the time she got there Viggie was seated at the piano. She started playing frantically, beating the keys with her fingertips. The pace became so frenetic that Michelle couldn’t even follow the music.
“Viggie, please, stop. Stop! VIGGIE!”
The next instant Viggie stopped, jumped up and raced to the stairs. She paused, turned to Michelle and yelled, “Codes and blood!” Then she shot up the steps. A moment later her bedroom door slammed.
A few seconds later a half-dressed Alicia Chadwick came rushing down the stairs. “My God, what is going on?” she cried out.
Michelle uncovered her ears and turned to her. “Hell if I know. She just went nuts on the piano.”
“She doesn’t usually do that unless something or some
Alicia said in an accusing tone.
“Well, this time she did it all on her own.”
Michelle tapped Alicia on the shoulder. “Tag, you’re it. I need a break from the kid.” She stalked out the door, slamming it behind her.
Michelle reported to Sean later that for now Viggie was a dead end.
“That makes getting into Camp Peary all the more important,” he said.
“The equipment I ordered will arrive tomorrow.”
“Good. I’ll check in with you later,” Michelle said.
“Where are you off to?”
“I struck out with Viggie. I’m going to see if I have better luck with Champ. But I’m going to change first into something, you know.”
“Michelle, I’m impressed at the depths you’ll go to get to the truth.”
“You’ll be even more impressed when I put my foot through your mouth.”
“And while you’re seducing the world’s greatest mind, I’m going to start canvassing Babbage Town and see if anyone saw anything at Rivest’s place the night he was murdered. And then I’m going to take a look around for that secret room.”
“I told you I already did that.”
“Never hurts to have a fresh pair of eyes on it.”
Two hours later Sean had finished his canvassing. No one reported seeing anyone suspicious, no one who shouldn’t have been there. Puzzled, Sean walked over to the mansion for lunch in the dining room. He saw Viggie eating with some of the other children as Alicia sat alone at the other end of the room while waiters scurried around serving all the hungry geniuses.
He joined Alicia, ordered his food and said, “Factor any good numbers lately?”
Alicia frowned. “I’m glad to see how easily you amuse yourself. Where’s your sidekick? She left Viggie in shambles this morning. That wasn’t exactly my intention when I hired you.”
He leaned forward. “See, the thing is, Alicia, you
“A task at which so far you’ve failed utterly.”
“People who kill other people usually go to great lengths to make sure they’re not caught.”
“That’s so very reassuring.”
“I understand the session with Viggie and Horatio went well.”
“Yes, if you call Viggie walking out in the middle of the session going well.”
“What about codes and blood? That’s what Viggie said, right?”
Alicia nervously fingered her cup of tea. “I’d never heard her use that phrase before. It was frightening the way she said it actually.”
“And you have no idea what she could have meant by it?”
“No. I told Barnes the same thing.”
“Come on, Alicia, you have an analytical mind, use it.”
She sighed deeply. “There are lots of codes. Did Monk teach Viggie how to make a code? Maybe. Did they communicate via codes? Could be. How can you decipher a code if you don’t even know what the code is? Find me a sample and maybe I can help you.”
“What about the term
“Bloody enough the way Monk died.”
“Right, but presumably Monk wasn’t dead when he talked to her about it.”
“Viggie is a very unstable, emotional young girl given to severe mood swings and hyperbole. If you’re basing your whole case on something she said, well, I’m not sure that’s wise.”
“If you can think of anything else, I’m listening.”
“I have a job to do here too, you know.”
“Does Champ know who owns Babbage Town?”
“I don’t know. I do know that he goes away once a month for a few days. Maybe he’s meeting with them then.”
“That’s interesting. Does he drive or fly?”
“He flies his own plane.”
“Really? Where does he keep it?”
“A private air terminal about five miles from here. I’ve been up with him once.”
“Pretty nice to be able to afford your own plane.”
“Well, I don’t know if it actually belongs to him.”
Sean fell silent. As he watched a waitress in uniform go by with a tray of food it finally struck him. He’d been asking the wrong damn question. He jumped up and raced out, leaving Alicia staring after him.
CHAPTER 58
WHAT MICHELLE CHOSE was a pair of tight black jeans, open-toed sandals and a loose white blouse with the top two buttons undone. She didn’t own a miniskirt and high heels were out of the question. She found Champ in his office, and the man almost fell out of his chair when she walked in, unannounced. At her request he gave her a tour of Hut Number Two and she made appreciative comments and noises about the “important” work he was doing. As he was showing her the Turing machine model, she leaned over to look more closely and placed a hand on his back, ostensibly to steady herself. She could feel the electricity rip through the poor guy’s frame. She inwardly groaned. Men were so incredibly easy. And stupid. Even the geniuses.
They ate lunch in a small, private dining room in the mansion that was apparently reserved for the head of Babbage Town.
Michelle said, “This is quite an operation you have here. So how’d you end up running it?”
“I doubt you’d be interested in that,” he said, glancing at her.
“If I weren’t I wouldn’t have asked.”
“I had done some cutting-edge work in the field, first at Stanford and then later at MIT, that resulted in the issuance of numerous patents. And my doctoral thesis was on quantum mechanics and was considered groundbreaking. I think that cinched my appointment.”
“Sean told me that the ownership of Babbage Town is a closely held secret.”
“Very closely held. And they pay well for that confidentiality.”
“Generosity is a great way to build loyalty.”
