back to innocent. We handle hundreds of that type question every week, each at a minimum charge of fifty dollars. It’s our bread and butter. All such questions and answers are recorded and a report generated which is then sent to the requester. That way if they forget, they can just look at the letter or email. Our customers really like that.
“Our general queries staff has the best possible data base access, encyclopedic tools and research aids possible. My...” She stopped talking.
“Mr. Tallboys are you listening?”
“I’m sorry, I really am. The sun was touching your hair and the red was glowing...I, ‘encyclopedic tools, research aids possible’”
Damn, he thought, I have to stop screwing up. She’ll think I’m eccentric or something!
The dimples in her cheeks were really noticeable when she smiled.
“Mr. Tallboys, you shouldn’t say things like that, this is an interview.” She didn’t sound at all angry.
“Yes, yes, I know, I’ll stop right now.” Oh, God, world class lie, he thought. “Sorry, that was an egregious lie. I’ll try to stop.”
It took her a moment, and a few melodic phrases to catch up.
He had a startling thought which made him blush again.
I wonder if she hums like that when she’s making love. Damn, if this doesn’t stop I’m going to be in a lot of trouble.
“My father can be hard with a dollar, but not when it comes to the right equipment to do the job.” Her voice was filled with pride and affection.
“Another example of a more extensive data request—not dangerous variety—humm-dee-dah-la-la, came from a well known author. He wanted to know everything about diamonds. We provided a historical summary; where they are found; who owns, who cuts and how; who sells; how much money is involved from mine to ring finger. I did that one.
“We have a standard format for such searches. It includes a bibliography, and if requested, as in this case, a probability weighted analysis as to whether there was any hanky panky anywhere along the line. It took almost two weeks and we were paid five thousand dollars.”
William was surprised that she would tell him what they were paid, but he didn’t say anything.
“Normally we have between ten and twenty such tasks underway on any given day. My father has an external staff of over five hundred researchers in every imaginable discipline on loose contract all over the world. They do specific pieces of research for a fixed fee. Many of our researcher/analysts have access to inside information that is not generally available to the public. Our reports appear regularly in scholarly publications verbatim.”
“It’s a fine idea,” William said. He had calmed down, marginally, enough to actually digest some of what she was saying.
She nodded. “I love working here.” She got up, took a spouted can from a long table covered with potted plants.
“It’s time to water the girls; all my plants are girls.” She had a mischievous grin. “We can go on if you like.”
For William it was sheer delight watching her move from plant to plant, praising, scolding, humming. She stretched up to reach a large basket of Boston Fern and William was in trouble again. She wore a pleated skirt that clung to her hips provocatively, and a sheer white silk blouse. She wasn’t wearing a bra.
“Ohhnnn, God...”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Nothing, just clearing my throat.”
Again with the arched eyebrows. She moved over to a tall dormer window and stepped up on a three-step ladder. From there she reached up to water a tray of pansies. The afternoon sun worshipped the fine reddish-gold hair on the backs of her legs. No panty hose! It was sublimely erotic.
William unconsciously touched the corner of his mouth, worried lest he be caught drooling like a pervert at a junior miss pageant.
She went on talking as she moved around the room.
“A few months ago we received a letter, on very fancy stationery, requesting plans for the construction of a small tactical nuclear weapon. It was from a North African country whose principle exports are oil and terrorism. We have that information of course, but declined to send it. The letter said it would be used for oil exploration; it didn’t say where.”
She grinned. “Did they really think Israel was going to grant a drilling license in the Negev?”
William shook his head in agreement with the ridiculousness of that idea.
“Shall I get to the bottom line, or would you like to hear more?”
He laughed, not quite so explosively. “That’s like asking me if I want to hear the last movement of Beethoven’s fifth.”
“Really, Mr. Tallboys, you are so extravagant.”
She looked at him with an enigmatic expression for a long moment. William was sure she was reading his mind, if there was any left.
She brought out a manila folder. It was labeled, Heely on one corner.
“This is a summary of a mystery we have undertaken to solve. It’s in the category of, powerful people could definitely become annoyed. It involves ninety million dollars, which my father says will give you an idea just how annoyed those involved might get.
“Basically it concerns the theft of that sum from the Intercoastal Bank’s San Francisco headquarters. You may have read about it? We have taken the woman accused of the theft,” she pointed a finely sculpted fingernail at the name on the folder, “as a client. We believe she didn’t do it.
“The mystery is, how was it done, where the money went, who took it and how did they put the blame on Miss Heely.”
William, for an instant, forgot about Miss Lee as an object of affection, admiration and desire. A measure of his genius was that he knew exactly what he was supposed to do before she finished talking.
“Do you understand,” she asked?
“Yes.” His answer was terminal, complete; it precluded the necessity of asking questions about anything she said.
“I will need definitive data in several areas. Is there a larger file containing all the details?”
“Yes, there is.”
“May I have a copy of everything. I’ll study it and bring you a written list of what I need and a plan of action.”
Charlie Lee’s face was a study in conflict. There was admiration mixed with veiled disappointment. She already missed his total absorption in her.
William quickly restored the feeling of anticipation generated earlier.
“Uh, Miss Lee, what is company policy regarding fraternization between employees, vis a’ vis a lowly computer programmer and the bosses daughter?”
She
