“The tracks were Gogstad's.”

Cohen nodded. “It took us months to pin it down, and we still only have a partial picture. Gogstad is enormous! With holdings in the hundreds of billions, it may be the biggest world wide conglomerate in history.”

“I'll admit I don't read the Wall Street Journal every day, but I'm surprised I never heard of this outfit if it's as big as you say.”

“Don't feel bad. They've spent millions to keep their dealings a secret. They use back-room deals, straw and dummy corporations, every trick in the book. Thank God for computers! We fed the stuff through a Geographic Information System. The GIS connects the info in the database to points on a map. The cops use the same system to keep tabs on gang connections. We've got some great graphs that show Gogstad's holdings around the world.”

“Who's behind this super-corp?”

“We're pretty sure the reins of power are held by one person. Her name is Brynhild Sigurd.”

Zavala had a deserved reputation as a ladies' man, so his ears perked up at the mention of a woman. “Tell me about Ms. Sigurd.”

“There isn't much I can tell. She's never made the Fortune magazine list of most powerful women, although she deserves to be at the top. We do know she was born in the U.S. of Scandinavian parents, that she went to school in Europe and later started an engineering company called the Mulholland Group.”

“I was just there. I should have asked to see the lady.”

“It wouldn't do you any good. She's still listed as company president, but nobody sees her.”

“I'm not clear on the company name. The office isn't on Mulholland Drive.”

Cohen smiled indulgently. “Have you ever heard of the Owens Valley scandal?”

“It had to do with the Los Angeles water system, I believe.”

“That's right. It's hard to believe today, but L.A. was just a small desert town back in the 1920s. The city needed water to grow. The nearest major source of fresh water was sleepy little Owens Valley two hundred miles to the north. L.A. quietly sent guys to the valley to buy out the water rights to the river. By the time the valley people figured out what was going on it was too late to do anything. Their water was on its way to Los Angeles.”

“What happened to the Owens Valley?”

“Drained dry.” He chuckled evilly. “Most of the water the taxpayers paid for went to the San Fernando Valley, not the city. A bunch of local businessmen bought land cheap there. Prices skyrocketed when water came in and made the speculators millions. The man who engineered the coup was William Mulholland.”

“Interesting. How does the Mulholland Group fit in with Gogstad?”

“Mulholland was the seed company for Gogstad. Now it's a subsidiary that provides engineering services for the parent corporation.”

“What exactly does Gogstad do?”

'At first they acquired interests in pipeline, energy, and construction companies. Since then they have branched out into financial institutions, insurance, media. For the last several years they've concentrated on one product: blue gold."