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Back The Empress File Save as PDF
Chapters (20)
  1. Prologue
  2. CHAPTER 1
  3. CHAPTER 2
  4. CHAPTER 3
  5. CHAPTER 4
  6. CHAPTER 5
  7. CHAPTER 6
  8. CHAPTER 7
  9. CHAPTER 8
  10. CHAPTER 9
  11. CHAPTER 10
  12. CHAPTER 11
  13. CHAPTER 12
  14. CHAPTER 13
  15. CHAPTER 14
  16. CHAPTER 15
  17. CHAPTER 16
  18. CHAPTER 17
  19. CHAPTER 18
  20. CHAPTER 19

“Yeah, maybe. But none of Marvel’s friends knows about any books, and they know everything else

And Ballem had that modem hooked into his computer terminal. I assumed he used it for the on-line legal data bases, but I wonder if they might not have the books on-line somewhere. If they’re plugged into a data base somewhere, anybody who knew the sign-on codes could call it up and work

“

She shrugged. “How do we find out?”

“Bobby,” I said.

I was still mulling it over when she asked me if I’d looked at the papers she’d copied.

“I’d forgotten,” I said.

The papers were a find.

Ballem’s will listed bank accounts in Grand Bahama and Luxembourg. The inventory listed household goods, noting the value of specific items: paintings, Oriental carpets, coins, and stamps. The stamp collection “should be assessed by a certified philatelic appraiser.” The divorce papers indicated that he’d paid his ex-wife an after-tax half million dollars over three years.

“We got a good chunk of him, but most of it is out of town,” LuEllen said. Her voice reflected a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment.

“We did just right,” I said. I walked over to the computer and punched it up. “I’ll ship this to Bobby. If we can nail down these accounts, we might have the leverage we need against him.”

“How’s that?”

“I doubt that he bothered the IRS with the details of his income,” I said. “So when the time comes, we tell him, ‘Get out of town, or deal with the feds.’ And we send along the numbers on these very pretty accounts

“

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 9

LuEllen rousted me out of bed at ten o’clock. She doesn’t like getting up early any more than I do and was grumpy about it.

“Visitor coming,” she said shortly. She was staring at a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios like Somoza reviewing the Sandinistas. “Get your ass in gear.”

I try to stay away from breakfast as much as possible. Instead of eating, I brought up the computer, called Bobby, and told him that we’d failed to find the books. I gave him the names of the banks Ballem had listed in his will and suggested a wide-gauge search of credit company files for more background. And I mentioned the modem hooked into Ballem’s computer.

Possible Ballem on-line w/books somewhere.

Will check.

How?

Phone analysis.

Fast?

Don’t know. Toggle auto-answer 2nite, I’ll message progress.

OK.

Before Bobby got into data bases, he was a major phone phreak. Still is, I guess; he’s made the combination of the two into an art form. I wasn’t sure what he was planning-not the details, anyway-but I suspected he’d look at the pattern of Ballem’s office phone calls and try to spot possible on-line hookups. Then, in the evening, he would check those numbers for a computer carrier tone.