Simple Genius (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell 3)

“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 communicat

e 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 blood?”

“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.”