The computer world is always evolving, but now it logs on trouble for CURE. Dr. Harold Smith's own meticulously organized neural files are covertly copied, analyzed and downloaded by an amazing new interface system.
Tracy?” “Yes.” “Do you know a Koko?” Dexter, the desk clerk, sniffed down the sizable length of his nose as he asked the question. “Yes. Nestle’s and Bosco. I like Bosco myself, but Nestle’s is easier to travel with ’cause Bosco is like a mush. I broke a bottle of Bosco once in my suitcase and it...
There was just no good way to drive from the civilized world into Boston and then find a tavern or cocktail lounge without first getting hung up in Boston traffic, which always seemed to look like a rehearsal for a riot. Digger had read once that Paul Revere’s ride was a myth, a legend with no ba...
It was enough, most nights, to make Tommy Falcone wish he had never become a cop. He could have dealt with danger, with excitement, but the insufferable dullness of walking a beat pushed him to the edge. In the months since he had returned home, he had come to realize what a medical marvel had be...
when Digger got back to his room. He bumped quietly against a wall. He couldn’t remember that wall being there. He would have sworn that side of the room opened onto a beautiful oriental garden. "Excuse me," he told the wall. "So there you are, you son of a bitch," Koko said. "Shhhhh, you’ll wake...
He had been smiling much of the way from New York, because Walter Brackler had been tricked. Digger wanted to go to Belton. He could never have told Brackler that, because it would have spoiled the purity of the moment. But Digger’s girl friend, Koko, was in Pennsylvania visiting relatives, and D...
Much of the land was clustered with trees, but there were broad paths leading through those areas. Closer to the lake, the land cleared into tightly trimmed lawn that rolled down to the water’s edge and the old wooden dock. Sheila ran fast, which made me sure she was from New York because speed i...
Atop the file cabinet was a hot plate with a pot of coffee on it, and a pile of newspapers that had been roughly stacked on the floor had been removed. Two more chairs had been set out in the office. A window air-conditioner hummed. “Looking a lot better, Sarge,” said Trace after he entered and l...
The woman shrieked. She wasn’t heard. The buzz from below drowned it out. Glasses clinked, people talked. And then Moscow burned itself out and the ash blew away over the crowd gathered beneath the thirty-foot model of the world, where the woman had moments before flicked her cigarette ash so cas...
In the center of the brilliantly polished ceramic crest, a lion reared on its hind legs. At one side of the lion was a sheaf of wheat and on the other side, a stiletto with a diamond-studded hilt. A ceramic sash looped across the bottom of the crest. It contained the single word: Wissex. There we...
How goes it?” “What’s wrong, son?” “What do you mean what’s wrong? Does something have to be wrong for me to call my only father? How’s the private detecting business?” “Not bad. I got a big industrial client who wants me to find out who’s stealing paper clips and I’m starting to get a few regula...
Etienne, my name is Julian Burroughs." "Pleased to meet you. I’m very busy. What can I do for you?" "I’ll only take a minute. I’m with the Brokers Surety Life Insurance Company. Mrs. Jessalyn Welles’s life was insured by us." Dr. Amos Etienne nodded. He was a small man, with thin delicate fingers...
This is Devlin Tracy. That’s T-R-A-C-Y. May I speak with the honorable Mr. Walter Marks, please?” Would wonders never cease, Chico thought as she sat on a chair in the office and listened to the telephone conversation. Trace being polite to the secretary of Walter Marks. The poor woman was probab...
“Finished recording your memoirs, Casanova? My Day with Mandy, the Hooker?” “If I could handle Mandy and you in one day, I’d send my parts off to be bronzed.” Chico tossed the necklace onto the bed. “The diamonds are real. The jeweler downstairs verified it. He said they’re not high quality, but ...
“Hello, Groucho. You look particularly dapper this evening. You borrow the suit from Tattoo?” “Can the cute talk. What’s happening on the Jarvis case?” “Things are breaking loose all the time. It’s probably just a matter of hours before the investigation roars to a successful conclusion. Pity, th...