He was readier than we were, Stone explained. Get on the radio. Abby and I were alone in my office watching on my computer. From the reception area I heard two or three people talking back loudly, angrily to the screen they were watching. No way was Cory Tucker guilty of anything. One of the women sounded as if she was about to start crying. I told you I saw her on there when I visited the site. Do you think Brad might be dead, too? What did you say? Father Niles tried to shout but his voice was weak. Are you? Im turning the campaign over to Abby. I want to work on this myself. Could you see into Lutts office? For the first time, Showalter showed discomfort. He paused at least three or four seconds before he spoke. What did you do the other times? Youre sure? Mason said,The Courts order was that you were to tell us where the dog was kept. Roger Vullos office was only a short, hot walk from Jefferson Place, but I didnt notice the heat because I was too engrossed in putting the finishing touches on my theory about what had happened to Arch Mix and why. It was a sound theory, buttressed by solid facts with only a touch of wild surmise. I intended to lay it on Roger Vullo personally, collect the other half of my ten-thousand-dollar fee, and stop by a travel agent on my way home to make reservations for Dubrovnik. Two seconds after I entered Vullos office I knew that I wouldn’t be making the reservations just yet. Excuse me, the nextperson. This wasnt getting me the kind of information I needed. But nevertheless, though he legally wasnt aqualified investor under the securities laws, hed bought a thousand bucks worth of stock in the little bird that flitted around flowers sucking up nectar and paying it forward. Which was where she had gotten the name, Tapshaw had told him. You can spend a hundred grand on a branding firm to come up with horseshit and then focus-group the hell out of it for another hundred grand, or you can do it on your own for free. Its over on Twelfth Street Southeast. She read the number to me. It wasnt much of a neighborhood. I didnt want to take the kids over there. The Russians, maybe. They would love to torpedo me. How can you be sure?.