“I’ll call you at the inn when I know more.”
“Thank you very much,” Holly said, then hung up and turned to the others. “Why don’t we take our drinks out onto the patio?” she said. “It’s a lovely evening.”
They all got up, trooped outside and sat down. “That was a guy named James Tiptree; Lance called him while he was on the phone with me, so the wheels are turning. Tiptree said he’d get Colonel Croft out of bed, if necessary.”
Bill Pepper sat on a hard, straight-backed chair in a room furnished only with a desk and two chairs at the Markstown police station. He had been taken from a cell and placed there nearly an hour before, then left alone. He resisted the temptation to go through the drawers of the desk. The chair was extremely uncomfortable, and he frequently stood up and stretched, but he always sat down again. He had been trained to assume that when being detained anywhere in the world, he would be watched and listened in on.
The door opened and a man in a business suit, but no necktie, walked into the room and sat down. He placed a file folder on the desk, opened it and read from it for several minutes before he spoke. “I am Colonel Croft, of the home secretary’s office,” he said, finally, in his slightly French accent.
“Of course, Colonel,” Pepper said pleasantly. “Everyone knows who you are. How do you do?”
“I do very well, thank you, which is more than I can say for you, Mr. Pepper. You have committed very serious crimes against the people of St. Marks.”
“If you’re referring to the several speeding tickets I’ve been given over the past year, I assure you they have all been paid, and I have adjusted my driving habits so that I am always within the speed limits.”
“You know very well what I am referring to,” Croft said.
“I’m afraid I don’t, Colonel. Where is my wife? May I see her?”
“I haven’t decided,” Croft said.
“I assure you my wife is entirely a law-abiding resident of St. Marks.”
“Does your wife have computer skills, too, Mr. Pepper?”
“She can just barely handle e-mail, I’m afraid.”
“But you-you are an absolute whiz with computers, aren’t you?”
“I’m the chief technology officer for the casino,” Pepper replied. “Computers are an important part of my job.”
“Describe your duties, please.”
“As chief technology officer, I write or supervise the writing of computer software which allows people all over the world to participate in online gaming, thus injecting many millions in tax dollars into the economy of St. Marks. May I call my boss, the chief executive officer of my company, please?”
“No, you may not,” Croft replied. “What is your interest in Mr. Pemberton and Mr. Weatherby and Mr. Robertson?”
“I’m sorry, I’m not acquainted with anyone of those names.”
“Then why were you attempting to obtain information about them from the computers at the Department of the Interior?”
“Colonel, it is a legitimate part of my work to obtain information about clients and prospective clients, but the only reason I would have to obtain any information at all about anyone would be a perfectly normal check of employment and credit records, before establishing a line of credit for a new customer. In the event that the applicant was a St. Marks citizen or resident, one of my staff would seek confirmation of the contents of the credit applicatio
n. I expect that must be what you are referring to.”
“And would that search for information include attempting to download applications for permission to purchase a residence on St. Marks?”
“It might. Since the credit bureau on St. Marks is fairly limited in its operation, my staff might look for other sources to confirm the address and credit-worthiness of an applicant. The ownership of property is always desirable when we are extending credit to a new customer.”
“And do you have signed applications for credit from those three gentlemen?”
“All our transactions with our customers and with applicants are conducted online, so we don’t have paper records.”
“But you could produce printouts of online applications from Mr. Pemberton and Mr. Weatherby?”
“I’m afraid that our company policies prevent the disclosure of any information about any of our customers or applicants, Colonel. The home office was made aware of our policies and procedures when our business was first established in St. Marks, and so were the home secretary and, of course, the prime minister. Sir Winston takes a very great interest in companies wishing to do business on St. Marks.” Pepper was aware that both of these gentlemen took very great bribes, as well.
“Mr. Pepper, do you see the door immediately to your right?”