“I didn’t say it would be easy,” said Lobec. “But I could go to this town and never find them if I don’t know where to look.”
“So you’re saying you want me to compare every name in that town to the name of every person either of these two have ever met and see if I get a match?”
“That is the gist of it.”
“These guys must have screwed Tarnwell out of some serious cash.”
“More than even you have,” Lobec whispered into Hornung’s ear. Hornung smiled at Lobec, but when he saw Lobec was serious, his smiled faltered. He quickly turned to the computer and began tapping on the mouse.
Given the task, Lobec wasn’t expecting an answer until well into the next day. But Hornung was good, which was why Tarnwell let him get away with skimming a few measly thousand each month. At three in the morning, he said, “Bingo.”
Lobec instantly got up from the couch where he was lightly dozing and went over to Hornung’s computer. Bern followed from the chair he was sleeping on. “You have something?” Lobec said.
“I got lucky. The only reason I found it so quickly was because the name was a little odd. Theodore Ishio. Both Hamilton and Jensen are getting graduate degrees, so I thought maybe one of them knew a student at Virginia Tech. Then I broadened the search to include professors. Guess where Theodore Ishio, the new assistant professor in chemistry, got his Ph.D.”
“South Texas?” Bern said.
“Very good, Dick,” Hornung said. “That only took you a few seconds.”
Bern grabbed Hornung’s arm. “Why you little…”
Lobec held up his hand. “That’s enough.” Bern let go, and Lobec turned to Hornung. “When did he graduate?”
“This past summer. Looks like he and Hamilton went to school together for a couple of years. Ishio’s got a vita about a mile long posted on the Web. He and Hamilton are even coauthors on one of the papers cited in the vita.”
“What is Theodore Ishio’s address?”
Seconds later the address was feeding into the laser printer on the desk.
Lobec picked up Hornung’s phone. No commercial flights would be leaving either one of Houston’s airports for several hours. But he knew that Tarnwell’s plane would be returning soon. “Yes, this is Lobec. Has the Gulfstream arrived from Washington?…Six o’clock?…No, tell them I’ll need it as soon as it arrives. I want to leave Intercontinental by seven…Then get another flight crew. And find the nearest airport to Blacksburg, Virginia.”
CHAPTER 29
It was Saturday, and the sun shone brightly through a cloudless sky. The commuter parking lot was still filling with cars, many with Virginia Tech banners flying from their antennas. Erica was surprised how many of the cars had University of Miami flags. She didn’t know much about football, but for the past week, the entire town had been consumed by the impending game, and she supposed that Miami fans would be equally ardent. The faculty lot had filled hours ago, and it didn’t look like many spots were left in the commuter lot. It was 12:25. The game would probably be starting soon, since most of the tailgaters were packing up their barbecues and heading toward the stadium.
The door to Ted Ishio’s office opened. Erica turned away from the window to see Kevin enter and close the door behind him.
“How’s it look?” he asked. “Crazy?”
“I’ll say. I’m glad we aren’t in it.”
“I will be in a little while. I’m starving, and the last of the pizza is gone.”
“We could get another one delivered,” she said.
“No, I’m sick of pizza, if you can believe it. I’m going to Wendy’s. You want anything?”
Erica was feeling slightly claustrophobic and wanted to go with him, but they had already agreed that she should show her face in public as little as possible to avoid running into someone who might recognize her from the grocery store incident.
“A grilled chicken salad if they have it. Vinaigrette dressing on the side, please.”
“Okay, but first I have something to show you.” The look on his face was noncommittal as to whether it was a good something or a bad something.
“What?”
“Come with me.”
He led her to the lab. It was totally quiet for the first time in days. None of the equipment was running.
“What’s wrong?” Erica said. “Is something broken?”
“Nope. I ran out of raw material to make more buckyballs, but I think what we have is enough. Take a look in the chamber.”
Erica went over to the chamber’s window. She gasped when she saw the specimen. She hadn’t seen it since Thursday night, and it was now ten times the size it was then.
“By my calculations,” Kevin said, “it should weigh between 35 and 40 grams.” He tapped the Adamas Blueprint, which was lying on the workbench. “Looks like old Mike and I had ourselves a winner.”
Erica smiled and shook her head. “This is incredible. You’re going to be famous.”
“Maybe. I know I won’t be rich. The university will own the patent. I guess I can see why Ward tried to sell it instead. I have to say, it’s hard not to be tempted.”
Kevin saw how she was looking at him.
“I’m not saying I agree with him,” he said, “just that I can understand why he did it.”
“So what do we do now?” she said.
“The only thing left is to remove the specimen from the chamber and take it to Washington. The chamber is still hot. It’ll be an hour or so before we can take it out.”
“How?” She had been gone during that part of the setup.
“I soldered the target to the top of a quarter-inch diameter nut. Then I just screwed it on to a bolt that was out of the laser’s path. Not pretty, but it worked. All you do is unscrew it. If you’d like, I’ll let you do the honors when the chamber’s cooled.”
Erica did a slight curtsy. “It would be my privilege.”
“Now, before my stomach implodes,” Kevin said, “I am going to get some food.” He handed her Ted’s keychain. “Keep both rooms locked, even if you’re just going to the bathroom.”
“I think I’ll hang out in the office. At least I can get some sun there.”
“Oh, and one more thing before I leave.” He drew her to him and kissed her, then drew his lips down her neck. The feeling was delicious. “While I’m gone, you can think about how we’ll pass the time until we leave tomorrow.”
With a wink, Kevin was gone.
“Mr. Lobec, I’ve got something.” Francowiak handed a notebook to Lobec. He flipped it open.
“This isn’t it. Keep looking.” They’d been in Ted Ishio’s house for over an hour and had nothing to show for it. The house had been searched from top to bottom, and they’d found no sign of the notebook. They had, however, found the bed in the guest bedroom unmade. A Northwest Airlines itinerary on the kitchen counter said the Ishio’s had left three days ago and wouldn’t be back until Monday. Strange then that the towels in the bathroom were still wet after all that time. Strange, that is, unless the Ishios had houseguests.
Bern walked up to him. “We’ve been all over this house twice. We would have found it by now if it was here.”
Lobec looked around at the torn furniture and papers strewn around the living room. “I think you are right, Mr. Bern. I was hoping they would be careless, but one of them must be keeping the notebook close at hand. Have you been successful in determining where Mr. Ishio’s office and laboratory on campus are?”
“Yeah. It was in a personal phone book in the den upstairs. 504 Jacobson Hall is his office. The lab is 514.”