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Page 42.
Chapter 34.
 Jeff was working at his computer in his office at World Anaconda when McCarthy called: "Maxxon, Louis Beering has been to the Beering Clinic."
"No!" Jeff quickly closed his file and turned the computer off. "Where is he now?"
"Anybody's guess. I've got people watching you every minute, so don't worry. We're watching the Box-Is-U store, and there's no sign of movement. Packages are piling up, rejections, I'd imagine, and our man hasn't showed up to collect them. Your letter is still there."
"Get someone in there to see if he opened it and resealed it."
"I was thinking of doing that, but I'm afraid to go in and tip our hand. Why hasn't he tried to contact you?"
"Who knows? What did he do at the clinic?"
"He popped old Smitty over the head, left him half-dead in a closet, but Smitty will be okay. Smitty gave a good description. Then a nurse said Louis passed himself off as a doctor, went right into Anna Cranston's room, stayed there a while, and left in a hurry."
"How is Anna?"
"She's doing poorly. She's been slipping in and out of her coma. The pneumonia is settling in fast. The doctor gives her another day or so."
"McCarthy, Lexa and her mother have gone to my house to stay for a day or two."
McCarthy paused, apparently startled. "I thought she was staying at Mr. Beering's. I'd better send a unit out to your place to check."
Jeff mulled that over. "This guy is slippery. I'm still expecting him to tap me on the shoulder at any moment, though I doubt he knows where I live. Go ahead, send a unit to check. Tell them to tell the women to keep the doors locked."
"Okay," McCarthy said. "Stay put. I'll call you back."
Jeff sat in his office, feeling frustrated. He wished he could rush out and do something. Anything. Inactivity was killing. Reluctantly, he turned the machine back on and got into a data net, trying to mine more information about Raritania history during the mid-1930's.
There was a knock on the door. Max Dusenbery! "Dr. Maxxon, I hope I am not unduly disturbing you."
"Not at all, Mr. Dusenbery, glad you came. How much do you know, exactly, about how Louis Beering could have gotten from 1936 to today?"
Dusenbery chuckled. "So we've made a believer of you finally, have we?"
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