He was seated at his desk. Gin settled onto her knees and watched, hoping he'd do more than just straighten papers. It was getting cold out here in the wind.
She caught her breath as he leaned to his right and unlocked the top desk drawer. She leaned forward, all but thrusting her face through the prickly juniper as she watched him remove the TPD from the drawer, heft it in his hand, then rise and wander about. He opened cabinets and poked inside, lifted bottles, pulled out books and journals, peered into the space they left, then shoved them back.
What's he doing?
He seemed to be looking for something.
Or somewhere.
Finally he pulled a volume the size of the Merrk Manxal off a top shelf, placed the bottle of TPD in the rear of the gap, then slid the book back in.
He was hiding the TPD.
Gin was dumbfounded.
Why would he hide the bottle when he had a locked drawer for it?
Maybe he had no further use for it. Or maybe he'd never used it. But then why was he hiding it now?
Damn! Why didn't any of this make sense?
Suddenly the office went dark. Duncan had turned out the lights. Gin spun and scampered back to her car. It was good to get the heater going again. She watched Duncan's car turn back the way it had come on East-West. She gave him a good lead, then swung around and followed.
When she saw him turn into his neighborhood, she turned east and headed for Connecticut Avenue. For Adams Morgan. For home.
She'd had enough Nancy Drew for one night. In two days of trailing him she'd learned two things, one, he liked to hang out at Caliguire Electronics, two, he'd changed the hiding place of his bottle of TPD.
No answers. Just tW0 facts which did nothing but engender a whole slew of new questions. She didn't need more questions. She had questions coming out her ears. She needed answers, dammit!
Maybe tomorrow. When Duncan left early to go to his golf club, Gin would be right behind him. She'd find out where he really went. Maybe a mistress. Or maybe something to do with that little bottle of TPD.
Hopefully she'd be able to cross one question off her lengthening list.
MONDAY OKAY, DOC. SHE S ALL SET.
Duncan walked over to the corner of his office where Harry stood on a small aluminum utility ladder. Dressed in a Guns n' Roses T-shirt, he was heavyset, maybe forty, with a receding hairline and a ponytail. He was positioning some of the bric-a-brac on the top shelf around the sensor. When he finished, he stepped down and pointed to it.
"Would you ever know it was there? " Duncan scrutinized the shelf.
The sensor was a small brown rectangle the size of a cigarette box. It blended neatly with the woodwork, appeared almost a part of the cabinet. The camcorder lens looked like some sort of glass bauble.
Duncan nodded approvingly. "Only if I knew exactly where to look. " "Cool. Now just stand still a moment while I get us some power " He plugged a transformer into the outlet to the left of the sink. "All right. Now move your arms. ' Duncan waved his arms and saw a red dot begin to glow on the sensor.
"Smile, " Harry said. "You're on Candid Camera."
"What about that little red light? " Duncan said.
"That just means it sensed motion. You tripped the . . . .
clrcutt.
"Yes, but the light is a giveaway. The whole idea is - sgrreptitio"J surveillance, Harry. Kill that light."
"No problem." Duncan sipped his morning coffee as Harry climbed back up his step ladder and began whistling while he removed the back plate of the motion detector.
Harry seemed to love his work. Why not? Duncan was paying him handsomely for playing at his hobby. Duncan remembered how excited Harry had been when he had challenged him to miniaturize an ultrasound transducer. That had taken weeks, but the big bill had been more than worth it.
This little chore, on the other hand, was a piece of cake. . Duncan had told him he thought one of his employees might be pilfering. He'd said he had a pretty good idea who but wanted to catch the culprit in the act. Which was true. He wanted to see if Gin would try again.
Harry had said that was cool. Yeah, what with the labor laws these days, you just about had to catch someone rethanded before you could give them the cot.
Harry's solution, a video camera activated by a motion detector.
"All right, " Harry said, coming off the ladder again. "The light's disabled. Now, remember, the only time you want this thing on is when you're out of the room. Otherwise you're gonna find yourself fast-forwarding through umpteen hours of yourself sitting at your desk or making coffee or whatever." '"Mostly whatever, I should think, " Duncan said. "I often engage in whatever while I'm here."
"Cool, " Harry said. He laid a finger on the upper edge of the transformer.
"Okay. Two little buttons here. This one turns the power off, this one on. Just before you leave, click it on. That'll arm the sensor.
Any movement then will trip the sensor which'll turn on the camera and you'll be taping for the entire time someone's here until a full minute after they leave. It's also got a date and time readout that'll appear in the corner of the picture. I fixed the cam with a wide-angle lens so's you've got the whole office covered." Duncan said, "Cool."
"You know, if you decide to make this a permanent setup, I can rig the camera directly to a VCR and, '' "Just temporary, Harry, I assure you.
And here is your check." Harry glanced at the amount, said, "Cool, " one last time, packed up his tools, and was gone.
Okay, my little cygnet, Duncan thought, staring into the blind eye of the video camera. The next step is up to you.
He glanced at the clock. Perfect timing. Harry had arrived early and done his work quickly, leaving Duncan a few minutes to spare before scrubbing for the day's first surgery.
An abbreviated schedule today, mostly minor procedures. Dr. VanDuyne was due here about noon and Duncan wanted a clear field when he toured him and the others around.
He pushed The ON button, moved an empty carafe in front of the transformer, and headed for the locker room. The back of his neck tingled with the knowledge that his movement had triggered the sensor and his exit was being recorded.
Gin rushed through her dictation and other paperwork so she'd be ready to tail Duncan when he took off. She'd had to hustle. The way he'd whipped through those procedures this . .
morning made her think he was in a big rush to leave. But once surgery was over, he seemed in no great hurry to go anywhere.
Gin was up and down the stairs, keeping an eye on Duncan's office, ready to grab her coat as soon as he looked like he was going to leave.
But he seemed to be killing time On one of her surveillance runs she glanced out into the parking lot and saw the mysterious Dr. V. and two other men get out of a gray sedan.
So that's why he's hanging around.
Twenty minutes later, Duncan was leading the trio downstairs on a tour.
"And here are the nether regions. My brother's lab and our , .
recores room.
The good-looking Dr. V. looked relaxed, but his two suited friends were as stiff and uptight as they were clean-cut. Nosy too. Peeking into every closet, every cubbyhole, asking questions in low voices Gin could not pick up.
"Just showing these gentlemen around, " Duncan told Gin as they passed.
"Don't let us disturb you." He didn't bother with introductions.
She followed the group upstairs and watched the two suits point to doors and windows as they conferenced with each other. Neither of them smiled once. What were they? Lawyers? Accountants? Security consultants?
Then the entire entourage, including Oliver, retired to Duncan's office and closed the door.
What was going on? She was pretty sure now it wasn't a matter of taking on a new associate. Was Duncan selling the building? He'd never mentioned moving. And why did this Dr. V. look familiar?