Part 15 (1/2)

A phone rang in the office at the end of the short hall behind another door with gold lettering: Bradley Guess. She headed for the door, eavesdropping on what she could hear of Mr. Guess's one-sided conversation.

There was no door with Lucas's name on it that she could see.

”I'm handling it,” the voice snapped irritably. ”Look, if I knew something, you'd be the first-Whatever. I don't have time for this now, Bebe.” He hung up and swore.

Sam tapped lightly on the gla.s.s.

”Come in!” the brusque voice snapped.

She glanced at Will, then pushed open the door. This office was a little nicer than the others, but not much. A large computer dominated the s.p.a.ce; next to it stood a stack of computer games. On the walls were several dozen large colorful framed posters of computer game covers. None she'd ever heard of. Which meant nothing.

”Mr. Gu-” She never got the name out. Sitting behind the desk was a man she recognized, but not as Bradley Guess. ”Buzz?” she stammered in surprise.

It took him a little longer. He blinked several times and frowned.

”Samantha Murphy,” she provided. ”We went to college-”

”Samantha, sure. You and Lucas- Yeah, I remember you.”

He didn't offer her a seat. In fact, he didn't seem all that excited to see her. Not that they'd been close in college, even though he'd been Lucas's closest friend.

”I didn't know the two of you were partners in Whiz Kidz,” she said. Who was she kidding? She didn't know much of anything about Lucas's life.

Buzz nodded, and she tried to remember the name he'd used at college. Not that it mattered. Obviously, he'd changed his name-and his appearance. He looked more ”hip” in his b.u.t.ton-down s.h.i.+rt, khakis. But he was still short with wiry brown hair and intense dark eyes that always made him look as if he were thinking hard about something.

”So, what are you doing here?” he asked, and shot a look at Will.

Socially he was the same, Sam realized. Inept.

He was staring at them as if they were lost and he didn't like giving directions.

”I'm a private investigator,” she said. ”I've been hired to investigate the disappearance of Lucas...o...b..ien.” It wasn't entirely a lie. ”This is an a.s.sociate of mine, Will Sheridan.”

He glanced at Will again. ”I'm afraid I won't be much help. I have no idea where Lucas is.”

”When was the last time you saw him?” she asked. ”Do you mind if I sit down?”

”I'll wait for you down the hall,” Will said, excusing himself as per their plan. He closed the door behind him.

She drew up one of the chairs across the desk from Buzz-Arnold Zingler. That had been his name. But everyone called him Buzz because of his buzz cut. That had been his name. But everyone called him Buzz because of his buzz cut.

As she sat down, she pulled a notebook and a pen from her purse. ”The last time you saw him?” she asked again, flipping open the notebook.

He glanced toward his door as if worried about where Will had gone.

”Well, I've already told the police everything I know,” he said. ”Why don't you talk to them?”

”I will, but there are a few things I'm not clear on. When did you say you last saw Lucas?”

Buzz sighed, picked up a No. 2 pencil from his desk and leaned back in the chair. He began to twirl the pencil between his fingers like a baton. ”I saw him Friday morning when he came in. He seemed agitated, acting weirder than usual.” He continued in a singsong voice as if he'd told this story numerous times. ”Later that night someone broke into his office. Tore it up, stole his most recent game and destroyed the computers. That's all I know. I haven't seen Lucas since.”

She could tell there was a whole lot more Buzz wasn't saying. He acted nervous, twirling the pencil at Mach-two speed.

”You have no idea why he was acting strangely?”

Buzz shrugged. ”You know Lucas.”

She'd thought so. ”I heard he was in some sort of trouble. Financial trouble.”

Buzz seemed to squirm in his seat. ”Who told you that?”

”Does it matter?” she asked.

”I wouldn't know anything about Lucas's personal life,” he said.

It was an obvious lie. She tried a different approach. ”This new game he was working on-what kind of game was it?”

Buzz twirled his pencil and shrugged. ”I really can't say. This is a very compet.i.tive market.”

”Really? I'm surprised you don't have more security, then.” As far as she could tell, they didn't have any.

”It's never been a problem before Friday night.”

”How did the burglar get in?” she asked.

”Broke in through a service entrance downstairs.”

She raised an eyebrow. ”No computer equipment was taken? Then it could have been just kids?”

He shook his head. ”The only office broken into was Lucas's. The only game taken was his new design.”

She let that sink in. ”So any games he developed while he worked here were the partners.h.i.+p's property?”

”That's right,” he said. ”Look, I can't imagine what any of this has to do with Lucas's disappearance. It seems pretty obvious what's going on.”

She waited for him to continue because nothing seemed obvious to her.

”Since you'll probably find this out, anyway-Whiz Kidz is having a little financial trouble.”

She could tell it was hard for Buzz, the original whiz kid, to admit that.

”Actually, we might have to declare bankruptcy.”

”Really?” she said.

”So Lucas skipped out, taking his new game design, leaving me holding the bag.” His tone reeked of bitterness.