“And Eric did?” Michelle sounded surprised.
“In those days, yes—the way she saw it, anyhow. And you can understand why. He was head of research, with lots of awards and published papers—the corporation’s rising scientific star. Vice presidency and a place on the Board within the next few years for sure. So Jack becomes history, and she signs up on a new ticket to ride high with Eric.”
Michelle picked at her salad and nodded that it made sense now. “Instead of which, he picks a fight and walks out on their chance to join the rich and famous. But that’s Eric all over. I saw a glimpse of it when I was talking to him on Saturday.” She bit her lip but was unable to suppress a half smile. “I get the feeling that might have been when Vanessa started discovering the real Eric for the first time.”
“I think you might be right,” Corfe said. “And . . .” he turned to Kevin, “again, no offense, Kev . . . I think that deep down inside she’s never forgiven him for it.”
“And now she’s about to change partners again,” Michelle mused between bites.
“Martin Payne, yeah. CEO of the company; a million in checking before he’s forty; grease line into City Hall; yachts, mansions, tuxedos, and diamonds. That’s Vanessa’s world all right.”
Michelle thought distantly about that. “So how far back do you think it might go, this thing with Payne?” she asked. “Is it something comparatively recent—since she found out that Eric’s always going to spend more time in worlds that he creates inside his than he will in executive jets, for instance? Or could it go all the way back to when they were at Microbotics? Could she have been an insider for Payne all along? . . . Is it possible, even, that she married Eric in the first place for no other reason?” Corfe could only shake his head.
What Kevin couldn’t understand as he listened was that nobody was talking about doing anything. He felt he wanted to stand up and bang the table and stop it all by shouting at them: Don’t you understand? These people kill! They killed this guy Jack, and now they’re going to kill my dad, and maybe me too! What are we going to DO?
But in real life people didn’t do things like that, not in a restaurant. So he sat. He chafed and fretted. And he said nothing.
He was finally able to make his point when they were in the car, on their way back to where Corfe had parked the van. Michelle’s response only confused and frustrated Kevin further.
“Of course I understand your feelings,” she said. “But there isn’t any case for having anyone arrested. If mere suspicion were grounds enough, ninety percent of the country would be locked up. The only hard evidence we’ve got of anything is that Vanessa visited the president of a company she used to work for. Sorry, Kevin, but that’s hardly a crime.”
“And that’s it? You mean that’s all anyone can do? We wait till my dad gets shot, then we file a complaint?” Kevin was incredulous.
“We don’t know for sure that they had anything to do with what happened to Jack,” Michelle said. “We might be making it up in our heads. It could have been a heart attack, exactly as it seems. I’ll talk to the coroner’s office and the city police this week and see if I can get more details. If there are grounds for suspecting foul play, it would help our case a lot.”
“But—but what about the alteration to Dad’s will that they’re going to fake?” Kevin protested, leaning forward from the rear seat. “What did Payne call it, a codicil? It’s right there, on the tape.”
“What codicil? Show it to me. And the tape doesn’t say anything about Eric’s will. It doesn’t even mention Eric. It could be Vanessa talking about changing her own will to leave her jewelry to Batcat. Now, show me a piece of paper with Eric’s signature on it, and with him there to say it’s a fake, and you’ve got my attention. But short of something like that, we’re just going to have to work at it a piece at a time, the hard way. That’s how the real world is.”