antique English furniture, wine-red velvet drapes, and tables cluttered
with bibles that glimmered the lamplight. It was a very Victorian room,
not in harm with the California lines and layout of the house itself.
He followed the entomologist past the living room, down a short hall to
the study. Manfred had a singular, stilting Tall and sticklike as he
was, with shoulders hunched and thrust forward slightly, he seemed as
unevolved and prehistoric as a praying mantis.
Clint had expected a university professor’s study to be crammed full of
books, but only forty or fifty volumes shelved in one case to the left
of the desk. There were cabinets with wide, shallow drawers that
probably were filled with creepy-crawlies, and on the walls were insects
in special boxes, framed under glass.
When he saw Clint staring at one collection in particular Manfred said,
“Cockroaches. Beautiful creatures.”
Clint did not reply.
borrow”The simplicity of their design and function, I mean.”
He would find them beautiful in appearance, of course.” Clint couldn’t
shake the feeling that the bugs were not really alive.
Manfred said, “What do you think of that big fellow in the corner of the
collection?”
“He’s big, sir.”
“Madagascar hissing roach. The scientific name’s Grod or
rhinaportentosa. That one’s over eight and a half centimeters long,
about three and a half inches. Absolutely beautiful isn’t he?”
Clint said nothing.
Settling into the chair behind his desk, Manfred somehow folded his long
bony arms and legs into that compact space, the way a large spider could
scrunch itself into a tiny ball.
Clint did not sit down. Having put in a long day, he was eager to go
home.
Manfred said, “I received a call from the university chancellor. He
asked me to cooperate with your Mr. Dakota in any way I could.”
UCI-the University of California at Irvine-had long been striving to
become one of the country’s premier universities. The current
chancellor and the one before him had sought to attain that status by
offering enormous salaries and generous fringe benefits to world-class
professors and researchers at other institutions. Before committing
substantial resources in the form of a well-upholstered job offer,
however, the university hired Dakota & Dakota to conduct a background
investigation on the prospective faculty remember. Even a brilliant
physicist or biologist could have too great a thirst for whiskey, a nose
for cocaine, or an unfortunate attraction to underage girls. UCI wanted
to buy brainpower, respectability, and academic glory, not scandal;
Dakota & Dakota served them well.
Manfred propped his elbows on the arms of his chair and steepled his
fingers, which were so long that they looked as if they must have at
least one extra knuckle each.
“What’s the problem?” he asked.
Clint opened the leather flight bag and removed the quartsize,
wide-mouth mason jar. He put it on the entomologist’s desk.
The bug in the jar was at least twice as big as the Madagascar hissing
roach on the wall.
For a moment Dr. Dyson Manfred seemed to have been quick-frozen. He
didn’t move a finger; his eyes didn’t blink. He stared intently at the
creature in the jar. At last he said,
“What is this-a hoax?”
“It’s real.”
Manfred leaned forward, hunching over the desk and lowering his head
until his nose almost touched the thick glass behind which the insect
crouched.
“Alive?”
“Dead.”
“Where did you find this-not here in southern California?”
“Yes.”
“Impossible.”
“What is it?” Clint asked.
Manfred looked up at him, scowling.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. And if I haven’t seen anything like
it, neither has anyone else. It’s of the phylum Arthropodan I’m
sure,includes such things as spiders and scorpions, but whether can be
classed an insect, I can’t say, not until I’ve exam it. If it is an
insect, it’s of a new species. Where, exactly, you find it, and why on
earth would it be of interest to private detectives?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t tell you anything about it. I have to
protect the client’s privacy.”
Manfred carefully turned the jar around in his hands, staring at the
resident from every side.
“Just incredible. I must admit.” He looked up, and his amber eyes were