Doctor Who_ Cat's Cradle_ Warhead - Andrew Cartmel [33]
‘What about it?’ said Stephanie.
‘We own Krupps.’
She said nothing.
‘You must know that, right? That’s what you were doing on the computer.’
‘I was working late.’
‘What you were doing was cracking confidential files. You were reading about the corporate structure of the Butler Institute.’
‘I was –’
‘You were looking at things you weren’t supposed to look at. You were taking information that didn’t belong to you. You took it out of our computers and put it into your mind. That’s the equivalent of taking money out of somebody else’s bank account and putting it into yours. It’s theft. And who are you stealing from? Just the company that pays for you. Feeds you. Clothes you. Heals you when you’re sick.’
‘This is just a misunderstanding.’
‘Sure. Now tell me what you found out when you broke into the boss’s computer.’
‘I’m not saying anything.’
‘Well, then, I’ll tell you.’ Mulwray smiled. He blew on his coffee to cool it. ‘I’ll tell you what I found out back in April.’ He set his gun down now and his smile got even wider. ‘Because that’s when I broke into the boss’s computer.’ He sipped his coffee, grinning at Stephanie, and Stephanie began to feel like she could breathe again, began to feel her heartbeat slow. Lines crinkled around Mulwray’s eyes when he smiled. They detracted from the perfection of his Eurasian beauty but Stephanie liked those lines. ‘I found out that a big Japanese company owns the Butler Institute,’ said Mulwray.
‘Hoshino,’ said Stephanie.
‘Right. But the Butler Institute owns everything else.’
‘That’s not true.’
‘Okay. I’m exaggerating a little. But we own every other company in this building. Every single one of them is a subsidiary, mostly acquired over the last decade. How do I know this?’
‘The office rental records.’
‘Right. It’s a secret that BI is so big. But it makes accounting sense for them to pay all the ground rents in one lump sum from one account. They get a deal from the landlords or something.’
‘And anybody who can read a tax audit can work it out. Like you did,’ said Stephanie.
‘Like we both did,’ said Mulwray.
‘It’s so big it’s scary.’
‘Not as scary as breaking into files in the middle of the night then having somebody come up behind your chair.’
‘You bastard. I never even heard you.’
‘Good aren’t I?’ said Mulwray, amusement gleaming in his eyes.
For the first time Stephanie let herself smile. ‘You scared the hell out of me, you know.’
‘I know,’ Mulwray chuckled and put his coffee cup down. ‘What did you think I was going to do to you?’
‘I don’t know. Use me as spare parts for the organ bank, maybe. After a phone call to Mr O’Hara.’
Mulwray stopped smiling. When he stopped the little lines disappeared on his face and his eyes went flat and dead.
‘That’s pretty close,’ he said. ‘Except I think it would have more of a career impact if I delivered you in person.’ He picked up his gun again, and now it was pointing at her.
* * *
They had to wait several hours for the first helicopter to the Catskills and by the end of the flight they were moving through dawn skies. She could see the yellow earth‐moving machinery below her, parked in rows in the early light, like toys waiting outside the tunnel mouth in the mountain side. Stephanie had kept her coat on in the cockpit but she couldn’t stop shivering. When Mulwray helped her out of the helicopter she jerked away at his touch. The grass was wet as they walked from the helicopter pad up through a screen of trees to O’Hara’s house. He was waiting for them on the steps.
* * *
6
O’Hara smiled as he refilled Stephanie’s glass. She picked it up with a steady hand and sipped. The bourbon was sweet and warming now. At first it had tasted