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.They had hoped I might be able to shed some light on when and where he had found it and why he might still have it.Unfortunately, I can’t help them.I’m surprised as anyone to have it show up like this.” I looked her right in the eyes.I have read that direct eye contact convey a sense of sincerity and trustworthiness.I certainly needed something.She was still trying to absorb it all and put it together in her mind.“I wonder where Mr.Morris found it?” she said, more to herself than me.Boy, wouldn’t I like to know that myself!“Maybe they will find out.After all, they just seem to have found the revolver recently, along with a lot of other odd stuff he appears to have accumulated over the years.” Play it down, I thought.Make it sound like just another piece of junk he had accumulated, all having little value or meaning.But I knew otherwise.His possession was of monumental importance.I considered telling her the most interesting bit; the part about the note indicating the gun was older than it could possibly be.But that wouldn’t do.While it would belittle the men from the NSG, and make it harder for them to pursue their investigations, it was the type of story we didn’t need floating about either.And Dan would be so angered by the ridiculousness of the whole thing I was sure he would take action I didn’t want.No, better to leave it like this.Doris would share the news with a few, and the story would get around.“You look like you’re leaving,” Doris noted.“Dan wanted to see you after the others had left,” she added.I had suspected that.However, I had other plans and would count on Doris passing on my edited version of the interview to him.“I have to go out.Carol called and wants to bring me up to speed on some important developments on that propulsion project Dan is hot to close on,” I lied.“I thought she was out of town until tomorrow,” Doris responded.“Dan tried to get her on something yesterday.”“She is,” I improvised.I forgot Doris had a pretty good handle on what our key people were up to during the critical phase of this proposal.“She wants to video conference in a couple of people before she leaves the East Coast tonight.The conference setup is over at our office, and it’s three hours later where Carol is.She has a late plane to catch, but we can still get this in.”I was getting better at lying.I’d had a lot of practice in the last few hours.Actually, Carol was already on a plane for home and I could count on an early sit down with her in the morning.“Tell Dan I’ll be in Monday morning, probably late morning.He and I can talk then.” I was glad I hadn’t taken anything with me out of the office.It looked like I was rushing off to a meeting, leaving everything in place for the morrow’s work.No hint that I might not be returning.Doris wasn’t happy with the situation.After all, her boss had said make sure I talked with him before leaving, and that wasn’t going to happen.But short of chaining me to her desk there was little she could do to prevent my escape.I smiled at her for further reassurance, and headed down the long hallway toward the elevators.I was sure she would be getting a call off to Dan as soon as she got back to her desk, but he wouldn’t be able to get over here before I was gone, even if he was at his desk, which was unlikely.Dan was not a chair warmer, and spent more than half of his time on the floor with his troops, making sure no roadblocks hindered his company’s progress.It was something he had learned from the Skunkworks at Lockheed, where he worked on the Blackbird as a young engineer.For once the gods were with me.The elevator arrived just as I did, and I joined the two people already stepping into it.I didn’t know either, which was good.I didn’t want to get involved any more conversations just now, as such discussions frequently involved details of the project and could easily become extended exchanges.The others got off at the lobby, and I continued down to the basement.I passed through the guard check without breaking stride.Without anything to inspect, they simply waived me through.My car was only a short distance ahead, and I triggered the locks as I walked towards it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]