"Martha Soukup - Things Not Seen" - читать интересную книгу автора (Soukup Martha)

"Noted," said the robot.



"Not possible," Drobisch said. His desk was enormous, a monster of dark-stained wood and iron trim.

"She was the last living person to see the robot working. She might have noticed something that would
help me."

"She didn't."

"You're not the computer expert. Let me talk to her.

"We're concerned about her safety."

So you do think Herrera got killed because of what he was working on, she thought. "Look, I just want
to ask her questions about the robot's functioning. Something that might look like nothing to you, and to
her, might be the clue I need."

Drobisch glowered at her.

She rose to go. "OK. Maybe I can find this glitch anyway. It probably doesn't matter. The cops will
probably figure out that portable heart-lung machine you hooked to Herrera was the second one. If they
guess there was a robot at the scene, they'll impound it, and it won't be my headache."
"Wait," Drobisch said. Her hand was on the doorknob. She turned. "You can talk to her. At lunch,
tomorrow."

As she'd figured. If she found the bug before the cops knew about the robot, they could erase all its
memory and know they could safely use it again when it was finally returned. "Thanks."

"I'll be sitting in. Maybe I can help you." The sullen tone of his voice was a warning.



Jane Yonamura was a thin woman, older than Ginnie, though it was hard to judge: maybe thirty, maybe
thirty-five. She sat across from Ginnie at the cafeteria table, not meeting her eyes. Ginnie remembered
that that was a characteristic of Japanese politeness. Otherwise Yonamura seemed American enough.

"I'm sorry about Dr. Herrera," Ginnie said. "Had you known him long?" Drobisch shifted in the chair
beside her. You can damn well put up with politenesses, she thought. Anyone would ask that.

"We worked together for two years," Yonamura said. "I knew him as well as you know most people you
work with. It's difficult to get used to his absence."

"I'm very sorry," Ginnie said. Drobisch cleared his throat. Yonamura was silent.

"Did you notice anything unusual about the robot that night?"

"I really couldn't say, Ms. Erickson. I'm not an expert on such things. Dr. Herrera understood computers,
but he was a very clever man. I'm an ordinary cellular biology expert; I only deal with computers and