"Timothy Zahn - A Coming of Age" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

"I understand, Miss Thuma," Tirrell said gently, "but it's important that I hear the story from you,
personally, before any of the details begin to fade."

She sniffed once more and briefly closed her eyes. "We got here about two o'clockтАФColin, me, and
two other children from the neighborhood that I sit for. One of the older men who're sometimes here
was sitting over there." She waved toward a nearby bench, the current focus of attention for two of
Ridge Harbor's best shakedown men. "I'd seen him three or four times in the past month or two, the
last time two days ago. He was about average height and build, I guess, with a gray beard and
medium-length gray hair, and he wore glasses."

"Had you talked to him before today?"

"YesтАФon Wednesday. That was the first time," she added, sounding a little defensive. "He came up
and introduced himself and specifically said hello to Colin. Colin seemed to know him, so I thought
he was a friend of the Brimmers."

"How long was this conversation?"

"Just a few minutes. He sounded cultured and well-educated. IтАФI didn't think heтАФ" She sniffed
loudly and got her face back under control. "Anyway, he told me he was a city building inspector
who was retiring early for health reasons. He pointed out his apartment buildingтАФthat white one
through the trees." She pointed. "Then he said good-bye and went back to his bench to read. He was
still there when we left."

"Okay." Tirrell made a note on his pad. "Now tell me about today."

"He was here when we got here, sitting on his usual bench. He said hello and said he'd brought a
small gift for each of the childrenтАФthey were little model airplanes. They'd been flying them for a
half hour when Colin's hit the ground too hard and broke. Mr. OliverтАФthat's the manтАФtried to fix it,
but he couldn't. He said he would have to go to his apartment, where his glue and vise were, and
asked Colin if he wanted to come watch. Colin seemed eager, andтАФwell, he seemed to know himтАФ"

"Yes, you told me already," Tirrell said, striving to keep his voice even. He couldn't really blame the
teen; she'd probably never had more than a half hour of instruction on the art of child-sitting in her
life. Besides, she clearly still had the reflexes of the hive structure she'd so recently left, reflexes
geared to obedience toward authoritative adults. "So they left. It then took you a whole hour to
become suspicious?"

She nodded, a single forlorn jerk of the head. "I'm sorry," she said miserably.

Glancing around, Tirrell caught the eye of a policeman and beckoned to him. "I'm going to ask you
to go down to the station with this officer," he told the teen, "and describe this Mr. Oliver for one of
our artists. Okay?"

"Sure." She sniffed once more and left with the policeman, her shoulders curled with dejection. A
motion off to his left caught Tirrell's eye, and he turned as Tonio landed a few meters away.

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A Coming of Age