"Zelazny, Roger - My Lady Of The Diodes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zelazny Roger)

I had hit Seekfax twelve times in the past five years. They knew it had to be me, but they could never prove it. I had built Max-10, Maxine, to plan perfect crimes, and she had done so a dozen times already. Seekfax was out to get me, but we had always outwitted their detectives, their guards, their alarm devices. No two robberies bore any resemblance as to method, thanks to Maxine. Each one was a de novo theft. Now then, if Kronstadt was in town ahead of time, under a phony name, then this Denver conference smacked of a setup job. The brochure had spoken of a very large display of expensive equipment, also. Had they something very special in mind for Danny Bracken? Perhaps it would do to sit this one outЕ

УCare to come back to my room for a nightcap?Ф I asked, taking her hand.

УAll right,Ф and she smiled, Уthanks.Ф

Ha! Hell hath no fury like a jealous computer designer, or computer, as I later learnedЧЧ

When we got back to my room and were settled with drinks, she asked me what I had thought she might: Уabout all these robberies at Seekfax exhibits and conferencesЕФ

УYes?Ф

УIТd like to have your views as to who might be committing them.Ф

УIBM? Radio Shack?Ф

УSeriously. There has never been a single clue. Each one has actually been a perfect crime. YouТd think a criminal that good would go after bigger gameЧsay, jewelry stores, or banks. My theory is that itТs someone with a grudge against the company. How does that sound to you?Ф

УNo,Ф I said, and I touched her neck with my lips as I leaned over to refill her glass. She didnТt draw away. УYouТre assuming that itТs one person, and the facts tend to indicate otherwise. From the reports IТve read, no two of the robberies have ever been alike. I believe that the Seekfax exhibit has come to be known in the underworld as an easy mark.Ф

УBosh!Ф she said. УTheyТre not easy marks. Greater precautions are taken at each one, but the thief seems to accommodate this by taking greater precautions himself. I think itТs one man with a grudge against the company, a man who delights in outsmarting it.Ф

I kissed her then, on the mouth to shut her up. She leaned forward against me and I drew her to her feet.

Somehow, the light got turned out.

Later, as I lay there smoking, she said: УEveryone knows youТre the one whoТs doing it.Ф

УI thought you were asleep.Ф

УI was deciding how to say it.Ф

УYouТre no reporter,Ф I said.

УNo, IТm not.Ф

УWhat do you want?Ф

УI donТt want you to go to prison.Ф

УYou work for Seekfax.Ф

УYes. I work for Seekfax, and I fell in love with the designs for the 5280 and the 9310. I know that theyТre your designs. The people they say did them arenТt that good. Those are the work of a genius.Ф

УI hired a consulting engineer,Ф I said, Уyour Mr. Walker, to help with some of the drawings. He went to work for Seekfax a week later, before I had the patents registered. YouТve read his testimony and mine. ThatТs why heТs a vice-president now.Ф

УSo thatТs why you commit these robberies?Ф

УSeekfax owes me two million, one hundred twenty-three thousand, four hundred fifty dollars.Ф