Dark Rivers of the Heart

his address were somewhere in those companies' files, under the name that was his secret identity; he could be located if his alias could be uncovered.
        Roy froze Mama's report and returned to the bedroom to get the envelope that contained the computer-projected portrait of Spencer Grant.
        This man was an unusually crafty adversary. Roy wanted to have the clever bastard's face for reference while reading about him.
        At the computer again, he paged forward in the report.
        Mama had been unable to find an account for Spencer Grant at any bank or savings and loan association. Either he paid for everything with cash, or he maintained accounts under an alias. Probably the former.
        There was unmistakable paranoia in this man's actions, so he wouldn't trust his funds in a bank under any circumstances.
        Roy glanced at the portrait beside the computer. Grant's eyes did look strange. Feverish. No doubt about it. A trace of madness in his eyes.
        Maybe even more than a trace.
        Because Grant might have formed an S-chapter corporation through which he did his banking and bill paying, Mama had searched the files of the California Secretary of the Treasury and various regulatory bodies, seeking his name as a registered corporate officer. Nothing.
        Every bank account had to be tied to a Social Security number, so Mama looked for a savings or checking account with Grant's number, regardless of the name under which the money was deposited. Nothing.
        He might own the home in which he lived, so Mama had checked property tax records in the counties that Roy targeted. Nothing. If he did own a home, he held title under a false name.
        Another hope: If Grant had ever taken a university class or been a hospital patient, he might not have remembered that he'd supplied his home address in applications and admissions forms, and he might not have deleted them. Most educational and medical institutions were regulated by federal laws; therefore, their records were accessible to numerous government agencies. Considering the number of such institutions even in a limited geographical area, Mama needed the patience of a saint or a machine, the latter of which she possessed.
        And for all her efforts, she found nothing.
        Roy glanced at the portrait of Spencer Grant. He was beginning to think that this man was not merely mentally disturbed, but something far darker than that. An actively evil person. Anyone this obsessed with his privacy was surely an enemy of the people.
        Chilled, Roy returned his attention to the computer.
        Mama undertook a search as extensive as the one that Roy had requested of her and when that search was fruitless, she didn't give up.
        She was programmed to apply her spare logic circuits-during periods of lighter work and between assignments-to riffle through a large store of mailing lists that the agency had accumulated, looking for the name that couldn't be found elsewhere. Name soup. That was what the lists were called. They were lifted from book and record clubs, national magazines, Publishers Clearing House, major political parties, catalogue-sales companies peddling everything from sexy lingerie to electronic gadgetry to meat by mail, interest groups like antique-car enthusiasts and stamp collectors, as well as from numerous other sources.
        In the name soup, Mama had found a Spencer Grant different from the others in the Internal Revenue Service records.
        Intrigued, Roy sat up straighter in his chair.
        Almost two years ago, this Spencer Grant had ordered a dog toy from a mail-order catalogue aimed at pet owners: a hard-rubber, musical bone.
        The address on that list was in California. Malibu.
        Mama had returned to the utility companies' files, to see whether services were maintained at that address. They were.
        The electrical connection was in the name of Stewart Peck.
        The water service and trash collection account was in the name of Mr.
        Henry Holden.
        Natural gas was billed to James Gable.
        The telephone company provided service to one John Humphrey.
        They also billed a cellular phone to William Clark at that address.
        AT&T provided long-distance service for Wayne Gregory.
        Property tax records listed the owner as Robert Tracy.
        Mama had found the scarred man.
        In spite of his