Death Before Facebook

seemed all that aware of other people. Shy. Painfully shy. He was a good kid, though. A really, really good kid.”
    “Were you close to him?”
    “Probably closer than anybody. The way to his heart was through the computer, and I was able to introduce him to it. He liked me almost as much as the machine.” Cole gave her a big smile.
    “And what did you think of him?”
    “Like I said, we were close.”
    “I see.”
    Did she close down a little? Cole thought he saw a shadow cross her face.
    “Listen, would you mind if I took his computer down to headquarters?”
    “What for?”
    “Evidence.”
    “What sort of evidence?”
    “That’s all I can really say about it. Of course, if you don’t want me to—”
    “Did you want to get into his files? Is that it? See if he’s got a journal in there?”
    She smiled again, but he saw the tension at the comers of her mouth. “You never know what you’ll find.”
    “Seizing computers is a pretty hot-button issue. The EFF would drum me out of the country if I didn’t say something.”
    “EFF?”
    “Electronic Frontiers Foundation. You could just download the disks, you know. The idea is, it’s bad enough to lose your software, but if your hardware’s missing, so’s your livelihood.”
    “I think in this case…”
    “Yes, of course.” He shrugged. “I thought I should at least register a protest.”
    She began to unplug the computer and gather it up, as if he’d given her permission. “Mr. Terry, as long as I’m here, I thought I might clear up a couple of loose ends. I’m wondering where you were when the body was found.”
    “Didn’t anyone tell you? I was in Baton Rouge. That’s why it was such a horrible shock for Marguerite; she had to go through the whole thing herself. Of course I got here in a couple of hours, but it was terrible for her—all alone like that.”
    “May I ask why you went to Baton Rouge?”
    “Of course. It was business. I’m a partner in a software company and we’re in negotiations with a company that wants to market our product.”
    “I see. And where’d you stay?”
    “Oh, just a Holiday Inn.”
    “Which one?”
    He gave her the address. “Can I help you carry that to the car?”
    “Sure.”
    “By the way, did you get the floppies? He could have put anything and everything on floppies.” He rummaged through Geoff’s files. “Here they are.”
    “Thanks.”
    As they walked to her car, he carrying the hard disk, she the floppies, she said, “Tell me about your business.”
    “Well, it’s kind of interesting, really. I had another business, an electronics store—this was, oh, years and years ago when nobody had PCs. I was one of the first on my block and I was trying to find a program to keep the books, but none of them were any good. So I designed my own, and from that moment I was hooked.
    “I went out and read every book I could find about computer programming; I took my first course in it long after I’d already founded a software company.”
    “You’re self-taught?”
    “Except for that one course, which I just took to see if I’d missed anything.”
    “And had you?”
    “Not a lot.”
    She opened the trunk and they packed it with Geoff’s equipment.
    “That’s pretty impressive.”
    “You’d really think so if you knew the rest of my history.”
    “Why is that?”
    “Well, I fall out of love easily.” He smiled at her. “Except with Marguerite, I mean. But I’ve had quite a few jobs—I sailed a boat around the world for a captain of industry; I went to law school and passed the bar; I founded a bluegrass band that was pretty hot up in Baton Rouge a few years back; I even taught at a state college for a while—history, one of my favorite subjects.”
    “You seem like a pretty well rounded guy.”
    “Not anymore, I’m afraid. For the last few years, it’s been nothing but get up in the morning and work all day, and then work half the night, then get up and do the whole thing all over again. If things had gone right, and I hadn’t fallen in with a pack of idiots, Marguerite and I’d be millionaires. But now things are taking a turn for the better. We’ve got a deal going that’s finally going to do it.”
    “That’s terrific.”
    “We’ve waited a long damn time for it.”
    He was ready to say good-bye—he still had to mow the lawn—but she leaned lazily against the car. “Are you from Baton Rouge?”
    “No. Why?”
    “Because that’s where the band