The Blue Nowhere

terminal and began keyboarding. A moment later he stood and pulled a piece of paper from the printer.
    As Bishop’s irritated voice was saying into the phone, “We can’t wait two days for that information,” Gillette handed the sheet to the detective.
    A KISHA E LECTRONIC P RODUCTS S HIPPED —F IRST Q UARTER
    Model: HB Heavy Bass Portable Compact Disc Player
Unit Serial Numbers
Shipping Date
Recipient
HB40032–
1/12
Mountain View Music & Electronics
HB40068
 
9456 Rio Verde, #4
 
 
Mountain View, CA
    The phone sagged in the detective’s hand and he said into the receiver, “Never mind,” and hung up. “How’d you get this?” Bishopasked Gillette. Then held up a hand. “On second thought, I’d rather not know.” He chuckled. “Old-fashioned police work, like I said.”
    Bishop picked up the phone and called Huerto Ramirez again. He told him to get over to Mountain View Music with a picture of Phate to see if they could find out if he lived in the area. “Also, tell the clerk that our boy seems to like plays. He’s got a recording of Othello. That might help jog their memories.”
    A trooper from the state police headquarters in San Jose dropped off an envelope for Bishop.
    He opened it and summarized for the team, “FBI report on the details from the picture of Lara Gibson that Phate posted. They said it’s a Tru-Heat gas furnace, model GST3000. The model was introduced three years ago and it’s popular in new developments. Because of its BTU capacity that model is usually used in detached houses that’re two or three stories high, not town houses or ranches. The techs also computer enhanced the information stamped on the Sheetrock in the basement and found a manufacturing date: January of last year.”
    “New house in a recently developed tract,” Mott said and wrote these details on the evidence board. “Two to three stories high.”
    Bishop gave a faint laugh and raised an eyebrow in admiration. “Our federal tax dollars are being well spent, boys and girls. Those folks in Washington know what they’re doing. Listen to this. The agents found significant irregularities in the grouting and placement of tiles on the floor and think that suggests that house was sold with an unfinished basement and the homeowner himself laid the tile.”
    Mott added on the board: “Sold with unfinished basement.”
    “We’re not through yet,” the detective continued. “They also enhanced a portion of a newspaper that was in the trash bin and found out that it was a giveaway shopper, The Silicon Valley Marketeer. It’s home delivered and only goes to houses in Palo Alto, Cupertino, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara.”
    Gillette asked, “Can we find out about new developments in those towns?”
    Bishop nodded. “Just what I was about to do.” He looked at Bob Shelton. “You still have that buddy of yours at Santa Clara County P and Z?”
    “Sure do.” Shelton called the planning and zoning commission. He asked about permits for tract developments of two- and three-story single-family homes with unfinished basements built after January of last year in the towns on their list. After five minutes on hold Shelton cocked the phone under his chin, grabbed a pen and began writing. He kept at it for some time; the list of developments was discouragingly long. There must have been forty of them throughout those seven towns.
    He hung up and muttered, “He said they can’t build ’em fast enough to supply the demand. Dot-com, you know.”
    Bishop took the list of developments and walked to the map of Silicon Valley, circled those locations Shelton had written down. As he was doing this his phone rang and he answered. He listened and nodded. Then hung up. “That was Huerto and Tim. A clerk at the music store recognized Phate and said he’s been in there a half-dozen times in the past few months—always buys plays. Never music. Death of a Salesman was the last one. But the guy has no idea where he lives.”
    He circled the location of the music store. He tapped this, then the circle around Ollie’s costume shop on El Camino Real, where Phate had bought the theatrical glue and other disguises. These stores were about three quarters of a mile apart. The locations suggested that Phate was in the central and western part of Silicon Valley; still there were twenty-two new housing developments spread out over what must have been seven or eight square miles. “Way too big