Trust Me

staff?”
    “Because someone on your staff had opportunity and motive.”
    “Now hold on just one minute here. There were a whole bunch of people in this house tonight. I’ll bet a lot of them know more about computers than any of my employees.”
    “It had to be someone who knew the layout of this house,” Stark said. “Most of my guests tonight had never been here before. They couldn’t have known where my study is located, let alone anything about my security precautions.”
    “Wait a second, what about Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson? I know they were at the other party. And so were the Blaunts.”
    “Ferguson and Blaunt are old-style corporate types. Neither of them knows enough about computers to even contemplate stealing a hard disk.”
    “Well, what about your friend, Dane McCallum?”
    “What about him? He’s a marketing and finance man, not a technical man. Furthermore, I saw him downstairs at the same time that I got the page. He couldn’t have been up here because he couldn’t have been in two places at once.”
    “How about that guy with the little beard?” Desdemona was grasping at straws, and she knew it.
    “Jessick?”
    “Whatever. He’s been here before. You said something about him being a software genius.”
    “I saw him downstairs at about the same time I saw McCallum. Got any other suspects you’d care to run by me before we take a close look at your staff?”
    Desdemona frantically tried to think of another approach. “None of my people knows anything about computers. They’re all theater people, for heavens’ sake. Except Vernon Tate. And he’s an ice sculptor and a waiter. He’s no hacker.”
    “You’re overlooking someone.”
    “Who?” she demanded furiously.
    “Your stepbrother.”
    Desdemona stilled. She gazed wide-eyed at Stark. “No,” she whispered. “Not Tony.”
    “Why not Tony?”
    “He wouldn’t do anything like that,” Desdemona said. “He wouldn’t.”
    “He knows something about computers. You told me yourself he put your business online. I understand he’s installed business software for Kirsten, too.”
    “Yes, but that doesn’t make him a hacker or a thief.”
    “No?” Stark’s eyes gleamed in the shadows above the halogen lamp “He’s got a history, doesn’t he, Desdemona?”
    Desdemona stopped breathing for a heartbeat. “What are you talking about?”
    “I’m talking about the fact that he was once under suspicion for embezzlement.”
    “How do you know about that?”
    Stark shrugged. “I did a quick background check on him the day after he turned up in your apartment.”
    “You did what?”
    “You heard me.”
    She was stunned. “But you had no right to do that.”
    “I’m a security expert, remember?”
    “A computer security expert. You’re not a private investigator. All right, all right, it’s true that Tony was in some trouble a few years ago, but it was all cleared up.”
    “You mean no one was able to prove anything so they dropped the embezzlement charges.”
    “No charges were ever filed,” she hissed. “And no one actually accused him of embezzlement.”
    “I believe the phrase was ‘mishandling of funds’.”
    “He was young.” Desdemona flung out a hand. “He took some chances on a plan to finance a new theatrical production, and it all fell apart. It was a case of bad judgment, not a criminal act.”
    “That depends on your point of view,” Stark said bluntly. “In my business, the disappearance of several thousand dollars looks like embezzlement.”
    “Well, it would to you, wouldn’t it? You take a suspicious view of everyone and everything. You don’t even trust your own fiancees. You make them sign prenuptial agreements, for heaven’s sake.”
    “Leave my ex-fiancees out of this. They’ve got nothing to do with it.”
    “Let’s be logical about this.” Desdemona ignored Stark’s derisively raised brows. “Tell me, how would Tony know that there was anything of value stored in your computer?”
    “Are you serious? It wouldn’t be difficult for anyone to find out that I do my initial development work at home on an isolated system. Hell, Jason and Kyle know that much. They even know something about ARCANE. They could have mentioned it to Macbeth, who, in turn, could have told Tony.”
    “Good lord, now you’re implicating my cousin and your own half brothers. Don’t you trust anyone?”
    “I’m not accusing any of them of criminal intent,” Stark said evenly. “I’m just