CHAPTER 13

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I woke up around nine and, not surprisingly, Daisy was nowhere to be found. I made coffee and sat in the living room to check on the weather and news, relaxing and thinking about making another call when the doorbell rang. There were three men in suits holding badges and police ID's when I opened the door. I'm nothing if not thorough so I checked each ID carefully with each face then asked them to come in.

"I'm glad you're here, detectives. My girlfriend supposedly went out with some co-workers last night and never came home. I suppose I should report it. Her name is Daisy O'Neill."

"Um…you don't seem to be too upset."

"Well, if you heard your wife or girlfriend having the conversation with her mother that I heard Monday night you wouldn't be too upset either. I went to visit her parents a year ago in May and once we were back on campus I broke our engagement. Her mother treated her father like he was a servant or worse—like he was a slave. I looked into that poor man's eyes and all I saw was a hollow shell of a man. As much as I loved her I wasn't interested in that kind of future for myself. She begged me for another chance about two weeks later. I stupidly agreed with some conditions that she met--at least I thought she did until Monday night.

"I don't have a recording of the call but I heard enough—drug me, tie me down and beat me into submission, lock my genitals into a monstrosity of a penis cage that I found last night in one of her drawers, and basically make my life a living hell. She thinks I burned our prenup, but the lawyer has the original, not that we'll ever need it. I was just about to box up her things. She can leave with her personal belongings which won't be too bad—new car, $30,000 diamond ring, about $10,000 in other jewelry, at least $5,000 in clothes and shoes, and whatever she managed to make selling real estate. So…gentlemen, why are you here?"

"We found your girlfriend with her boss. He hit a county patrol car in Kings Park then led the officer on a merry chase. He stopped once then took off when the officer approached the car. Funny! Ha ha! He finally stopped on the side of 25A where the road turns to meet 25 in Smithtown after nearly killing about a dozen motorists. He was arrested, but he claimed that the car was driving itself."

"I've read about that, but from what I have read self-driving cars are supposed to be safe, not reckless."

"Yeah, we've read about that, too. I've actually seen a demo. It was pretty neat. Anyway, it seems that Mr. Waterman was high as a kite—cocaine, as well as alcohol—and so was your girlfriend. We found a good-sized vial of what seems to be cocaine in his car and a plastic bag of what also looks like coke in your girlfriend's purse. Of course, she told us that it was his."

"Of course. That's the kind of thing that happens in junior high school."

"You're right. I have two that age. I hear that all the time so Miss Daisy spent the night in the precinct. Boyfriend—boss, or whatever—he's out in Riverhead in the County Jail. She told us you're some kind of computer whiz. Mind looking at something for us? Our techs haven't a clue. But, first--mind telling us where you were last night?" He held out the remote control I had built.

"Knowing that Daisy was going out I worked late then went out to eat at the Waterside. I think I have the receipt in my wallet." I pulled it out and found the receipt almost immediately. After handing it to the detective, I took the object and looked it over. "Well, this is obviously a cell phone and this is a three-way port that would allow data to go either into or out of the phone. I don't have the foggiest idea what this other thing is."

"It's a plug that connects into the car's computers. That's what the department's mechanics tell us although this thing on the top was added."

I pretended to examine it closer. "Hmmm…okay, I see. Can I take it apart?" I did once I had permission.

"Is that some kind of control device?"

"You mean software that could control the vehicle through the computers? Maybe, but if you look closely you can see that whatever was in here is burned up. I don't think you'll get anything from it. Mind if I look at it under a magnifier? I have one in my office." They followed me into the small bedroom that was now my office. I turned on the desk lamp and looked closely under the glass. Then I showed it to the detective. "See these tiny lines? They're some kind of circuit board…really small, but they're all burned to a crisp. This is a computer chip, but you can see that it's all melted. I've seen this before. Assuming this was built to control the car, whoever built this designed it to work once and only once. What was in these other ports?"

"Some kind of what looks like really thin wire." He held out a piece for me.

I took it into my hand and checked it under the glass. "It's fiber optic cable. Lots of computer companies use it to transmit data. It's faster and safer than a regular wire, but as it is I have no idea how it was used. It's just a conductor with a USB plug on one end. Let's say you had several offices in buildings around the county. The best way to connect them to a central server would be optic fiber like this except that would be insulated to protect it from the weather." I handed everything back to the detective. "Anything else I can help you with?"

"No—thanks for your help. Are you coming to the precinct to pick her up?"

"No. I suspected she was going to cheat on me. I heard that on the phone call, too. It was over then, but I thought I'd fuck her a few more times before I kicked her to the curb. She can take a cab to her office or wherever her SUV is then she can pick her stuff up here. After that I don't really care. I'll have her stuff on the porch. The locks will be changed today. I'll be lucky if I never see her again.

"You can tell her that she really blew it. I've been in business less than two years and I'm already a multi-millionaire. She could have had a life of luxury. She killed my love for her with that one conversation—her dastardly plans for me, her cheating. I would have done anything for her before that. Now I'll do nothing. Tell her that, will you?"

"Yeah, we'll tell her." He reached out to shake my hand then turned and the detectives walked away—out of the house and out of my life.