Coming of Age by Timothy Zahn Read Free Book Online Page B

yes—he also used a bench near the conetrees in the center, not the one Lenna pointed out yesterday. Apart from that—” Tonio shrugged. “Pretty much a blank. None of the children ever saw him anywhere except the park, and they all assumed he knew Colin or his parents from somewhere, which is why they never reported the conversations.”
    â€œOnly on Saturdays, eh?” Tirrell said, half to himself. “Interesting.”
    â€œYou think Lenna’s on his side?” Tonio asked.
    â€œWhose—Oliver’s? I doubt it. She’s sat with Colin alone on several occasions recently. If the two were in collusion she could have delivered Colin to him at one of those times and not have had to worry about having witnesses around.” Tirrell drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “No, what I was interested in was the Saturdays-only aspect. That may imply he’s an out-of-towner who normally can’t get here during the week.”
    Tonio digested that in silence for a block. “But this week he came on a Wednesday and a Friday.”
    â€œHe did indeed. What does that suggest to you?”
    â€œWell-l-l. He changed his pattern in case someone was watching for him?”
    â€œMaybe. I’m guessing it’s a bit more significant than that, though. Did you happen to note when Colin’s fifth birthday was?”
    â€œUh, no.” Out of the corner of his eye Tirrell could see Tonio giving him a puzzled stare. “Is it important?”
    â€œUh-huh. Colin was going to turn five next Thursday. And since you probably don’t know it, I’ll mention that Ridge Harbor law requires a child to be brought in to one of the city’s hives for teekay testing on the Saturday before his or her fifth birthday, and to be officially admitted the Saturday after that.”
    â€œOh. So if Oliver had come today, he wouldn’t have found Colin in the park?”
    â€œThat’s part of it,” Tirrell nodded. “But think it through a bit more. What was your last week at home like—do you remember?”
    â€œNot really. All I remember is that my parents kept me pretty busy visiting relatives and having parties and outings together.” The preteen slapped his hands together suddenly. “Aha! If Oliver hadn’t grabbed him yesterday he might not have gotten another chance.”
    â€œRight,” Tirrell nodded again. “And now you’re to the crux of my ‘interesting’ a while back. One more question, and you’ll see that maybe our Mr. Oliver’s made a mistake—hopefully, a fatal one. Take your time; I’ll give you till the station to figure it out.”
    It was six more blocks to the station. Tirrell drove at a leisurely speed through the moderately heavy Saturday afternoon traffic, Tonio’s silence giving him a chance to map out their next move. An examination of the city’s records, probably, after a stop by Chief Alverez’s office to get the necessary authorization forms.
    He pulled the car into the station’s level of the attached parking garage and found an empty slot. Sliding smoothly into it, he set the wheels on lock and turned to Tonio. “Well?”
    The preteen was frowning. “There’s something about this I don’t understand,” he said, shaking his head. “How could Oliver know when Colin’s birthday was?”
    Tirrell smiled grimly and patted Tonio’s shoulder. “Bull’s-eye,” he said.
    The records keeper was a tall old man, well into his sixties, but still vigorous for all that. He seemed less than happy about letting Tirrell into the vault area. “If you’ll just tell me which records you want to see, Detective, I’ll bring them to you at one of the tables,” he said, halting on the threshold of the massive door.
    â€œIf I knew exactly which ones I needed, I’d be happy to do it that way,” Tirrell explained