Read Phule Me Twice for Free Online Page B

caught."
    Phule paced a few more steps, then turned and said, "Well, when they spot him, we'll have to decide what to do with him."
    "I should think that would be the local authorities' problem, sir," said Beeker.
    "No," said Phule. "I can't just turn a legionnaire over to civilian authorities. We take care of our own, and that means we discipline our own, too. But if these people don't have a military tradition, they may not understand that. Why, we-" He was interrupted by the intercom.
    "Yes, Mother?" he answered.
    "Those two cops and the hash slinger are back, sweetie," came the sultry, mocking voice. "They don't look happy. Shall I send 'em in so you can cheer 'em up?"
    "I'm going to have to talk to them eventually," said Phule. "Yes, send them in."
    The trio of Landoorans marched in, all three with frowns on their faces. Takamine opened his mouth to speak, but one of the policemen signaled to him to keep quiet and turned to speak to Phule. "Captain, that's the damnedest trick I've ever seen. I thought a holo ID was supposed to be impossible to jigger, but it looks as if your boy's figured it out, just to stall us. But it's not gonna help him. If he sticks his nose outside this hotel, we're hauling him in and asking questions later. I've got the security vids, and I'll make sure everybody on the force knows that face. Now that I think of it, I've seen him around a few times, myself."
    "What are you talking about?" said Phule. "Nobody's jiggered those files." He was convinced that he was right until a tickle in the back of his mind that reminded him that Sushi, Do-Wop's partner, was the company's leading expert at electronic chicanery. If anybody on Landoor could alter a holo ID picture, it would be Sushi-or somebody he'd given lessons.
    He closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose again. "Let's go see these jiggered pictures you're talking about," he said. He already had a very good idea what he was going to find when he got there.
    But he was wrong.
     
     

Chapter 3
     
    "I told you these files had been jiggered with," said the policeman disgustedly. "No such thing as identical eleventuplets, not when they're from eight or nine different planets. That's the face of the guy that robbed this citizen's place and beat him up. I've seen the vids, and they're pretty clear. Somebody's put the same face on all those files. So which one of 'em's the original?" He pointed at the holofiles, showing the faces of the company's converts to the Church of the King.
    "It's not that easy," said Phule. "I think the original owner of that face has been dead for several centuries."
    Mr. Takamine leapt up and threw his hands in the air. "What, you're tellin' me a dead man robbed me? That's the biggest load of-"
    "I said no such thing," said Phule, making shushing motions in hopes of calming the man down. "What I said was-"
    "It was just a trick to make me give up," the man shouted. "You're gonna tell me that just because I can't pick the guy out from the picture, I can't get no satisfaction."
    "Sir, my employer has no intention of cheating you of your satisfaction," said Beeker. "The fact is, these legionnaires are all members of some bizarre sect-"
    "Well, I wouldn't exac'ly call it bizarre, sonny," said a new voice at the door.
    "That's the man!" shouted Takamine, turning to point to Reverend Jordan Ayres. "He's the thug that robbed me! Arrest him!"
    The policemen moved menacingly toward the chaplain, who raised his hands and said, "Hey, easy there, gen'lemen. I ain't done a thing to this little fellow, and I reckon I can prove it. Just when and where is all this supposed to have happened?"
    "Four days ago, in my restaurant over on Hastings Street," the man said, still pointing at Rev. He stopped and frowned, then said, "You put on a hell of a lot of weight since then."
    "Ain't put on a gram," said Rev, striking a pose. "I've been workin' out with the fellows, gettin' in shape with a little bit of karate, jes' like the