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computer genius of the
project, and that all of his responsibilities revolved around the software he
was writing. I couldn't imagine that he'd come here in the middle of the night
to do anything but computer work.
    "I think it would be worthwhile to dig deeper and see
if a file was deleted by the murderer," I said.
    "If it's deleted, it's gone, right?"
    "Not exactly. If you just hit "delete," the
name of the file will disappear from the directory and you won't see it listed
anymore, but the file's still in there somewhere, and there's software
available that will allow you to retrieve it."
    "I never knew that," Matt said. "Let's hope
the killer didn't either. I'll ask Casey over at our computer lab to come by
and check it out."
    As we turned to leave, I looked at Eric's computer monitor.
His collection of action figures was there, but something about them looked
different from what I remembered seeing in the police photographs.
    I made a note to look again at the photographs, which we'd
left in Matt's car.
    As a small gesture towards health and fitness, we took the
stairs to the second floor. Leder was standing outside his office talking to a
young woman with the efficient look of a secretary. He looked past her and
walked over to greet us with a wide smile.
    Leder took my hand and gave it a couple of light pats.
    "How unfortunate to meet again under these
circumstances," he said. He spoke in low tones, looking down from his
six-foot height at Matt and me. I noticed how closely his gold-toned turtleneck
matched the part of his hair that wasn't gray.
    To Matt he said, "I hope you're here to tell me that we
can have our lab back."
    "We're as anxious for that as you are, sir," Matt
answered. "In a couple of days, I hope. First, I'd like to know more about
the project Eric was working on. Doctor Lamerino's along so she can translate
for me when we get back to the station."
    Matt smiled at me when he came to the last sentence and I
felt a tiny, but distinctive twinge in my chest.
    "Oh, Gloria and I are old friends," Leder said,
"Very bright lady. But surely you don't think Eric's murder had something
to do with his work?"
    "We can't rule anything out," Matt said. "Do
you have information about another motive, one that doesn't involve his
work?"
    "No, no, but none of us are angels, you know, and Eric
did have some problems that could get a man in trouble." At this, Leder
winked, as if we all knew what he meant.
    "Can you explain what you mean?" Matt said, his
voice calm and casual, as if he'd done this before.
    "Well, I don't like to gossip, especially when someone
is dead, but I think Gloria here will verify that Eric's wife Janice was
unhappy in her marriage and his girlfriend was tired of sneaking around. His
girlfriend on this coast, that is."
    Matt and I sat up straighter at the hint of a girlfriend on
each coast. By this time we were all seated in Leder's office, furnished in the
typical academic style of leftover furniture and an abundance of posters
covering up an old paint job. The woman from the corridor came in with
Styrofoam cups and a pot of coffee. The woman smelled of vanilla musk; the
coffee smelled old and burnt.
    "Yes, Eric had quite a thing going on the side,"
Leder said, "with our little technician, Andrea Cabrini. And this other
little gal in Berkeley. I thought you'd have found out by now." Leder
rocked back and forth in his chair with his hands behind his head.
    "Did you tell this to the officer who took your
statement?" Matt asked.
    "No, he was more interested in me," Leder said.
"Where I was—in bed with my wife, by the way—how long I've
known Eric, and so on."
    Seeing Matt write 'Andrea Cabrini' in his notebook, I
assumed he was going to pursue this line of questioning. Instead he brought up
the subject he'd come to discuss.
    "Tell us about the work Eric was doing for you. You
were directing his research for his degree?"
    "That's correct. Eric did all the programming for fluid
molecular hydrogen at over