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Silence reigned for a few minutes, while Norwell processed this information.ôI donÆt get it,ö he said. ôYouÆre saying I was here last night?ö

Odelia simply stared at him. She wasnÆt as good at this as Chase, but good enough to make Norwell blanch.

ôBut I wasnÆt,ö he finally blurted out. ôI was home at that time. My wifeùEmma will tell you. I was up until two, working out the kinks and trying to come up with a new design for the site infrastructure. We were going for a complete redesign. Rebuild the whole thing from the ground up. The original programmer who designed the current iteration left last year, and honestly when I came on board and saw what a mess he made of things, I was frankly appalled. Spaghetti code, we call it: you start with something, and you just keep on building and adding stuff, and soon the whole thing gets completely out of hand. But when I came on board initially Valina didnÆt want to go for a full redesign, which was going to take time and was going to run into money. I pushed hard for it, and she finally realized with the hack that I was right all along: that spaghetti code had left the site vulnerable, with holes like Swiss cheese.ö

Chase entered the office and closed the glass door behind him.ôCan I see your key card, please, sir?ö he asked immediately.

ôIùIÆm afraid I donÆt have it anymore,ö said Norwell, turning a hunted look at Chase now. ôI tried to enter the building just now and discovered that I seem to have lost it.ö

ôYou lost it,ö said Chase in a flat tone that didnÆt conceal his disbelief.

ôYes! IÆm telling you it wasnÆt in my wallet when I arrived this morning. The security guy had to buzz me in.ö

Chase studied the manÆs face. Norwell was sweating now, I saw, and looking from Chase to Odelia. It didnÆt help that it was particularly hot in the office, and the atmosphere was muggy and uncomfortable.

ôWhen was the last time you saw that card?ö asked Chase finally.

ôWell, yesterday morning, when I arrived for work.ö

ôYou didnÆt see it after you entered the building yesterday?ö

ôNoùyou donÆt pay attention to something like that, do you? Only when you need it.ö

ôAnd the only time you need that card is to gain access to the building?ö

ôYes. I know that in other places they use their key cards for all kinds of stuff, even to get the coffee machine working or go the bathroom, but not here. ItÆs strictly an access card to get into the building. Which maybe,ö he said with a thoughtful frown, ôis something we should look at. Restrict access to specific areas like the server room.ö

He seemed to have forgotten already that his business partner had been brutally murdered last night, his programmer mind turning to problems that needed solving.

I could tell that he was probably a great software engineer, but without Valina Fawn, the company was likely destined for the scrapheap of history now.

ôOne other matter, Mr. Kulhanek,ö said Chase. ôDid you call Valina last night?ö

ôYes. Yes, I did.ö

ôWhat did you talk about?ö

ôIùwell, she didnÆt pick up, actually.ö

ôWhy did you call her?ö

ôWell, to discuss the redesign, of course. SheÆd told me she wanted me to get started immediately. Make sure that we had something we could promise our clients. Though of course it was going to take weeks, maybe even months. I called to bounce off some ideas.ö

ôWere you upset when she didnÆt pick up?ö

ôNot really. I figured she was probably busy. Or asleep. It was pretty late when I called. IÆd been working, you see, and when IÆm busy I tend to lose track of time.ö

ôSo you didnÆt jump into your car and drive to the office to talk things through with her in person when you couldnÆt reach her on the phone?ö asked Chase.

ôNo! What is this? YouÆre not accusing me ofàö He pushed his glasses back up his sweaty nose. ôI just figured weÆd talk in the morning. She had a conference call scheduled with some of our investors, and wanted to be ready to give them some good news to counter all the bad publicity thesite has been getting. WeÆve been hemorrhaging customers, as you can imagine, and she wanted to stop the bleed as soon as possible.ö

Chase eyed the man closely, and let the silence stretch on for a few minutes, then finally nodded and said,ôPlease keep yourself available for further interviews, sir.ö

ôI-I didnÆt kill her, if thatÆs what youÆre suggesting.ö

ôIÆm not suggesting anything, Mr. Kulhanek.ö

ôOkay, wellà that-thatÆs fine, I guess. So umà can I go now?ö

ôFor now,ö Chase allowed tersely, and we watched the programmer walk out.

ôSo what do you think?ö asked Chase the moment the man was gone.

ôHe sounded honest enough,ö Odelia determined.

ôSo if heÆs to be believed someone stole his key card yesterday, then used it last night to gain access to the building and to murder Valina Fawn?ö

ôWhoever it was must have known that Valina was going to work late.ö

ôAnd must have had access to Norwell at some point yesterday.ö

ôAnd must be able to handle bow and arrow with some proficiency.ö