Chapter Sixteen

Off we went on another big chase,

Flying south at a double-quick pace.

In a marsh by the sea,

We expected to see

The dead Cougar with mud on his face.

Melbourne International Airport: We probably could have landed directly at the Cape but that would have required NASA clearances, impounding the aircraft and other botheration. So we’re using the ground transport arranged by the FBI to get us to the crime scene and in the Cubs’ case, the Kennedy Space Center.

Two large SUVs were on hand at the general aviation terminal. A Kennedy Space Center bus was also waiting for the Cubs and their three chaperones. Arabella and McTavish scrambled on board along with Mlle Woof and waited, not very patiently, for Ben and Gal to seal up the SST. Resident Agent Bobcat greeted us and led us to the SUVs. The team heading to Canaveral Police Headquarters met Lieutenant Burt Beaver, loaded up and left. The Frau, Otto and I were heading for Space Enterprises in Port Canaveral with the agent in the driver’s seat.

I asked Agent Bobcat if he had prior dealings with Space Enterprises and Covington Cougar. He did, on several occasions when their projects with NASA or independent contractors required special clearances. The Cougar was one of several “Mission Managers” who packaged finances, staffing, logistics, scheduling, publicity and the like for space operation developers. That put his role with Howard’s Quantum Multiverse program in better perspective. Since the Entangled Electron agenda was still in its very early stages, it would have been a good while before his skills and resources were called into action. However, it still wasn’t clear how he got involved with the Professor, but involved he was.

We pulled up in the parking lot of a single story office building that was topped by a cluster of antennas and a rocket-shaped, multi-colored neon sign that proclaimed that this was the home of Space Enterprises LLC. We were met at the door by a Lynx dressed in Florida Casual attire. The Office Manager, Lynda Lynx. The President was in Houston at the moment but she was authorized to cooperate fully with us in our investigation. She took special notice of Frau Ilse who returned the compliment. About two dozen workers sat at workstations loosely arranged in an open pattern. One wall was taken up with executive style offices that varied in size from the presidential corner suite to what looked to be a conference center/kitchen/lunch room. A closed off area probably housed the company servers and other equipment. The Cougar had a private office several doors down from the President. We settled in the conference room where the typical sequence of introductions and commentary on Covington’s demise took place. A white tailed deer named Vanessa joined us. She, it seems, was Covington’s assistant. If she was upset by his death, she was controlling it masterfully.

“Vanessa, can you tell us what the Cougar was working on before he died,” asked the agent.

“I hadn’t seen him in the last few days. He was out of town. That’s not unusual. All of the VCs like to meet face-to-face with their clients, especially when there’s hardware development at stake. I know he was in Detroit for a few days getting together with an engineering shop.”

Bells rang for the Frau, Otto and me. I asked, “Do you have a name for that shop?”

“No, that’s one he kept to himself. Covington wasn’t the easiest guy to work with. He wouldn’t let me near his e-mail, for example.”

“Do the names MAPS Ltd. or Professor Hercules Ovibos mean anything to you?”

“I took a phone message from a Professor Ovibos a while back. He needed to talk to Cov. I passed the message on. Never heard of MAPS Ltd.”

“Any idea why he would have been out in the salt marshes. That’s where his body was found.”

“I didn’t even know he was back in town. He didn’t stop in the office - at least not while I was here. I can check the sign-in log. You need a badge to come in and the reader creates a log entry.”

“Would you do that, please?”

While she was out, I turned to my three companions and said, “Well, there’s an important link. I wonder what Condo and Ursula will uncover with the e-mails.”

Vanessa came back into the room. “The last badge entry was five days ago. He wasn’t here the night before last or yesterday. Someone might have let him in but the crew here is pretty security conscious.”

The Frau changed the subject, “Did the Cougar have any contact with a porcupine named Howard Watt?”

“Oh sure, some mysterious project Covington wouldn’t talk about but I’ve seen the name several times. Would the porcupine have something to do with his death?”

Agent Bobcat replied, “I really doubt it, Ms Vanessa. I realize we don’t have a search warrant but would it be possible to look in his desk? I assume he took his computer with him. Can we access your servers and look at his files.”

“I’ll have to ask Ms. Lynx. Lynda may be able to give you permission.”

I looked over at Otto and the Frau and said, “So much for keeping the Multiverse team a secret. I bet if we were to mention the other members, she’d recognize them too.”

Lynda Lynx came back to the conference room. “I can grant you access to his desk and his files on our server. He has his own files on his laptop or out in a confidential cloud. I don’t know how to get to them.”

“That’s all right. We can search for them when and if we need them.

Last question: “Do either of you recognize these names?

Professor Karl Shepherd Ph.D.- MIT Quantum Mechanics Laboratory

Doctor Susanna Shrike - Director of Extraterrestrial Studies - Caltech

Commander Cornelius Cormorant - US Navy Advanced Research Command

Alfred Armadillo - Sr. VP Communication Technology - Goggle Plex “

Vanessa recognized them all as animals on the Cougar’s contact list but that was it. Lynda drew a blank.

“Well,” said I, “may we adjourn to the Cougar’s Office?”

We spent the next hour under Lynda’s watchful eye, opening and closing desk and file drawers. Some cash, a small bottle of bourbon, a few unpaid bills but nothing to do with any of his projects. Pretty much the same on the server. It was clear that Covington Cougar had a separate communication and file system outside the company. Lynda was pretty upset about that. So would the president be when he returned. It seems all of the Cougar’s business and technical traffic was off line and it wasn’t clear how the firm was going to retrieve any of it. So much for security consciousness. We, of course did not mention that Condo and Ursula had tracked his e-mails and files and was poring over them for clues. We’d have to make up our minds to selectively share them with Space Enterprises Ltd. A chore for a later day.

As we left the building, Otto, who had been relatively quiet till now asked if he could bring any of his special talents to bear. Sorry to disappoint. Let’s get over to Canaveral PD.