Lucy shut her eyes and took a deep breath as if resetting her thoughts.
“Tahoe Robotics has great potential. There are now twenty-some employees. The techies at the office are brilliant. There is a possibility that the company will go through the roof. But the reality is that most such companies don’t make it. They use up their funds, and their promise never comes to fruition. The company fizzles, and all the investors lose their money.”
“Reality can be bleak,” I said.
“Yeah.” Lucy had stress lines on her forehead to match her tone. She picked up another cookie off the tray and bit off a piece.
“The Reno lender who died,” I said. “What’s his name? Or his company’s name?”
“I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know. This is one of the things I can’t stand about Yardley. He goes off on his own without ever consulting me about anything. It’s not like I’m a bubble-brain idiot. I could be a useful sounding board. Sure, I’m the first to admit I don’t get coding and the whole geeky tech world. But I’m smart. I could provide good feedback about a wide range of situations.” She paused. “I honestly don’t know why Yardley even wanted to marry me. So, in answer to your question, if you talk to William Lindholm, ask him. He will know the Reno lender. Probably personally. Those money people are tight like in any other business.”
“Thanks, I’ll ask him.” I stood up to go. “And you’ll call Sal at Tahoe Robotics and ask her to let me look through Yardley’s files.”
Lucy nodded. “I’ll also call Evelyn.”
“William Lindholm’s stage manager,” I said.
Lucy smiled.
I said, “I’m wondering about Yardley’s personal ambition.”
Lucy frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I assume he is very driven about his company. But is he the kind of person who will do whatever it takes to be successful?”
“You’re wondering if he would do something unethical to succeed?”
“Yeah.”
Lucy didn’t hesitate. “Yes. I’ve always thought of Yardley as a man of enormous appetites. Money, food, sex, stature in the tech world. He’s one of those people you don’t ever want to cross.”
“Would he bend laws to get what he wanted?”
Lucy paused. “If you pushed Yardley really hard… If he felt like he was trapped in a corner regarding his software, he’d be like a mother protecting her baby. He would kill to survive.”
“Has Yardley said anything unusual recently? Has he mentioned any problems or surprises or sudden changes at work?”
“Apart from the problem of the loan, no.”
“Any small things that were out of the ordinary?”
“No.”
“Has he met anyone new?”
“Just the brother of the Reno lender who died. Yardley didn’t talk much about him. I suppose that for all of his robot focus, he was struggling with the idea that a man who inherited an unpaid loan would want to collect on it.”
“Did Yardley mention the name of the brother?”
She shook her head.
“Let me know if you think of anything.”
I nodded and moved toward the door.
Lucy walked with me. Then she looked down at the floor, radiating discomfort. “May I ask you a personal question, Mr. McKenna?”
“Owen, please. Yes, ask whatever you want.”
“When you pulled up, a woman got out of your car and went running with her dog. Is she close to you?”
“Yes. She’s my girlfriend. Her name is Street Casey. She’s an entomologist.”
“Are you… Sorry, I know this is much too personal. I guess I’m going through a crisis.”
“Ask what you want,” I said.
“Is your relationship with Street long term? The kind where you might one day get married?”
“I’d like to. But Street is all about being independent. She had a rough childhood. It’s important for her to not get too dependent on any one person.”
“Do you love her?”
“Yes.”
“I noticed… God, I’m so embarrassed to be thinking this.”
“It’s okay.”
“I saw that she’s thin and looks very fit.”
I paused, wondering about the ramifications of Lucy’s questions. “Yes, she’s kind of all about fitness.”
Lucy looked at me hard. “Is that important to you?”
“It’s valuable to me, but not as important to me as it is for her.”
“So she’s internal about these things,” Lucy said. She put a little emphasis on the word internal, as if it gave her a small epiphany. “She stays fit to satisfy her own desires, not yours.”
“Definitely,” I said.
We said goodbye, and I was walking out to the car when she called after me.
“I just remembered someone new Yardley mentioned. Although I can’t imagine how it could matter.”
I stopped and walked back to her.
“Yardley goes out to schools now and then and talks to kids about tech careers. I guess some of the local teachers have been referring him to each other. So he goes and makes a little presentation and that’s it. He says the kids mostly have no interest. They’re too dialed into their phones. But a week ago or so, he had a kid who was really sharp. Sharp enough for Yardley to talk about it later. That’s unusual.”
“What was the kid’s name?”
“I have no idea.”
“Do you know what school it was?”
“No. But I think it was fairly close because he probably would have mentioned the drive if the school was on the South Shore or down in Carson City.”
“Would anyone at Tahoe Robotics know?”
“Possibly, but I doubt it. Yardley is all business when he’s at work.”
“Okay, thanks.”
“That’s not the kind of info you were looking for, is it?”
“On the contrary. It might turn out to be very helpful.”