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"I'd say one at the most I don't think he would have used his real name"

"I don't blame him"

"But he may have kept the initials"

"Well, let's see" She tapped away at the keys, periodically rolling her eyes while she waited for the machine to respond "Every computer's faster than the last one," she said, "and they're never fast enough You get so you want it instantaneous More than that, you want it to give you data before you can even think to ask for it"

"Saled "At least co? I' if there's a Wishniak on Flight 1103 on the fifth, and there's not, and now I'll ask about Flight 179 the saht? So we'll try 1103… Nothing, and noe'll try 179 Is that the right number, 179? It is, so we'll try it Nope"

"I don't think he would have used his real name"

"I know, but I wanted to rule it out because with the name I could access the records With just the initials I can't"

"Oh"

"Let me try Midwest Express," she said She did, and United as well, and wound up shaking her head

"There's another nalicized the family name, and Arnold's borrowed the name in the past"

I told her the name and she repeated it and frowned "Spell it?" I spelled it and she hit keys "It's a familiar name to me," she mused "Where did I hear it recently?"

"No idea," I said "Of course there's the ballplayer, Dave Winfield"

She shook her head "Since the strike," she said, "I don't pay any attention Flight 1103, on the fifth No luck there Flight 179, also on the fifth…"

Nothing on any of the flights in question

"There's still a good chance he used the initials," I said "But you can't access it that way Suppose you just pull up the passenger hts Can you do that?"

"I can't"

"Who can?"

"Soenius, probably Or soot the access codes" She frowned "This is important, huh?"

"Kind of"

She picked up a phone, flipped through a Rolodex, dialed a number She said, "Hi, this is Phyllis at JMC Who's this? Judy? Judy, I've got this very good customer of mine who happens to be a detective He's on this case that involves a noncustodial parent… Right, you hear about stuff like this all the ti They don't pay child support and then they come and kidnap the kids"

She explained what I needed to know "He wasn't on any of those flights under his own name," she said, "but the detective thinks he may have kept the initials No, I understand it's confidential, Judy You would have to have a court order Right" She made a face, then forced a s er on one of those flights with the initials AW? Yes, Philadelphia to Omaha"

She covered the mouthpiece "She's not supposed to do this," she said, "but she'll bend a little My guess, she's divorced and not on the best of terms with her ex" She uncovered the mouthpiece "Hi, Judy Rats None at all, huh?"

"He probably paid cash," I said

She was quick "Judy," she said, "he probably made up a name, so he probably paid cash If you could… uh-huh Uh-huh Right, I understand"

She covered the ain "She can't do it"

"Can't or won't?"

"Won't It's against the rules, she'd get in trouble, blah blah blah"

TJ said, "Could you do it? If you had the access codes?"

"But I don't"

"But she does"

She considered, shrugged, and uncovered theI want is for you to get in trouble For curiosity, though, tellIs that information there to be pulled up? Like whether a ticket was purchased cash or charge? I mean, suppose a customer comes in and pays me cash, and… Uh-huh I see So anybody could access it I et it rabbed up a pen, jotted down a phrase "Judy," she said, "you're a doll Thanks" She broke the connection, grinned fiercely, and held up a clenched fist in triued to produce, after a lot of head-scratching and keytapping, was a printout of passenger hts on the three airlines in question frohts two days later An asterisk next to a name indicated a non-credit card sale

"Cash or check," she explained "There's no distinction in the data bank Also, these are just the cash and check sales ents are just listed that ith no indication as to how payment was made That's not what she told ure it out"

"That's all right"

"It is? Because do you see the naht their ticket through another airline, probably because their trip originated with another flight seg carrier For all I know they paid for their ticket with Green Stamps"

"I think the manifests are all I need"

"You do?"

"If the sanificant than how he paid for the ticket"

"I didn't even think of that Let's check"

I gathered up the sheets of paper "I've taken up enough of your ti of your time, I want to pay for it"