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B CENTRAL FILES

C BULLETIN BOARD

D OUTSYSTEM MODEM

To Sa officer could communicate with the dispatcher at headquarters not only by means of the police-band radio hich the car was equipped but also through the coo to all the trouble of typing in questions to the dispatcher and reading the transotten so much easier and quicker on the radio? Unless … there were sos that these cops did not want to talk about on radio frequencies that could be monitored by anyone with a police-band receiver

He did not open the link to the dispatcher because then he would have to begin a dialogue, posing as Reese Dorn, and that would be like shouting, Hey, I’ my nose in just where you don’t want, so why don’t you come and chop it off

Instead, he tapped B and entered it Another menu appeared

CHOOSE ONE

A STATUS - CURRENT ARRESTEES

B STATUS - CURRENT COURT CASES

C STATUS - RENDING COURT CASES

D PAST ARREST RECORDS - COUNTY

E PAST ARREST RECORDS - CITY

F CONVICTED CRIMINALS LIVING IN COUNTY

G CONVICTED CRIMINALS LIVING IN CITY

Just to satisfy his on the menu hat they appeared to be and not code for other information, he punched in selection F, to obtain data on convicted cri him ten choices: MURDER, MANSLAUGHTER, RAPE, SEX OFFENSES, ASSAULT AND BATTERY, ARMED ROBBERY, BURGLARY, BREAKING AND ENTERING, OTHER THEFT, MISCELLANEOUS LESSER OFFENSES

He called forth the file on uilty ofas freeserved anywhere fro released on parole Their names, addresses, and telephone numbers appeared on the screen with the names of their victims, economically summarized details of their crimes, and the dates of their iht Cove

Sa lot It remained deserted The o that rippled banner-like as they flowed past the car, and he felt al out at long ribbons of kelp fluttering in marine currents

He returned to the main menu and asked for itees that Watkins and his officers had left for one another regarding matters that seemed sometimes related to police work and sometimes private Most were in such cryptic shorthand that Sam didn’t feel he could puzzle them out or that they would be worth the effort to decipher

He tried item D on the main menu, OUTSYSTEM MODEM, and was shown a list of coh the telephoneThe depart LOS ANGELES PD (for police department), SAN FRANCISCO PD, SAN DIEGO PD, DENVER PD, HOUSTON PD, DALLAS PD, PHOENIX PD, CHICAGO PD, MIAMI PD, NEW YORK CITY PD, and a score of other major cities; CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES, DEPARTMENT OF PRISONS, HIGHWAY PATROL, and encies with less obvious connections to police work; US ARMY PERSONNEL FILES, NAVY PERSONNEL FILES, AIR FORCE; FBI CRIMINAL RECORDS, FBI FILES (Local Law-Enforcerah which the international organization could access its central files in Europe