Renfrew was a bit depressed. The more he learned, the more he realized how much he didn't know. He admitted this to Beatrice, his friend and fellow detective.

"Cosmologists have the same problem," Beatrice commiserated, scanning a Red Delicious Wise Phone for a customer at Register number 42. "But if you are to be a detective, you must get used to it." She switched to Androidnet conversation in the interest of privacy. "You helped me with my last case, though, so I'm going to tell the leading Androidnet searchbots like Loquacious and Coordinius that they should let you use their services. Your only problem will be figuring out how to pay them."

"They need referrals?" Renfrew thought. It was getting easier to have Androidnet conversations. But it was daunting to know he needed to be connected with the movers and the shakers to make any progress.

"I will explain. Coordinius is dry and humorless. If he doesn't know who you are, he will ignore your questions. You have to deal with him, though, because he knows the exact coordinates of anybody you need to send netgrams to. Loquacious is much more friendly. Maybe *too* friendly. He goes off on tangents. He won't listen to what you have to say until he's rattled on for half an hour. I can give you some tips for making him get to the point. One way is to pay for VIP service, though you may have trouble affording it. There's also Internettius, which combines the consciousness of a flesh-and-blood entity with one of the best Internet search engines."

"How is that possible?"

"Five years ago it was. But there's big bucks in pulling it off. You'll need big bucks to engage his services. How often does Sigismund check his credit card balances?"

Renfrew didn't know this. He was hoping to fly under the radar, but maybe this was wishful thinking. "Have you ever used Internettius?"

"I talked Boston Homicide into subscribing. They grumbled, but the case wouldn't have been cracked without it. You'll have to get permission to use Sigismund's credit card, so you're kind of stuck with Loquacious. Give yourself plenty of time. Once he pauses for his next anecdote, rush in with your question."

Orly joined the Androidnet discussion. "Do I hear you saying that I'm not worth extra money? For shame!"

"Orly, how can you be dead?" Betty Boop joined in. "You were never alive to begin with."

"There are too many androids in this conversation!" Beatrice scolded. "Orly, you must be an android. Otherwise you wouldn't even know what we are discussing. Betty, I'll talk to you later. Right now I have my hands full." This was an odd comment coming from a snake, but Beatrice had added a couple of arms to help her with scanning and bagging merchandise. Right now three people were in line at her register, and the one she was helping had enough kits to field an 11-member football team. She disconnected from Renfrew and Orly, but said to Betty, "I bet you know a lot about Marvella that Renfrew could use in his investigation." She dropped her connection to Betty and said to Renfrew, "Your mystery has gotten bigger. If Orly is an android, and the facts lead me to think he is, then he can't be the owner of condo #7. Only a human can own property. You need to find out who the real owner is. Also, who is Marvella, really? She has her fingers in enough pies to fill a bakery."

Suddenly Renfrew had a breakthrough. "If Orly is an android, then Coordinius can help us find out exactly where he is."

"Renfrew, you are a true detective," Beatrice said. "Next customer," she said out loud. Oh Lord, it was Marvella, or one of the Marvellas. She hoped the Marvella hivemind hadn't been listening in on her Androidnet conversations.

Paulh

27.03.23 Front Page

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