O l i v e r B e n j a m i n
in the picture as well. I seem to, um—”
“Yes? What?” the other one said.
“Well, I find you two both not unattractive,” Harvey replied
flatly.
“Really? Imagine that.”
“I’m quite serious. I would, um, like to send a picture to the boys
back home as well.”
“I’ll have you know, fella, that we are not pieces of meat!”
“Of course you’re not. It’s just that the life of an ASPCA agent is
quite lonely and—”
“How sweet. All right,” one said, putting down a soldering gun.
“Let’s get in the picture, Nora.”
“Very well. Have you got any lipstick, Ingrid?”
Ingrid? Nora? Harvey had not been so short-sighted to assume
that all lab technicians would be male. It was just that the only
gender-specific traits these two women appeared to possess were
their names. As they turned their backs and sashayed away, he
noticed that they were not without other feminine attributes as well.
Yes, indeed: their shoes. And so, with nothing other than footwear to
distract him, Harvey managed to successfully swipe the chip and toss
it in his pocket.
But that was only one part of the mission.
Harvey knew that they would all be scanned and frisked upon
leaving the lab, as was the custom. Therefore, the chip could not be
smuggled out of the lab. It was going to have to leave the room
without going out the door, but there were no windows or accessible
vents, no vacuum mail chutes, no removable ceiling tiles even. There
were simply no other passages out.
Well, there was one.
“Excuse me,” said Harvey to one of the technicians after the
photos were snapped, “I was wondering if I might use your toilet.”
CHAPTER 19
The other three had encountered their share of difficulty as well. Of
course, in many ways theirs was a more difficult, and for one of them,
far more unpleasant mission.
Milo, wearing a pizza delivery uniform, had managed to clear the
way for the other two after providing the secretary and two assistants
117
 |
 |
 |
 |