The Tree of Knowledge, Daniel Miller [unputdownable books txt] 📗

business.” Albert nodded but squinted skeptically. “We have designed a virtually uncrackable security system. It will change how the world secures data, arms, everything. Unfortunately, a professor at Princeton made the same discovery and outlined the system in a journal and then stored it in the bank.”

“OK. Why did you steal it? Couldn’t you just buy it from him?”

“He would never sell it. But we feel that the benefits of this system are too great for society to keep locked away. Don’t you see? It was for the greater good.”

“Why do you care about what I think?” asked Albert. Strangely, he found himself hoping for a particular answer.

“Honestly? Because I was hoping that if you knew the truth, you might reconsider what you’re about to do and look the other way. I feel sick that the security guard died, but there’s nothing you or I can do to bring him back. And putting me in jail isn’t going to help anyone.”

Eva looked at Albert and slowly blinked her big brown eyes.

“So, you want me to just do nothing? To pretend I couldn’t solve the tree?”

“I was actually hoping you would just solve this tree.” She handed him a decoded logic tree. The tree appeared similar but the content was harmless. “You know me. You know I’m not a criminal. I was trying to do the right thing.” With that, she slowly slid her small, cool hand into Albert’s and glanced at him shyly.

For a moment, Albert was lost. Holding Eva’s hand was like being transported into a utopian world where the two of them could live happily ever after. He smelled the ocean air as they sat holding each other on an imaginary Los Angeles beach. He pictured her bright eyes as they laughed over a home-cooked dinner. His mind raced as they discussed the great issues of the day while sipping chilled glasses of Chardonnay.

But after a brief second, his rational self yanked him back to the gray parking lot outside the police station. Albert tore his hand away from Eva’s as if to physically break the connection to their imagined world and backed away. He handed the imposter logic tree back to her. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I believe you had no intention to harm, but the fact is that a man is dead, and I wouldn’t feel right covering it up. If you’re truly innocent, you should be judged by a jury, not me.”

As the words tumbled from Albert’s mouth, he could see Eva’s shoulders and head fall. She looked like a judge who had just offered a man on trial one last chance at mercy but knew that she must execute a sentence.

“I’m sorry,” repeated Albert as he pushed past Eva and walked toward the station.

“Where are you going?”

“Into the police station to tell Detective Weatherspoon the truth.”

Professor Puddles reached the door of the police station and grabbed the handle.

“Dilbert,” Eva cried with a raw urgency.

Albert stopped and turned, shaken by the sound.

“Dilbert, I know you think you’re doing the right thing. And I respect that. But trust me. You have no idea what you’re dealing with. I haven’t forgotten what you did for me when I was a kid, and because of that, I’m giving you one last chance. Please trust me. Give me the game tree, tell the police it was stolen from your office, and just walk away. I’m trying to save you.”

She paused and gazed at him, shallow breaths heaving from her chest.

“If you turn your back on me now, you’re on your own.”

Albert stared into Eva’s eyes. They were the same innocent, hopeful eyes that he had seen fourteen years ago in that Princeton lecture hall.

And just as he had all those years ago, Albert Puddles turned away.

Chapter 15

Albert entered the waiting room of the police station. A steel door and a large pane of bulletproof glass separated the room from the main office. He found it disappointing. On the way there, he had pictured an elegant wood-paneled police station like in the Perry Mason episodes his mom used to watch. This was more akin to a tow lot. The clock showed five minutes after five. Most of the police and administrative personnel had gone for the day. He caught the eye of one of the remaining officers and gave him a limp wave.

The officer waved him off. “We’re closed. Use the dispatch phone.” He pointed to the brown plastic phone on the wall.

“Excuse me, Officer. I’m wondering if I could speak with Detective Weatherspoon. It’s a bit of an emergency.”

The cop sized up Puddles, vacillating over whether this was someone he should take seriously. The hair and bow tie said no, but the suit said maybe. “Alright, I’ll grab him. Give me a minute.”

***

While Albert navigated the police bureaucracy inside, Eva watched through the glass door and prepared to make her next move. This would not be easy.

She closed her eyes and centered herself. She felt reality slow. Leaves rippled in the trees. A chime on someone’s front porch hummed in the distance. There were three objectives, each powered by a unique logic tree.

First, disable the police station.

She watched and waited for Albert to make contact with the officer at the front desk. As the officer went back to grab Weatherspoon, she pulled a pistol from her coat and pointed it at the power line that fed into the station. Three shots tore through the power line, sending the building into darkness.

Now she controlled the chessboard. Speed chess. She had five minutes before the emergency generator kicked in and backup was called.

Eva enjoyed these five minutes. When her mind worked through the Tree, the future became scripted and her actions like those of an actor in a play. And like an actor, Eva didn’t lament that she had five minutes in a scene; she reveled in the performance. Follow your blocking, deliver your lines. The role was defined. The joy