CHAPTER 6

Kicking and struggling, Joe fought hard against the vise-like grip. Even though Joe was strong and muscular, his captor was more solid in built.

"Shhh, it's just me, buddy!" a familiar masculine voice said into Joe's ear.

Joe's eyes widened when he recognized the voice. Slowly, his captor released him. Joe immediately turned around.

"Duncan! What are you doing here?" he demanded. "You have some explanation to do."

Duncan smiled wryly. "Sorry about that," he told him. Then turning serious, he looked at Joe levelly. "I think you've heard those accusations on me," he said grimly.

"Yeah, but I don't believe you did it," Joe told him.

"Thanks for the confidence, Joe. You're the only one I can trust to help me at the moment," Duncan sighed. His gray eyes looked troubled. Then he glanced around, checking his surrounding.

"After four months skateboarding with you has convinced me that you're a nice guy," Joe told him. "What's going on, Duncan? Why this entire hide-and-seek thing?" he asked the young man.

"Can't talk long," Duncan said urgently, "I have a feeling someone's been following me."

"What? Let's get into the house and we'll talk," Joe suggested. He was about to roll out of the thick shrubs when Duncan pulled him back, hard.

"No, I can't be seen," he said firmly. "Here, take this," Duncan pulled out a bulky manila envelope and pushed it against Joe's chest.

"What's this?" Joe asked, taking the envelope.

"Something that Bob had sent to me before he died," he replied. "It needs a computer, and since my only computer is in my room, I can't accessed it. The police will make a surveillance of it, I'm sure."

Joe was about to ask more when there was a sudden explosion from across the street. Alarmed, Joe turned to Duncan. "Stay here!" he ordered before he untangled himself from the shrubs and ran across the lawn to look at the commotion.

He was relieved to see that it was only a car that had run over a sharp object. Several curious onlookers were already crowding the car, asking if the driver was all right, and so on. When he walked back to the shrubs, no one was there. He searched through it just to be sure, but Duncan had disappeared, again.

"Joe! What's going on?" Frank's voice rang out from behind. He sounded worried.

Joe turned around and saw his brother jogged toward him. "Nothing to get panic about," he assured his brother, and told him about the car.

Frank looked relieved, and then he brightened up. "You won't believe who called just now," Frank began.

"Who?"

"Mr. Bradley! He told me that he had received Duncan's program half an hour ago," Frank reported.

"Uh-huh, you won't believe what happened just now either," Joe told him. "Did Duncan hand the program directly to Bradley?" he asked.

"No, he sent it in an envelope with Bradley's name on it and left it at the reception area – no one had seen him did that. The receptionist was taking a few minutes break, and when she came back, the envelope was already there," he said in a rush. "So, what did happen? You have leaves on your head," he demanded suddenly at his brother.

Frank looked surprise when Joe told him about meeting Duncan. He showed to Frank the envelope that Duncan had given him. "Duncan must have come straight here after sending his program to Bradley," Joe concluded as he brushed away the leaves on his head and clothes.

Frank looked at the envelope. The postmark was dated on the day McGuire was murdered. "And McGuire must have posted this before he died," Frank put in. "I wonder why he sent it to Duncan?"

"Let's take a look at it now," Joe urged impatiently. "There must be something important inside if Duncan took the trouble to send this to me."

Both of them rushed into Frank's room. While waiting for the computer to boot up, Frank opened the envelope. A note and a plastic CD cover fell into his hand. He opened the CD cover, and inside it was a CD labeled: ElectroSoft Full Version.

Joe picked up the note. "Who's Wirth?" he suddenly asked, reading through the note.

"What are you talking about?" Frank asked in puzzlement.

Joe showed him the note. It was written as if McGuire was in a hurry.

Duncan,

As U know, this CD is the proof that I need for my suspicion. I've finally got the real hard evidence last night.

U can get it from Wirth & send it 2 the right authority ASAP!

Thankx.

Bob.

"Maybe Wirth was McGuire's colleague?" Frank guessed. "This note shows that McGuire trusted Duncan. So, Duncan couldn't have killed McGuire," he hypothesized.

"I told you he's innocent!" Joe couldn't help looking smug. "Someone else must have killed McGuire for this," he pointed to the CD. "If this person knew that Duncan had this CD, then he is also in danger."

"Then let's check it out," Frank immediately put the CD into the CD drive of his computer. Joe looked on over his shoulder. A new window appeared on the screen. It said: ElectroSoft's Super Vision – Full Version. When the computer prompted if they wanted to install the software, Frank clicked on the 'Yes' button.

After a few minutes, the installation process completed. When Frank started the program on his computer, nothing happened.

"What's wrong?" Joe asked.

"I don't know, maybe a glitch in the system. I'll try to restart the computer," Frank said and restarted his computer. When he started the program again, a warning sign appeared saying it couldn't find the program.

"That's weird," Joe said. "What kind of proof McGuire had meant in this CD?" he asked, looking doubtful.

"I don't know, Joe. Maybe I should take a look in the core program," Frank suggested almost to himself than to Joe. "Phil has given me a basic compiler. I hope it works with this one," he told Joe as he opened up a file on the folder. But it came didn't came out the way it should be. The monitor on the screen showed something unreadable.

p† ÿ!UA "Super Vision"