to the front, told him about the power outlets, then sent Henrey back to the couch and brought Carr into the outer room. Lucas sat him down where Henrey had been, and made the same pitch.
"Look, all I do is maintain his website," Carr said. "He's never bothered to learn how to do that. He puts his pictures on disks, gives me the index number, and I move them over to the Web and set up thumbnails. ErosFineArtPhotos.com."
"Any children on the site?" Lucas asked.
"No. Of course not," Carr said.
"Does he do kids?"
Carr looked uncomfortable. "I don't know. I don't see everything. I just move megabytes. I'm a moving guy."
Lucas nodded and said, "Listen, pal--you better get an attorney. If we find pictures of kids around here, you're gonna go down as an accomplice, and that means a couple of years in prison. You better think of ways to help us, and get your lawyer to cut a deal. . . . I mean, I don't want to sound like I'm threatening you, but this is serious shit."
Carr puffed up his cheeks and audibly exhaled. "If I don't have the money for a lawyer . . ."
"We'll get one appointed," Lucas said.
"Listen, I can probably tell you a couple of things. I never got involved in the photography at all, but Morrie once told me that sometimes he had 'special stuff.' "
"Special stuff."
"That's what he called it. He was, like, being important. He said he'd transfer it directly to a guy in Europe who puts it up on a website there." He twisted his hands around, as though he were playing cat's cradle. "I think . . . Morrie's a content provider. We got eight zillion websites without content, and Morrie provides it."
"There's not enough porno out there?" Rie asked.
"Yeah, there's a lot of stuff, but people are always looking for fresh stuff."
"Young stuff," Rie said.
"Yeah. Teenagers, anyway."
"I'll make you a deal right now," Lucas said. "Give me something, give me anything, and I'll help you out. I won't help you if I find out you've been dealing kid stuff, but if you're just getting paid by Ware to run his website . . . we can help."
Carr puffed his cheeks again, rubbed his hair, said, "Maybe I ought to see a lawyer."
Lucas shrugged. "That's absolutely up to you. But I'll tell you what, this offer may expire. If we find a bunch of stuff . . ."
"Aw, man . . ." He looked at Rie, then said, "I'm not a freak."
"Nobody said you were," she said.
To Lucas, mumbling, Carr said, "There's a possibility . . . that he ships stuff to an underground website in Europe--Holland, I think--called donnerblitzen451." He spelled it, then said, "You need some kind of code to get in. Putting in the wrong code too many times may wipe the site. Maybe your guys can do something with it."
"Donnerblitzen like the reindeer," Lucas said.
"Yeah. Four fifty-one like the Ray Bradbury book, Fahrenheit 451," Carr said. "Four fifty-one is supposed to be the burning point of paper, so I think that's Morrie's little joke. If you put the wrong number into the website--more than a couple of times, anyway--it burns."
"Why would he do that?" Lucas asked. "If somebody found it by mistake . . ."
"How are you gonna find donnerblitzen451 by mistake? It's not a public facility--it's his. It's his warehouse, I think. You put a high-res photo file in there, somebody wants something special, you go to your warehouse, you order it sent, the site sends out the file, the recipient prints it. . . . There's no way to get back to Morrie. He has a photo negative for ten minutes. After he develops it, he scans it, he burns the neg, and the picture is nothing but a bunch of numbers somewhere in Europe."
"That's interesting," Lucas said. "But you don't know the code to get in."
"No, but I've seen the setup before, and I think it's booby-trapped. If you try to get in, you better know what you're doing, or the place is gonna burn." He nodded, as if turning over the problem in his mind. "I've given the whole thing some thought. Tried to figure out what the code was--tried to catch
"Look, all I do is maintain his website," Carr said. "He's never bothered to learn how to do that. He puts his pictures on disks, gives me the index number, and I move them over to the Web and set up thumbnails. ErosFineArtPhotos.com."
"Any children on the site?" Lucas asked.
"No. Of course not," Carr said.
"Does he do kids?"
Carr looked uncomfortable. "I don't know. I don't see everything. I just move megabytes. I'm a moving guy."
Lucas nodded and said, "Listen, pal--you better get an attorney. If we find pictures of kids around here, you're gonna go down as an accomplice, and that means a couple of years in prison. You better think of ways to help us, and get your lawyer to cut a deal. . . . I mean, I don't want to sound like I'm threatening you, but this is serious shit."
Carr puffed up his cheeks and audibly exhaled. "If I don't have the money for a lawyer . . ."
"We'll get one appointed," Lucas said.
"Listen, I can probably tell you a couple of things. I never got involved in the photography at all, but Morrie once told me that sometimes he had 'special stuff.' "
"Special stuff."
"That's what he called it. He was, like, being important. He said he'd transfer it directly to a guy in Europe who puts it up on a website there." He twisted his hands around, as though he were playing cat's cradle. "I think . . . Morrie's a content provider. We got eight zillion websites without content, and Morrie provides it."
"There's not enough porno out there?" Rie asked.
"Yeah, there's a lot of stuff, but people are always looking for fresh stuff."
"Young stuff," Rie said.
"Yeah. Teenagers, anyway."
"I'll make you a deal right now," Lucas said. "Give me something, give me anything, and I'll help you out. I won't help you if I find out you've been dealing kid stuff, but if you're just getting paid by Ware to run his website . . . we can help."
Carr puffed his cheeks again, rubbed his hair, said, "Maybe I ought to see a lawyer."
Lucas shrugged. "That's absolutely up to you. But I'll tell you what, this offer may expire. If we find a bunch of stuff . . ."
"Aw, man . . ." He looked at Rie, then said, "I'm not a freak."
"Nobody said you were," she said.
To Lucas, mumbling, Carr said, "There's a possibility . . . that he ships stuff to an underground website in Europe--Holland, I think--called donnerblitzen451." He spelled it, then said, "You need some kind of code to get in. Putting in the wrong code too many times may wipe the site. Maybe your guys can do something with it."
"Donnerblitzen like the reindeer," Lucas said.
"Yeah. Four fifty-one like the Ray Bradbury book, Fahrenheit 451," Carr said. "Four fifty-one is supposed to be the burning point of paper, so I think that's Morrie's little joke. If you put the wrong number into the website--more than a couple of times, anyway--it burns."
"Why would he do that?" Lucas asked. "If somebody found it by mistake . . ."
"How are you gonna find donnerblitzen451 by mistake? It's not a public facility--it's his. It's his warehouse, I think. You put a high-res photo file in there, somebody wants something special, you go to your warehouse, you order it sent, the site sends out the file, the recipient prints it. . . . There's no way to get back to Morrie. He has a photo negative for ten minutes. After he develops it, he scans it, he burns the neg, and the picture is nothing but a bunch of numbers somewhere in Europe."
"That's interesting," Lucas said. "But you don't know the code to get in."
"No, but I've seen the setup before, and I think it's booby-trapped. If you try to get in, you better know what you're doing, or the place is gonna burn." He nodded, as if turning over the problem in his mind. "I've given the whole thing some thought. Tried to figure out what the code was--tried to catch
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