were so many bearded men among psychologists..."
"And that is only if our filters are correct," Douglas dampened the trainee's ardor, displaying the selected files on his computer screen. "If we dig in the right direction... So, Dr. Aron Rabin, Dr. Joshua Sullivan and Dr. Nicolas Wash. Well, let's go," Douglas moved the phone up to him."Hello! May I talk to Dr. Rabin? Dr. Rabin? Good afternoon, I am Special Agent-in-Charge Douglas of the FBI. No, everything is all right. We were interested in your article in the third issue of the American Psychoanalytic Association journal. The person whom we are searching for probably had a similar case of a childhood trauma, and your consultation may be useful to us. No, it's not urgent. Currently it's only a hypothesis which still may not prove out. I would be grateful, if you tell me your schedule for the next few days, to let us know when is a good time to contact you... Thank you for cooperation, sir! No, it's not him. He is at home, and his schedule is too busy for traveling–which can be, of course, easily checked, and he understands it... Hello! May I talk to Dr. Sullivan? And when will he be available? OK, I see. No, I don't need to leave a message, thank you. Good-bye. In a business trip, will return after New Year," Douglas informed John in a satisfied tone. "How do you like that?"
"It's him!"
"We still must check on the third one." The phone again gave out a melodious trill, dialing the number. "Hello! May I..." Douglas began and suddenly stopped. Having listened for some time, he still silently hung up. "An answering machine," he explained. "The text is standard–'leave a message...'"
"Perhaps, he simply went shopping."
"Maybe. Or maybe not. So, we have two candidates."
"Damn, they even have Fords of the same model!"
"No wonder, it's one of the most popular models of an off-road car. Well, now the routine starts again–to find leads to the cars across the area interesting to us. We will notify local police, and they will phone round to gas stations, roadside shops, and so on. I hope, in bad weather when there aren't too many cars on the roads, these two will be noticed quickly enough. Well, and, of course, we'll still call Wash periodically in case he returns."
Nice little Malcolmtown. Nicolas walked on streets through growing dusk pricked by small snowflakes. It wasn't the hunt yet, only a reconnaissance as military men say... Actually, the town was not as nice as he would have liked. The outskirts are densely populated and there is no suitable deserted area through which it would be convenient to lead a target to the woods. But there is a large park in the town. Large enough for his purposes. He must only make sure that this park isn't frequently visited by townspeople during the winter. Probably it is not–the park looks rather untended. Apparently, the local authorities have enough other things to take care of. Only the central avenue in the park had been cleaned and even it is powdered with snow again. And all around deep snow lies. A lot of snow.
He, as usual, had left his car in the woods outside of town. One more advantage of a SUV–he could avoid being seen in motels. However, this time there had been a minor mishap. He was seen refueling near town. Certainly, he didn't refuel at a gas station–there are superfluous eyes there, too, especially in bad weather when customers are rare. Filled gas cans lay in his trunk, so he proudly passed by the station without stopping, despite the red-blinking fuel warning light. He had to stop two miles later. But, while he was filling the tank by the roadside, a truck passed by in the opposite direction. Of course, the driver didn't pay any special attention on him. He was not in the costume–he never put it on ahead of time. The driver didn't reduce his speed and, even better, didn't stop and ask whether any help was needed. Those damned kind Samaritans who eternally poke into other people's business! The former good boys who hoped to deserve a gift from Santa. But this driver was not one of them. A bad boy. You were a bad boy and Santa will not come for you...
Santa will come for other bad children.
Finally two hypotheses remained to Gregory. According to the first, less logical but more attractive one, Santa Claus was an outstanding