Double doubled doubled (part four)

Part four

I told Honeycomb I'd take the case, but could make nopromises; she agreed and left.  Cassandraapologised for the crosspost – making out it was meant to be to her boyfriendwho'd just come online for the first time in a week, but she'd felt bad aboutabandoning me – and excused herself quickly to take care of him.  And then Burnished typed in, "Take my bra off,baby.  Take it off now."  Which was, of course, mistake number three.


But how could she possibly suspect that?
There were metaversedevices that could read the IP address of an avatar's computer – I had onemyself installed under the desk in my office. Two avatars with the same IP address would be highly suggestive of thembeing one and the same person (sure, one guy could live next door to the other, be jumping on his unprotectedwireless connection and just so happen to be in the same metaverse location atthe same time as him, but the chances of that were about as likely as myexpense claims being met).  So far as Iknew, you had to have land rights to install such machinery.  Cassandra and Burnished weren't even staff atFrederick's, let alone management.  Hadsomeone invented a new device that could be worn and carried around?
Assuming that Cassandra/Burnisheddid suspect Trigger and Gutter to bethe same person, why had she taken one to Dominoe's and one to a privateresidence?  Had she come to suspect thedeception before or after we'd left Frederick's?  What would have happened if she hadn'tsuspected a thing?
And what, if anything,did any of this have to do with Honeycomb's extortion racket?
But you don't go tenyears in the business without learning when to recognise the smell of alead.  Whatever their role was, they wereconnected somehow.  The question was,what did they suspect me of and what, therefore, were they trying to get me tobelieve?
I logged Trigger out andbrought on another of my alts – Baggage Cardigan, last used eight monthspreviously to obtain pictures of a notable metaverse celebrity in a notuncompromising predicament.  But, beforeI brought him on, I checked I could still connect my laptop to the next doorneighbour's wireless.  It worked, butonly if I put it on the other side of the room.
Good enough.  Now we'd see what happened when someoneunsuspected turned up at Frederick's.  Iparked Baggage on the end bar stool with a cigarette in his mouth and a glassof bourbon at his hand.  And waited.
Part five will be published on Monday...