Unfinished Tales
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."What was consumption in the previous trimester?"Normal.Everything normal.""Forty percent is ridiculous," Bill fulminated."Don't fulminate at me," Kay said, irritated at her boss for raising his voice."Go yell at the people who unplugged their refrigerators!""No," Bill said."You go yell at people who unplugged their refrigerators.Something's gone wrong there, and if it isn't crooked meter readers, it's people who've figured out a way to jimmy the billing system."***After two weeks of investigation, Kay Block sat in the administration building of Kansas State University (9-2 last football season, coming that close to copping the Plains Conference pennant for '98) refusing to admit that her investigation had turned up a big fat zero.A random inspection of thirty-eight meters showed no tampering at all.A complete audit of the local branch office's books showed no doctoring at all.And a complete examination of KSU's power consumption figures showed absolutely nothing.No change in consumption-- no change in billing system-- and yet a sharp drop in electricity use."The drop in power use may be localized," Kay suggested to the white-haired woman from the school who was babysitting her through the process."The stadium surely uses as much light as ever-- so the drop must be somewhere else, like in the science labs."The white-haired woman shook her head."That may be so, but the figures you see are the figures we've got."Kay sighed and looked out the window.Down from the window was the roof of the new Plant Science Building.She looked at it as her mind struggled vainly to find something meaningful in the data she had.Somebody was cheating-- but how?There was a doghouse on the roof of the Plant Science Building."What's a doghouse doing on the roof of that building?" asked Kay."I would assume," said the white-haired woman, "for a dog to live in.""On the roof?"The white-haired woman smiled."Fresh air, perhaps," she said.Kay looked at the doghouse awhile longer, telling herself that the only reason she was suspicious was because she was hunting for anything unusual that could explain the anomalies in the Manhattan, Kansas, power usage pattern."I want to see that doghouse," she said."Why?" asked the white-haired lady."Surely you don't think a generator could hide in a doghouse! Or solar-power equipment! Why, those things take whole buildings!"Kay looked carefully at the white-haired woman and decided that she protested a bit too much."I insist on seeing the doghouse," she said again.The white-haired woman smiled again."Whatever you want, Miss Block.Lef me call the custodian so he can unlock the door to the roof."After the phone call they went down the stairs to the main floor of the administration building, across the lawns, and then up the stairs to the roof of the Plant Science Building."What's the matter, no elevators?" Kay asked sourly as she panted from the exertion of climbing the stairs."Sorry," the white-haired woman said."We don't build elevators into buildings anymore.They use too much power.Only the power company can afford elevators these days."The custodian was at the door of the roof, looking very apologetic."Sorry if old Rover's been causin' trouble ladies.I keep him up on the roof nowadays, ever since the break-in attempt through the roof door last spring.Nobody's tried to jimmy the door since.""Arf, " said a frisky, cheerful looking mix between an elephant and a Labrador retriever (just a quick guess, of course) that bounded up to them."Howdy, Rover old boy," said the custodian."Don't bite nobody.""Arf," the dog answered, trying to wiggle out of his skin and looking as if he might succeed."Gurrarf."Kay examined the roof door from the outside."I don't see any signs of anyone jimmying at the door," she said."Course not," said the custodian."The burglars was seen from the administration building before they could get to the door.""Oh," said Kay."Then why did you need to put a dog up here?""Cause what if the burglars hadn't been seen?" the custodian said, his tone implying that only a moron would have asked such a question.Kay looked at the doghouse.It looked like every other doghouse in the world.It looked like cartoons of doghouses, in fact, it was so ordinary.Simple arched door.Pitched roof with gables and eaves.All it lacked was a water dish and piles of doggy-do and old bones.No doggy-do?"What a talented dog," Kay commented."He doesn't even go to the bathroom.""Uh," answered the custodian, "he's really housebroken.He just won't go until I take him down from here to the lawn, will ya Rover?"Kay surveyed the wall of the roof-access building they had come through."Odd.He doesn't even mark the walls.""I told you.He's really housebroken.He wouldn't think of mucking up the roof here.""Arf," said the dog as it urinated on the door and then defecated in a neat pile at Kay's feet."Woof woof woof, " he said proudly."All that training," Kay said, "and it's all gone to waste."Whether the custodian's answer was merely describing what the dog had done or had a more emphatic purpose was irrelevant.Obviously the doghouse was not normally used for a dog.And if that was true, what was a doghouse doing on the roof of the Plant Science Building?***The damnpowercompany brought civil actions against the city of Manhattan, Kansas, and a court injunction insisted that all doghouses be disconnected from all electric wiring systems.The city promptly brought countersuit against the damnpowercompany (a very popular move) and appealed the court injunction [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
