Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon by Donna Andrews

characters. Unless maybe they hadn't ever seen the real thing.“
    A distinct possibility, I thought, for many of the fans. And maybe some of our younger programmers, too.
    „It's a big deal because it's an inside job,“ Frankie piped up from his vantage point atop the partition.
    „Inside job?“ the chief echoed. „You mean someone who works here did the nude version?“
    Jack opened his mouth and then shut it again and settled for looking daggers at Frankie. I'd noticed that the nude version was a touchy subject with Jack. Maybe he was getting some heat for not having uncovered the culprit. He clearly wasn't happy to see Frankie airing our corporate dirty laundry in front of the chief.
    „Someone who works here, possibly; or maybe someone who used to work here,“ Frankie answered, ignoring Jack's frown. „But we've been around so short a time, mere haven't been a lot of people leaving. So it's almost sure to be someone who's still here.“
    „But what makes them think it's an inside job?“ I said. „Imean, I thought all it did was replace one set of graphics with another.“
    „That's what everyone thought at first,“ Frankie said. „But I've spent a lot of hours playing the nude version – “
    „And you're actually willing to admit it,“ I said. „That takes guts.“
    „For my job,“ Frankie said with injured dignity. „To help find a fix. And if you play it long enough, you figure out that it's not just the graphics that are changed. The program plays differently. The characters do… different things.“
    „I still say you're imagining that,“ Jack said.
    „What kind of things?“ the chief asked.
    „Play it and see,“ he said, snickering. „But the program behaves differently, anyway, and you know what that means!“
    „No,“ the chief said. „Tell me.“
    „They have the source code!“ Frankie exclaimed, throwing his hands up like a magician displaying the finale of a particularly showy trick. He then disappeared, with a thud, behind the partition – from which I suspected he had been perched on one knee and had managed to knock himself off balance.
    The chief waited a few seconds and then looked at me for a translation.
    „Imagine that Lawyers from Hell is a food,“ I suggested. „Some special dessert. And no one can make it but us. Unless, of course, they know all the ingredients, including the top secret sauce, and every detail of the recipe, in which case, not only can they make it just as well as we can, but even we can't tell the difference.“
    „Yeah, that sort of explains it,“ Frankie said, appearing over the partition top again.
    Sort of explains it? I thought it was a pretty damned brilliant analogy, myself.
    „So this naked lawyer thing is an inside job,“ the chief said. „You think it might have something to do with Corrigan's death?“
    Frank, Jack, and I looked at each other. Frankie shrugged. Jack shook his head.
    „Good question,“ I said. Obviously the chief thought it might, or he wouldn't be wasting time on it.
    „There's a rumor going around that when they figure out who did the naked version, they're going to can him,“ Frankie said.
    „Well, that's interesting,“ the chief said.
    „If they figure it out,“ I said.
    „It'll come out, sooner or later,“ Jack said, shaking his head.
    „Maybe,“ I said. „But I don't think whoever did it is going to step forward with a rumor like that going around.“
    „So you think maybe the nude programmer killed to keep Ted from revealing his secret?“ Frankie exclaimed. „Whoa!“
    „Keep it to yourself, will you?“ the chief said. „Was there something you wanted?“
    „It's really hot outside, and we were just wondering if you knew how much longer we all have to stay down there in – “
    „No,“ the chief said. „When I know, I'll tell you. Now scoot.“
    Frankie nodded and left. Jack took this as a signal to make his own exit.
    „He won't, you know,“ I said. „Keep it to himself, I