36. Not a business phone, either, but a residential
bill, in the name of someone called Evelyn (not her real name).
Evelyn's records showed a ## PAST DUE BILL ##! Here was her nine-digit
account ID. Here was a stern computer-printed warning:

"TREAT YOUR FONCARD AS YOU WOULD ANY CREDIT CARD. TO SECURE AGAINST
FRAUD, NEVER GIVE YOUR FONCARD NUMBER OVER THE PHONE UNLESS YOU
INITIATED THE CALL. IF YOU RECEIVE SUSPICIOUS CALLS PLEASE NOTIFY
CUSTOMER SERVICE IMMEDIATELY!"

I examined my watch. Still plenty of time left for the FCIC to carry
on. I sorted out the scraps of Evelyn's SPRINT bill and re-assembled
them with fresh Scotch tape. Here was her ten-digit FONCARD number.
Didn't seem to have the ID number necessary to cause real fraud trouble.

I did, however, have Evelyn's home phone number. And the phone numbers
for a whole crowd of Evelyn's long-distance friends and acquaintances.
In San Diego, Folsom, Redondo, Las Vegas, La Jolla, Topeka, and
Northampton Massachusetts. Even somebody in Australia!

I examined other documents. Here was a bank statement. It was
Evelyn's IRA account down at a bank in San Mateo California (total
balance $1877.20). Here was a charge-card bill for $382.64. She was
paying it off bit by bit.

Driven by motives that were completely unethical and prurient, I now
examined the handwritten notes. They had been torn fairly thoroughly,
so much so that it took me almost an entire five minutes to reassemble
them.

They were drafts of a love letter. They had been written on the lined
stationery of Evelyn's employer, a biomedical company. Probably
written at work when she should have been doing something else.

"Dear Bob," (not his real name) "I guess in everyone's life there
comes a time when hard decisions have to be made, and this is a
difficult one for me--very upsetting. Since you haven't called me, and
I don't understand why, I can only surmise it's because you don't want
to. I thought I would have heard from you Friday. I did have a few
unusual problems with my phone and possibly you tried, I hope so.

"Robert, you asked me to 'let go'...."

The first note ended. UNUSUAL PROBLEMS WITH HER PHONE? I looked
swiftly at the next note.

"Bob, not hearing from you for the whole weekend has left me very
perplexed...."

Next draft.

"Dear Bob, there is so much I don't understand right now, and I wish I
did. I wish I could talk to you, but for some unknown reason you ha