"Oh, right. I saw a copy years ago, but I don't get it. We use a website-"
Should have figured, Jack thought. It was the computer age.
"You mean the directory's online now?"
"What we use isn't run by the Blue Directory people, but it's the same sort of thing. All you do is pay an annual fee for a password and-"
"Let's check it out," Jack said. "I need to find a dead guy to fit a certain profile."
Lyle looked at his brother. "Charlie's the computer guy. Want to take care of this?"
"Sure." He started toward the kitchen. "This way, my man."
Lyle grabbed his arm. "Use the one in the command center."
"But this one's closer."
"We've got a little problem in there."
Charlie gave him a look. "The TV's still...?"
Lyle nodded. "Simpler if we all just head for the Channeling Room."
Jack felt as if he were missing every other word. "What's wrong?"
"Electrical problems in the TV room," Lyle said. "That' all."
Jack was sure that wasn't all, but obviously they wanted to keep it between themselves.
Charlie led the way to his command center off the Channeling Room. Jack knew this was where he controlled the sound, the lighting, and all the mechanical effects during the sittings. The computer's monitor was just one of many screens among the wires, the key cutter, the cameras, the scanner, the photocopier, and mysterious black boxes racked around the room. The swimming fish of the screen saver showed that the computer was already up and running.
Charlie seated himself before it and tapped the keyboard. Half a minute later the screen filled with the welcome page of a website with the innocuous name of www.sitters-net.com. The page contained boxes for user name and password set against wallpaper of a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.
"Kind of obvious, isn't it," Jack said.
Lyle shrugged. "Probably gets hits from baby-sitters now and again, but 'sitter' is pretty much an inside term."
Jack knew the practice of listing the vital stats of sitters went back half a century at least. It started with mediums keeping private data on card files; then they started sharing cards with other mediums. Finally someone began collecting stats from all over the country and publishing them in a blue-covered directory sold only to mediums. His old boss, Madame Ouskaya, had been a subscriber. The Internet was the inevitable next step.
Charlie hit some keys and "d-town" appeared after user id, followed by a string of asterisks in the password box. He hit enter and a few seconds later a search page appeared.
Jack said, "I remember the old Blue Directory used to hang onto the names of sitters even after they were dead-just in case some relative decided later to try and contact them."
"This one does the same thing."
Charlie clicked the mouse pointer on an icon near the top of the screen. "This take us to the O-S section."