What was she going to do about her mother and the clinic in New Jersey? Nina certainly appeared to want to go. And with the inevitability of what lay in store for someone with early-onset Alzheimer's, taking her out there was surely worth doing. But as for her own heart, she wasn't so sure she thought the reward was worth the risk. But she'd decided to hold off on a decision till she could have a firsthand look at the institute. She took another sip of coffee and then tapped the keyboard. When she did that, the screen would normally bring up the "desktop." But not this time. A file was open, and she was certain she hadn't left it open. What's this? "Jen, could you come here a minute? There's something funny." The first page of the file that had been pulled up and opened was an ID photo of herself. "This is what was running. Has somebody been fooling around with this computer?" Jennifer looked puzzled when she saw it "Not that I know of." "Then how did this get . . . ?" She just sat staring. "I didn't open this file. Does this thing have a mind of its own?" About eight years ago, Kate Gillis at Manhattan Properties--with whom Ally had an occasional after-work drink-- told her she'd scanned all her vital personal documents into her computer at home. She'd said it was an easy way to make a safety backup. Seemed like a good idea, so Ally had stored a copy of her birth certificate, her driver's license, all her credit cards, her passport, a set of medical records, even the mortgage on her apartment. She'd even scanned in an ID photo, just for the heck of it. She also suggested to Grant that he do the same. Brilliant right? Well, maybe not. The reason was, she'd routinely made an updated copy on a ZIP disk and then copied it onto this computer here in the office. Like a second backup. "I had everything ready for you for your meeting with Bartlett, so nobody here has touched your computer this morning." Jennifer furrowed her brow. "Could somebody have picked the locks and come in last night and done this, like a prank or something?" "Come on. That's totally far-fetched." She was trying to imagine how somebody could have gotten in and out and left no trace. Impossible. "This must just be something stupid I did when I came down yesterday after seeing Mom. I don't remember it, but I guess I was pretty tired." "I've never seen you that tired." Jen's right, she thought. I was on the city's Web site checking the Department of Buildings' Housing Code, but I certainly didn't pull up my personal data. Computers do strange things, but to open a data file for no reason? That would require a higher intelligence. Right? "Jen, you're our resident computer expert. We leave these things hooked up all the time. I know we have a firewall, but what are the chances that somebody could defeat it somehow and hack into our computers?"