A fast call to Judy Rhyme and one to Williams revealed that the shoes were bought mail order--one through a catalog, one through a Web site, but both directly from the companies.
"All right," Rhyme said, "pick one, give them a call and find out how the shoe business works. Flip a coin."
Sure-Track won. And it took only four phone calls to reach somebody connected with the company, the president and CEO, no less.
Water was sounding in the background, splashing, children laughing, as the man asked uncertainly, "A crime?"
"Nothing to do with you directly," Rhyme reassured him. "One of your products is evidence."
"But not like that guy who tried to blow up the airplane with a bomb in his shoe?" He stopped talking, as if even bringing this up was a breach of national security.
Rhyme explained the situation--the killer's getting personal information about the victims, including specifics about Sure-Track shoes, as well as his cousin's Altons and the other fall guy's Bass walkers. "Do you sell through retail locations?"
"No. Only online."
"Do you share information with your competitors? Information about customers?"
A hesitation.
"Hello?" Rhyme asked the silence.
"Oh, we can't share information. That would be an antitrust violation."
"Well, how could somebody have gotten access to information about customers of Sure-Track shoes?"
"That's a complicated situation."
Rhyme grimaced.
Sachs said, "Sir, the man we're after is a killer and rapist. Do you have any thoughts about how he could've learned about your customers?"
"Not really."
Lon Sellitto barked, "Then we'll get a fucking warrant and take your records apart line by line."
Not the subtle way Rhyme would have handled it but the sledge-hammer approach worked just fine. The man blurted, "Wait, wait, wait. I might have an idea."
"Which is?" Sellitto snapped.
"Maybe he . . . okay, if he had information from different companies maybe he got it from a data miner."
"What's that?" Rhyme asked.
This pause was one of surprise, it seemed. "You never heard of them?"
Rhyme rolled his eyes. "No. What are they?"
"What it sounds like. Information service companies--they dig through data about consumers, their purchases and houses and cars, credit histories, everything about them. They analyze it and sell it. You know, to help companies spot market trends, find new customers, target direct-mail pieces and plan advertising. Things like that."
Everything about them . . .
Rhyme thought: Maybe we're on to something here. "Do they get information from RFID chips?"
"Sure they do. That's one of the big sources for data."
"What data miner does your company use?"
"Oh, I don't know. Several of them." His voice was reticent.