ve
elected not to call--this is so difficult for me to understand...."

She tried again.

"Bob, Since I have always held you in such high esteem, I had every
hope that we could remain good friends, but now one essential
ingredient is missing--respect. Your ability to discard people when
their purpose is served is appalling to me. The kindest thing you
could do for me now is to leave me alone. You are no longer welcome in
my heart or home...."

Try again.

"Bob, I wrote a very factual note to you to say how much respect I had
lost for you, by the way you treat people, me in particular, so
uncaring and cold. The kindest thing you can do for me is to leave me
alone entirely, as you are no longer welcome in my heart or home. I
would appreciate it if you could retire your debt to me as soon as
possible--I wish no link to you in any way. Sincerely, Evelyn."

Good heavens, I thought, the bastard actually owes her money! I turned
to the next page.

"Bob: very simple. GOODBYE! No more mind games--no more
fascination--no more coldness--no more respect for you! It's
over--Finis. Evie"

There were two versions of the final brushoff letter, but they read
about the same. Maybe she hadn't sent it. The final item in my
illicit and shameful booty was an envelope addressed to "Bob" at his
home address, but it had no stamp on it and it hadn't been mailed.

Maybe she'd just been blowing off steam because her rascal boyfriend
had neglected to call her one weekend. Big deal. Maybe they'd kissed
and made up, maybe she and Bob were down at Pop's Chocolate Shop now,
sharing a malted. Sure.

Easy to find out. All I had to do was call Evelyn up. With a
half-clever story and enough brass-plated gall I could probably trick
the truth out of her. Phone-phreaks and hackers deceive people over
the phone all the time. It's called "social engineering." Social
engineering is a very common practice in the underground, and almost
magically effective. Human beings are almost always the weakest link
in computer security. The simplest way to learn Things You Are Not
Meant To Know is simply to call up and exploit the knowledgeable
people. With social engineering, you use the bits of specialized
knowledge you already have as a key, to manipulate people into
believing that you are legitimate. You can then coax, flatter, or
frighten them into revealing almost anything you want to know.
Deceiving people (especially over the pho