Very strange tale. Seems like if the person in question had any idea he'd left under a cloud, he wouldn't have wanted to come back to work for the company again. . . And since you've mentioned how controlling/strict the client organization is, it's possible that the infractions, if any, didn't approach the magnitude of theft or sexual harassment.

Let me congratulate you on your creative thinking re: getting online via your dial-up account to better fly under the radar. It may be slow, but it's yours.

Hope you get over your cold quickly, if that's what it turns out to be. My spouse is home sick with one today. He rarely takes time off from the piano teaching job, but he called and had them arrange a substitute for him today. Poor guy -- he had Stomach Bug Round One the weekend after Valentine's Day (as did I), Round Two the following weekend, and now a nasty cold. It's like his immune system hasn't had a chance to build back up again and these opportunistic viruses are finding him an easy target.