“I don’t think he’s Johansson’s at all. Elvin hasn’t acquired this kind of capability. Besides, he wrecked Elvin’s operation. No, he was sent by someone else.”
“Any guesses?”
“Logically, there are three possibilities. A deep Commonwealth security department sent him in, something we’re not cleared to know about. There have always been rumors about the executive office having its own intelligence sector. Why they’d use an operative in this instance I don’t know, unless it was to send a very clear message to Johansson that we’re not going to tolerate him anymore. The same applies to CST. They could certainly put someone like this together, and they’re not likely to forgive or forget the sabotage attempt on the Second Chance.”
“And the third possibility?”
“The Starflyer sent him.”
“Oh, come on!”
“It’s an option, you have to admit that.”
“No, I don’t. What about Rigin’s enemies? He was a black-market arms merchant for God’s sake. His kind don’t settle disagreements over a meal and a bottle of wine.”
“A rival wouldn’t bother destroying the equipment Rigin was collecting; they wouldn’t even know about it. No, the timing indicates someone who had the same information we did. That fits the first two possibilities. Our operations are available to the executive. It might even fit the third.”
“No. Paula, no! There is no third option. The Starflyer is a cult conspiracy theory. You do not include it in any official report. If you do, I will not even attempt to cover your ass. Don’t you see how political this is? It had to be the President or CST. We can investigate many things, but not them.”
“Nobody is above the law.”
“Damnit. If the executive authorized it, then it is lawful. Same for CST; God, Sheldon and Ozzie own whole planets including a Big15, they are governments.”
“That doesn’t make what happened right. They killed people.”
“Don’t do this, Paula.” Mel was almost pleading. “Let me talk to Columbia, let me find out if this is safe. You never know, I might actually be right. It might have been one of Rigin’s enemies.”
She considered the request. “Very well, I’ll complete the investigation into the gallery explosion itself. How it is carried forward after that, and who it’s assigned to, will be your call.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” he asked suspiciously.
“If the investigation is blocked politically, it will be because it was either CST or the executive which ordered the assault, in which case I’m not interested. Not that I don’t want to see justice done, but it would not ever be possible to achieve justice in those circumstances. I would be wasting my time, which I could be using to pursue Johansson and Elvin. If Columbia wants us to proceed, then that’s a different matter.”
“If we get the all-clear, it’ll be to find out who Rigin was at war with. Do you really want to spend time on that? You’ve got the resources to track down Johansson now.”
“If we get the all-clear, you and I will need to know which of us is right.”
“So do you want the case?”
“I’ll let you know when you bring an answer from Columbia. Until then, I’m still dedicating the team to finding Johansson.”
“Okay. I can live with that.”
“There’s something else I want you to raise with Columbia.”
“Yes?”
“Elvin was after some very advanced equipment; I really think it’s time for every export to Far Away to be searched. Our current policy of random checks is simply not acceptable anymore. Not that it ever was to me.”
“I’ll put it on the agenda.”
“Good.”
Hoshe Finn was just sitting down to supper when the apartment’s door sensors showed him who was approaching. He muttered, “Holy shit,” and stood bolt upright. His wife, Inima, gave him a surprised look, then glanced at the little screen showing the camera picture. “Isn’t that… ?”
“Yep.” Hoshe went through the living room and arrived at the door the same time as Paula Myo. “Is something wrong?” he asked after he’d invited her in.
“No, everything is fine, thank you.” She looked him up and down. “You’ve lost some weight.”
“Not before time,” Inima said giving him a shy glance. “We’re considering having a child.”
Paula produced a genuine smile. “Congratulations. Will you be carrying it?”
“Heavens no,” Inima said. “It’ll be a vitro womb pregnancy.”
“Right.”
That seemed to exhaust the Investigator’s small talk. Hoshe and Inima exchanged a mildly bewildered look.
“Do you want to join us for supper?” Inima asked.
“No thank you, it’s midafternoon Paris time. I caught the express.”
“We can talk on the balcony if you’d like,” Hoshe said as his wife shot him a desperate glare.
“If you don’t mind,” Paula said.
“I’ll just get on with catching up on some work,” Inima assured her.
The balcony of the little apartment barely had room for the small round table and two chairs that were pressed up against the railing. Hoshe shuffled around the table and sat down. Paula stood by the rail, taking in the view. The thirty-story apartment block was in Darklake City’s Malikoi district, a long way back from the shore. Paula could look out and see the parks and elaborate buildings that meandered along the shoreline, she could even pick out the tower behind the big marina where Morton used to live.
“You have a nice home, Hoshe.”
“Why are you here?”
She left the rail and sat opposite him. “I need some detective work done. This is not an official request, it’s a…”
“A favor,” he supplied gently.
“Yes.”
“You don’t like working outside channels, do you, Paula?”
“I don’t have a lot of choice in this particular case. I believe my Agency is compromised. That’s why I’ve come to you, and a few others I worked with outside the old Directorate, you can make inquiries that won’t be registered in our office.”
“Compromised by whom?”
“I’m not sure. But they will be very highly placed inside the Commonwealth government, perhaps even the executive itself. If they find out about this, it won’t exactly help your career.”
“What have they done?”
“What they always do, play politics and maneuver among their own kind. But this time it’s resulted in people being killed.”
“Okay. What do you need?”
“Have you seen the recordings of the Venice Coast bomb?”
“Hell yes. Mellanie has been playing them just about nonstop.”
“Mellanie?” Paula hesitated. “Mellanie Rescorai?”
“None other. I sometimes think I did the wrong thing letting the demon out of the bottle.”
“You let genies out of bottles, Hoshe, not demons.”
“Not in this case, believe me. After the court case she went on and made some softcore TSI biogdrama, Murderous Seduction . Did you access it?”
“No.”
“It got a huge rating. The actor playing me looked like a sumo wrestler for heaven’s sake. They got you about right, though. Anyway, Mellanie won a lot of media attention; certainly locally, so Alessandra Baron took her on as Oaktier’s rep for her show. She’s actually quite good. I think she’s got her own personality line as well; all the usual crap, swimwear, holograms, monthly TSI releases, scents, food, there’s even a Murderous Seduction cocktail. She’s got quite a fan club these days.”
“Strange, she didn’t seem the type. I don’t normally underestimate people so poorly.”
“Yeah, there’s some politicians she interviewed who made that mistake when she started out. They don’t anymore.”
“And she’s been showing the Venice Coast recordings?”
“Every news show has. I just watched her because she gets the decent interviews; it was one of Rafael Columbia’s deputies, I think.” He gave Paula a cautious glance. “Mellanie was really pressing the point about how you kept fouling up the Johansson case. Her words.”
“I’m sure.”