Part 33 (1/2)

And he needed them now.

53.

Gulliver Illiyitch didn't look all that tough. He didn't look strong. He wasn't all that big. And to top it off, he didn't even look all that bright.

Savita Romey found that comforting. She'd been afraid, deep down, that he would have the brains of a master criminal.

She watched two s.p.a.ce traffic cops bring him into the precinct. She kept an eye on him as they booked him and took him to interrogation, but she didn't introduce herself.

Instead, she studied him.

He had an oily charm. He smiled a little too much. He also had the square jaw and broad forehead that some people thought composed cla.s.sic handsomeness. His black hair was thick and glossy, and his clothes almost looked tailored, although they'd gotten quite messed up during the pursuit and arrest.

She'd watched the news reports.

Sightings had come into the police precinct and media outlets at the same time. While Gumiela had dispatched street cops to investigate sightings, the media sent junior reporters with cameras, hoping to find the man who'd killed one of their own.

And they had.

Romey would never know how many reporters went to dead ends, looking for the best scoop in years, but she suspected the number was probably in the hundreds.

And for once, she was glad of it. She wanted this guy off the street.

For the first time, however, she wished she had a partner. A real one. She didn't want to go into interrogation alone. This case was too important. There were too many eyes on her, and one mistake could cost her career.

She didn't dare lose this job, not with the boys to support.

Not to mention the fact that she loved it.

Except when she was exhausted and overwhelmed, like now.

She hoped that booking would take longer than usual. Maybe by then, Nyquist would be done with Wagner.

Nyquist wouldn't be able to interview Wagner. That cagey lawyer would hire another cagey lawyer to protect him from everything. Wagner would never admit to hiring a man to murder Ki Bowles.

But maybe Illiyitch would admit to taking the money.

Or in exchange for some kind of reduced sentence, he'd talk about Wagner.

She could only hope.

Just like she could hope that she managed to make no mistakes in the interrogation. Not one.

Especially one that would let Gulliver Illiyitch go free.

54.

Flint settled at the nonnetworked computer closest to the wall. He turned it on, checked to make sure that no one else had used it since the last time he had, and then got to work.

Talia was still in the bathroom. Van Alen had ordered a feast, and then settled at her desk just behind Flint to draw up a civil complaint against Wagner.

She would file the motions and notify the media at the same time. Over Flint's objection, she also said she'd tell the reporters of her suspicion that Wagner had murdered Ki Bowles.

I don't think it's true, Flint had said.

Based on what? Van Alen had asked. Van Alen had asked. A feeling? Something the man said to you? Don't you know his office is designed to reflect his moods? Literally reflect them. He has some pheromones in there or something that make the people who visit him feel like he wants them to feel. A feeling? Something the man said to you? Don't you know his office is designed to reflect his moods? Literally reflect them. He has some pheromones in there or something that make the people who visit him feel like he wants them to feel.

I doubt that, Flint had said, unless he wanted Talia to feel scared and me to feel p.i.s.sed off. unless he wanted Talia to feel scared and me to feel p.i.s.sed off.

Van Alen had shaken her head at him. Trust me. We're letting the press know he's behind the killings. If we're wrong, the fact that it was our suspicion will be forgotten in all the back-and-forthing the talking heads will do over the next twenty-four hours. If we're right, we'll make it even more difficult for Wagner to get away with the kidnapping. Trust me. We're letting the press know he's behind the killings. If we're wrong, the fact that it was our suspicion will be forgotten in all the back-and-forthing the talking heads will do over the next twenty-four hours. If we're right, we'll make it even more difficult for Wagner to get away with the kidnapping.

Flint was too tired to argue. And he rather liked her a.n.a.lysis. So he let her do her job. It kept her from nagging him about checking into that glitch.

He wanted to look through Paloma's files first.

Over the past few months, he'd set up a sophisticated search engine that combined Paloma's files for names, places, and crimes. Paloma had developed an unusual system for keeping track of the files, so a standard search wouldn't work.

Most of the time he had been grateful for that, but once he started feeding information to Ki Bowles, he found he needed something more specific.

He didn't want to give her something he hadn't vetted yet. Although it appeared that he had without realizing it.

Gramming Corporation was a wholly owned subsidiary of Speidel Corporation, one of the many cloning firms that had offices in Armstrong. Speidel worked mostly with the Growing Pits and other food organizations, but Speidel also did some corporate work for places like Aleyd.

And they had a small human cloning facility. They restricted use to employees of Aleyd and the handful of other people who could pay exorbitant prices for a clone. The corporation's bylaws also stated that clones could only be of someone who had already died.

Some human communities didn't allow cloning of the dead, but it was legal on the Moon. Which brought a lot of people from outside Armstrong to the cloning firms. Speidel tried to prevent being overrun by requests, so it charged the highest prices in Armstrong.

Flint knew that Speidel had cloned Emmeline, even though when they had initially done so, she hadn't been dead. The corporation wouldn't release the files to him because the files didn't belong to him. The files belonged either to Rhonda or to Aleyd Corporation.

Flint wouldn't have been surprised if Speidel's name had been on Talia's day of creation certificate, but it hadn't been.

Talia said the name on the certificate was Gramming's.

So he opened Gramming's files.

And wished he hadn't.

55.

Van Alen's shower had a chair carved in the very center. Talia found the chair by pus.h.i.+ng b.u.t.tons. The chair rose from the tile floor and became the centerpiece of the shower itself.

The shower could be either a sonic shower like most in the dome or a water shower, the height of luxury.