Part 25 (1/2)

”Then how did they kill her?” DeRicci asked.

Nyquist's eyes narrowed, and then he nodded. ”See? I think that was the question your old partner wanted me to ask. And the answer is pretty simple. The Disty didn't get near her. They hired some humans to kill her. I tracked them down. I have records of the meeting and of the hire. I even know where the killers are.”

”But?” DeRicci looked past him at the reports on Mars. They were running silently behind him, showing tiny explosions as someone recorded s.h.i.+ps. .h.i.tting each other from a distance.

”But,” Nyquist said, ”I have a dilemma.”

That caught her attention. Her gaze met his, and she thought she saw disappointment in his eyes. Because her attention had wandered for a moment?

It had wandered because she was moving beyond her old position. She wasn't a detective anymore, no matter how much she missed it. She was the Moon's security chief, and something about this Mars stuff bothered her. On a deeper level than simple planning.

Something- ”Do you care?” he asked.

That snapped her back to him. ”I'm sorry. I do.”

”I thought I could talk about this with you,” he said. ”I don't want to bring it up in the department until I understand everything. If I'm disturbing you-”

”No,” she said. ”It's all right. I'm sorry. This Mars stuff is distracting me.”

”You and everyone else,” he said.

”Your dilemma,” she prompted, wondering if she had hurt the fledgling feelings between them. That wouldn't be the first time she had screwed up something delicate in the early days of a relations.h.i.+p.

”My dilemma is this,” he said. ”If the humans are hired to carry out a legitimate Disty vengeance killing, a killing in which the Disty are physically unable to touch or even go near the object of the killing, have the humans broken the law?”

That did catch her attention. ”I don't know.”

The words bounced out of her before she could consider them. But she didn't know.

”See, I'm not sure if it's a murder for hire, since the humans have no cultural imperative to kill, or if it's just an executioner carrying out a ritual for a particular government,” Nyquist said.

DeRicci let out a breath and stood. She hated these kinds of questions. The cross-cultural implications were always difficult. ”Is the killing justified?”

”I can't reach the Disty to get their files,” Nyquist said. ”But I got someone at the Disappearance Service to tell me, off the record, that Costard had been in their offices a day or so before she died. She hadn't signed up, but that's not unusual. Apparently; people come back two and three times before they chose to dump everything they know and run.”

”I thought that was dangerous,” DeRicci said.

”The whole thing's dangerous.” Nyquist folded his hands across his flat stomach. He was in good shape for a man who seemed to avoid enhancements.

DeRicci turned her back on the wall screens. She didn't want to think about the Mars crisis at the moment. Instead, she looked out her window at the crater left by last year's bomb.

”Let's say it is a legitimate vengeance killing,” she said. ”Then you have a real problem. I'm not sure this has ever been adjudicated. Have you talked to a lawyer? The city attorney might be able to advise you.”

”Have you ever talked to those people?”

She had worked with them, and mentally cursed them the entire time. One of the last alien negotiations she had done, the city attorneys had nearly ruined everything. DeRicci had known more about the law than they had.

”Yeah, sorry,” she said, and faced him. He was watching her, those sharp eyes taking in every movement. ”I forgot what idiots the city attorneys can be.”

He smiled. She liked his smile. It was gentle. It softened his features, made him seem a little less intense.

”You're right, though,” he said after a moment. ”I should talk to them.”

She shook her head. ”Not yet.”

She returned to her chair and sat down, leaning forward as she spoke to him.

”This is what I would do,” she said. ”Since you can't reach the Disty for somewhat obvious reasons-”

And she indicated the wall screens. Nyquist nodded without looking at them.

”-then you've got to act on the a.s.sumption that the Disty had the right to do the killing.”

He frowned. Hadn't he thought of that? Probably not. DeRicci had learned long ago that her cop's brain worked differently than every other cop's brain.

”And if they had the right to do the killing, then it stands to reason that they had the right to carry out that killing, no matter how they did it.”

”But that's my point,” Nyquist said. ”We don't know that-”

”Exactly.” DeRicci spoke softly but with force. She didn't want this discussion to go on too long. ”Right now, you know where the actual killers are, right?”

”More or less,” Nyquist said. ”I could have them arrested in the next hour.”

”Then that's what you do. Let the lawyers worry about the law. You make sure you have a solid case against them. Count it as murder, make sure you have them in custody, and if you're wrong, who's going to blame you?”

”Gee,” he said with a lot of sarcasm. ”I don't know. The chief, maybe?”

That was how DeRicci got into trouble. But sometimes her take-charge att.i.tude worked. And ultimately, she did get this goofy promotion because of her unusual way of thinking.

”No, she won't,” DeRicci said. ”Not if you write it up right. If you ignore the cross-cultural implications, claim that only the Disty have the right to carry out a vengeance killing, and state Armstrong law, which is pretty clear. Humans do not have the right to take another human life, no matter what the reason.”

”Self-defense,” he said.

”Even that's an iffy proposition,” DeRicci said. ”It's up to the lawyers to prove that an instantaneous cry for help along all of the victim's links wouldn't bring anyone in time to prevent serious harm.”

He shook his head. ”I hate that law.”

”Me too,” DeRicci said. ”But it's the law, and it's one you know. So act on it. Clearly, if this Costard was attacked by more than one person, then the group wasn't acting in self-defense. If anything, Costard had the right to hurt them, not the other way around.”

Nyquist let out a pained sigh.

”So you hold these killers and let the lawyers battle it out. You put that in your report. Claim that you couldn't risk letting killers go free-where would Armstrong be if we were filled with killers for hire, even if they have a legitimate right to do their job?-and plead communities' rights. The way that everyone's been feeling since the bombing, you'll definitely get away with it. And no one will think less of you for it.”

He had leaned away from her as she spoke, and his expression was closed off. ”You'd really do that?”

She nodded.

”Amazing,” he said. ”No wonder they gave you the cases that weren't straightforward.”

”You don't approve.” She tried to say that lightly.