Jia glared at him. “Mr. Carl, we’re investigating a woman’s suicide or a possible homicide. If you can find the decency, do try to show a little respect.
“Homicide?” Leonard eyed her. “It’s not that. It’s simple—Nguyen couldn’t hack it. Some people can’t. This isn’t a business for soft-hearted wimps. I’m sure it’s a big tragedy for her family, but the world can’t stop because one woman decides suicide is preferable to two-weeks’ notice and probably being black-balled from the industry. If this tour gets disrupted, a bunch of people are going to lose a lot of money.”
Jia gritted her teeth and flicked her gaze toward Erik. He could sympathize. Leonard could use a good fist to the face or a nice toss out the window.
“The more you can tell us, the quicker this will go,” Erik offered gruffly. “And it’s important to note that we haven’t officially ruled it a suicide. You don’t want us to move on if this was something else, do you? An unsolved homicide lingering around your company can’t be good for business.”
“Entertainment is war.” Annoyance settled on Leonard’s face. “You’re an ex-soldier, right? I’m sure you saw people crack all the time. Losses are inevitable. Attrition.” He clucked his tongue. “The show must go on.”
Erik barked a laugh. “Yeah, managing singers and actors is the same thing as riding a drop pod into hot territory while artillery and fighters are lighting up the sky. Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better.”
The face-punching plan grew in appeal.
“Yeah, yeah. You’re a hero and all that.” Leonard waved a hand. “Whatever. I’m just saying people crack. I know her whiny sister thinks there’s some big conspiracy. She called me and told me.” Leonard muttered before jabbing a finger into the air. “But I don’t have a lot of time for crap, and Euterpe doesn’t have time for it either. Don’t think just because you two are famous cops, we’ll let you push us around. You think you’re celebrities? You’re nothing but local yokels with badges, and you don’t know what a real entertainment company can do in a PR war.” He eyed them. “So you should strongly consider backing off if you don’t want trouble.”
Erik shook his head, forcing a grin and a chuckle. The whole speech was ridiculous. It was like being yapped at by a small dog.
“I can’t believe this.” Jia narrowed her eyes. “Are you threatening us, Mr. Carl? Oh, please tell me you’re threatening two detectives conducting an investigation.”
“No, no, no.” Leonard lowered his hand, a plastic smile taking over his face and a hint of nervousness in his eyes. He’d miscalculated. “Look, all I’m saying is that you’ve got better things to do than waste your time on some loser personal assistant who couldn’t hack it, and so do I. I’m just trying to save us all a lot of trouble and unnecessary work. I’m sure you’ve got all sorts of murderous terrorists you could be tracking.”
“Fine,” Jia replied through gritted teeth. “We’ll make the questions simple and direct. Without acknowledging any particular threat, can you think of anyone who might have wished Chau Nguyen harm? If not that, are you aware of anyone who resented her? Maybe rivals in the company?”
“Rivals?” Leonard considered her question for a moment, then snorted. “Nguyen? No. In this business, people only want to take you down if you’re a threat, and I’m not talking violence. We’re not a crazy gangster syndicate. Why waste time undercutting a sheep? The wolves are the big threat, and Nguyen wasn’t going to change into a wolf just from hanging around me. She was soft, and she was always going to be soft.” He scoffed. “That’s the problem with her kind, the wannabe artists who fall into the business side. I always knew that was why she got into the industry. They think they can sidestep into the business as assistants or something, but there are two different skill sets involved. One is artistic, and the other is business. I’m not a failed singer. I’m a businessman who helps singers become successful. If she could have internalized that, she would have done better, and maybe she still would be alive.” The corner of his mouth curled into a sinister half-smile. “I might be an asshole, but I’m a necessary asshole. Someone like Rena would be nothing without me. I make her rich, she makes me rich. Everyone wins. Well, except Nguyen. Like I said, entertainment is war, and you can’t have wars without casualties.”
“Since you brought Rena up, what about her?” Jia pressed. “A big hit to her reputation could end her career, and it’s just about to really take off. Chau was her personal assistant. They spent a lot of time together. Maybe she stumbled onto something Rena or someone else didn’t want anyone to know. Something important enough to kill for.”
Leonard burst out in hearty laughter, his face reddening. “You think Rena has a big, dark secret she’s going to kill someone over? Please.”
Jia eyed him. “Just because she has a wholesome image doesn’t mean it’s real. Money has always been a reason to kill people.”
“She’s right,” Erik agreed. “Not every criminal is a terrorist or gangster. My first case involved fine, upstanding corporate citizens who were bribing people to make more money.”
He remained convinced that wasn’t the total truth, but it was the truth the public had been conditioned to believe.
The manager continued laughing for a good ten seconds before calming himself and wiping away tears of mirth. “You two just don’t get it. I almost passed on the opportunity when I first met Rena. I could tell at that time she’d never develop into something edgier. It’s just not her nature. I was thinking, ‘Does the UTC need a new wholesome, boring star?’ I should find someone older—a woman, not a girl.”
He snorted. “Just goes to show you that even a man with a lot of experience can come close to making a big mistake. No. Rena’s got nothing to hide, because first of all, she’s as much of a sheep as Nguyen, and sheep aren’t predators. They’re prey.” He folded his arms. “Second, I’ve made a lot of people a lot of money off her, including myself, and we’re poised to make so much more money it should be illegal. Because of that, I’ve made sure no one can get close to lead her down the wrong path. It’s even in her contract. She can’t date anyone.”
“She can’t date anyone?” Jia eyed him, mouth open for a moment before she shut it. “That’s insane.”
“That’s Euterpe protecting our investment. That’s the business, Detective. It takes a lot more to be a successful singer than it does a cop.”
Jia stayed quiet while Erik chuckled. “You so sure she’s under control? Regular teenagers can end up running with dangerous people, and you’re saying a rich, famous singer can’t? I find that hard to believe.”
“Believe it, Detective. This is one situation where I’m not dropping the ball.” Leonard narrowed his eyes, the faint remnants of mirth giving way to hostility. “You know how hard it is to get decent traction with a human star these days?” He waved a hand, ready to start expounding on a favorite rant. “All those fake virtual idols out there can be tuned to whatever personality the public wants—cheap dolls breathed into life by focus groups. They can be targeted for specific planets, countries, even specific damned cities.” He muttered under his breath. “But there’s no money in virtual stars for guys like me. A lot of people will never have the opportunity to stand within a few meters of their favorite singer, so they don’t care if she’s real. All they want is the spectacle. The image. The fantasy.” He grunted in frustration. “But I cut through all that with flesh and blood, the real thing.”
He sneered. “I’m a hero. Don’t you get it? You should be on your knees thanking me, not hassling me about a phantom crime.”
“A hero?” Jia scoffed. “How do you figure?”
Leonard squared his shoulders, jerking a thumb at his chest. “Because I’m doing my part to keep humanity important in entertainment. All those Purists running around aren’t doing anything about virtual idols, now, are they? What good does it do if we’re all pure if the heart and soul of our art are taken over by machines?”
“If you say so
.” Jia rolled her eyes. Erik offered a quiet grunt.
“No, Rena isn’t a murderer, and she has no secret worth murdering for, other than being damned good at what she does because of my direction and my guidance. That’s why I’ve kept such a close eye on her. It’s why I hired a sheep like Nguyen. I didn’t need an ambitious party girl putting ideas into Rena’s head. I needed someone who would worry about her like a little sister. Nguyen did that until she couldn’t hack it anymore.”
Erik locked eyes with Leonard. The men stared at each other for several seconds, neither averting his gaze.
“We’ll need to talk to Rena,” Erik insisted. “We’re not saying we don’t believe you, but she’s part of the investigation.”
Leonard replied with a single sharp shake of his head. “No way in hell. Like I told you, she’s not a wolf. She’s a sheep, or my golden goose if you prefer. She doesn’t need additional stress about someone’s suicide, especially from two cops who don’t know anything about what’s she going through.”
“You can’t be serious.” Jia took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “We’re conducting a police investigation, and we need to explore all angles and possible leads. Your big, self-important rant only highlighted how important Rena Winston is to your money-making operation. Even if she had nothing to do with it, she might be linked to the reason.”
“Rena didn’t kill anyone,” Leonard thundered, his eyes inflamed. “How many times do I have to tell you idiots that?”
“No one’s saying she did,” Jia snapped back. “But she might have insight, and if she’s such a sheep, we’d like to get her away from a wolf who might keep her too quiet to admit she saw or heard something. If this is nothing more than a suicide, you don’t have any reason to stand in our way.”
Leonard shook his head, his hand slicing the air in front of him. “No way. I refuse, and if I refuse, that means Rena refuses.”
Erik shrugged, offering a tight smile. “Or we can hold a press conference and talk about how Euterpe is engaging in a cover-up. I wonder what people would think about that, given our reputation. But what do we know? We’re just local yokels with badges, right?”
Leonard shot to his feet. “You arrogant bastard. You think you can get away with that? Your superiors made it clear that kind of thing won’t be happening. We had an agreement.”
Jia smirked. “Yeah, but then they assigned the case to us. Our news coverage speaks for itself. What do people keep calling us when it comes to corporations?” She looked at Erik.
Erik folded his arms and smiled. “Corp hunters.”
“Oh, that’s right.” She went back to staring at Leonard. “’Corp hunters,’ and Euterpe’s a corporation, the last time I checked. The hunting urge is coming on.”
Leonard glared at them. “You think you can play tough with me? You think I haven’t faced off against big stars and corporate officers? You think you can intimidate me just because you’re cops?”
Erik shook his head. “I think we’ve taken on terrorists, gangsters, and Ceres Galactic. It wasn’t all that long ago that we were killing yaoguai underground.” Erik eyed the man. “You ever smell the inside of a yaoguai? It’s not something you easily forget. So, yeah, I think we can handle one manager with delusions of grandeur, but if you want to test how far you can go before you get arrested for obstruction of justice, bring it. I’d love to shove you in my car and drag your ass to the station. That’d be great for publicity.”
“You don’t know who you’re messing with, cop. I can buy and sell you both.”
“Unless you’ve got a closet full of monsters, terrorists, and killer bots, I don’t care.” Erik rose to his full height, his heavy glare on the manager. “I spent thirty years protecting the UTC on the frontier from the kind of people who would make you piss yourself and have nightmares for years. Don’t even think for one second you have the ability to intimidate me. You are used to pushing around entertainment types, people who sing for a living, or stagehands who work for you.” He inclined his head toward Jia. “And she’s even more stubborn than I am.”
Jia nodded, her lips pressed together.
Leonard’s mouth twitched.
Erik slammed a fist on the table, rattling it. Leonard jumped.
“Now you’re going to arrange a meeting with Rena,” Erik leaned forward, growling, “or you’re going to make us both angry. And we’ve shown what we do when we’re angry.”
Jia lifted her chin, a defiant gleam in her eye.
Leonard fell into his chair, his face red. “Whatever. You’ll feel like idiots once you realize how much time you’re wasting. I’ll arrange something, but it’ll be on my schedule, and it’ll be here in this building. There’s no way I’m letting you drag my star to some filthy police station so you can chain her to a table and threaten her.”
“That wasn’t what we were planning,” Jia replied.
He focused on her. “There’s no way you’re interviewing without me present, and that’s final. Unless you’re going to arrest her, she doesn’t have to be alone.” Leonard’s nostrils flared. “And if you try that, I’m ready to deploy half the lawyers in the metroplex on you.”
“We might need to talk to her alone in a follow-up, but the first interview should be fine with you present.”
“Don’t care. It won’t be until tomorrow. She’s got too many appointments today.” Leonard folded his arms and looked away, grumbling under his breath.
“That’s fine.” Jia smiled. “See, was cooperating so hard?”
Chapter Nine
May 6, 2229, Neo Southern California Metroplex, en route to Euterpe Corporation Headquarters
Sitting in the passenger seat of the MX 60, Jia tried to push down the bubbling annoyance that had filled her all morning. It finally erupted as a loud snort.
“What’s that about?” Erik looked at her. “I think I’m doing a pretty good job of flying.”
Jia sighed. “It’s not you. I’m just annoyed we had to waste a half-day of investigation because of that pompous reptile. I want to throat-punch him.”
“Yeah, he’s a real charming guy who needs a few teeth loosened, but he also backed off, which means he’s scared of us, and we can use that if we need to.”
Erik kept a loose hold on the control yoke. Jia had noticed he had been smiling the entire morning, ever since getting his first beignet.
Some men thrived with the simplest of pleasures provided them.
“Do you still think this is just a suicide?” she asked.
Erik shook his head. “Every new thing someone tells me about Rena Winston keeps feeding a possible motive. Maybe she had a secret boyfriend Chau found out about, and when Chau told him to get lost, he killed her. I was wrong—there’s too much money and opportunity sloshing around this girl. More than enough to kill over. That ass of a manager made that clear.”
“I’ve found additional information you might be interested in,” Emma interjected. “I’m continuing my searches, but I just came across something relevant.”
“What is it?” Jia asked.
“The general description the pretentious parasite offered for his charge is accurate. Rena Winston does appear to be, by all reports, a singing prodigy with an unusual ability to capture the attention of her audience. She’s been groomed since she was three years old to be an entertainer by her parents and the aforementioned pretentious parasite.”
“So? We pretty much knew that already.” Jia sighed, disappointed. “What good does that do us?”
Emma chuckled. “Oh, Detective Lin, it gets far more interesting. Did you know both her parents are dead?”
Jia blinked before she sat forward. “What? None of the quick background articles I checked mentioned that.”
“It’s surprisingly well-hidden. It’s almost as if someone were going out of their way to hide it.”
“Meaning?” Erik asked.
“The less you know, the better,” Emma suggested. “Let’s just say I got overly eager and m
ight have crossed some lines.”
Jia groaned, putting a hand to her head. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“But I did,” offered Emma merrily. “If it makes you feel better, I’m not legally a person, so I can’t break the law.”
“Yeah, but we’re cops, and we need to make sure that evidence isn’t thrown out,” Erik grumbled.
Emma scoffed. “Mere details. Setting that aside, Euterpe is spending a lot of money to keep that particular news item suppressed, but I was able to confirm provisional death records. Normally, they would have been confirmed and transferred to Earth long ago, given that it has been several years, but for some reason, that hasn’t happened. That might be one of the reasons most people are unaware of it. Despite sending her to live and work primarily on Earth, her parents remained on Remus.”
Erik nodded. “Did they die from mysterious suicides, too?”
“No, flitter accident. There are minimal details available, but there was a cursory investigation. Mr. Carl has her power-of-attorney and guardianship until she reaches the age of majority. Records indicate Miss Winston specifically requested it.”
Jia glanced at Erik. “That’s more than a little suspicious, and I don’t need the Lady or gut instinct to tell me suspicious coincidences piling up point to something sinister.”
Erik looked over his shoulder, then accelerated and changed lanes. “Maybe our little songbird didn’t want Mommy or Daddy getting any of her money. Emma, is the guardianship a matter of public record, even if hidden?”
“Yes, it is. You just have to know exactly where to look.”
“Good. Then it won’t risk anything if we ask her about it.”
Jia wasn’t sure what she had been expecting when Leonard and a huge musclebound bodyguard led her and Erik through a labyrinthine series of corridors in the bowels of a higher level of the Euterpe building.
When they finally arrived at their destination, Leonard opened the door to reveal a modest beige room with a simple glass table and a handful of chairs, barely a closet compared to the manager’s office. She hardly noticed the furniture since her attention was drawn to the beautiful young dark-skinned woman sitting on one of the chairs, her hands folded neatly in her lap.
Enlightened Ignorance Page 7