by Malcolm Rose
“Epileptic fit!”
“Confirmed. Several cells in a small area near the surface of the brain fire at the same time in an electrical frenzy, creating a seizure.”
“Now we’re steaming! He heard a scream and went towards the house. Camilla ran out. Just by the door, he got hit by lightning, staggered in and had a fit. There wasn’t any evidence of a fight with Everton under Rowan’s fingernails because they didn’t fight. Rowan was already dead. It makes sense. People having a fit dribble and might wet themselves. That’s why he left saliva and urine behind – on himself and the victim. That’s why the saliva was smeared out. It wasn’t a deliberate spit. And they gnash their teeth. That’s how come he bit the body. All the evidence on the floor says he was rolling around, leaving fibres, hair and sweat all over the place. He grabbed furniture and ornaments and knocked them over. He even grabbed the knife – or at least touched it with his fingers, leaving his prints.” Luke barely paused for breath. “Rowan was lying in a pool of blood so, when Everton started thrashing about, he would’ve got blood on his clothing and skin, as well as bruises from bashing himself on everything. You’ve got to admit, it explains a lot.”
“Correct.”
“What else did you say? Loss of memory. That’s spot-on. Everton doesn’t remember a thing. Mental problems? Sure. Plenty. What’s Pseudobulbar Affect?”
“Patients with Pseudobulbar Affect often laugh uncontrollably at inappropriate times, such as during memorials. Their behaviour is out of character.”
Luke had never heard of the bizarre condition, but he nodded knowingly. “Tell me again what was weird about the questioning of Everton Kohter.”
“The prisoner laughed frequently and inappropriately.”
Luke clenched his fist and punched the air. “Yes!” Then he took a deep breath. “Malc. You said I’d have to explain how so many clues could be wrong. I reckon I’ve just done it. I want you to request an immediate review of the death sentence passed on Everton Kohter. I must have enough evidence to make his conviction unreliable.”
For several seconds, Malc checked the new data against the requirements of the law. Then he said, “I comply with your request. Transmitting as an essential communication to The Authorities.”
“Brilliant!”
A machine did not understand the human need to celebrate. Malc did not allow Luke to savour the moment. Programmed to recognize the importance of an incoming message, Malc said, “No references to Sadie Kershaw have been found in Farrah Bruce’s quarters, but someone using her identity card has accessed Lee McArthur’s computer in the last twenty-four hours. I have searched my copy of his files. Two different documents relate to Sadie Kershaw. One includes her address. This information would be available to anyone browsing the computer.”
At once, Luke put aside his feelings of triumph. Now, he had to worry about Sadie Kershaw because he believed that Camilla would visit her to get a new identity card. And Luke knew what Camilla did to people once she’d finished with them. “All right, Malc. Forget the trip to Glasgow. Plot a route direct to Derby. Maximum possible speed. And get me a sound-only link to Sadie Kershaw.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The mesmerizing stream of white flakes shone in the vehicle’s lights. But Luke thought he’d detected a lessening of the blizzard and the cab seemed to have picked up pace. He could only hope that he would soon emerge from the other side of the snowstorm and head for Derby at top speed.
“Sadie Kershaw’s home computer is refusing to establish a link,” Malc told him.
“What?” Luke cried in astonishment. “Can it do that? Can it refuse an FI?”
“Under normal circumstances, no.”
Puzzled, Luke asked, “So, what’s not normal about it?”
“I am on-line to her system and she has blocked verbal communication while she works on a high-priority task.”
Luke nodded. “She’s clever. I bet she’s trying to tell us she can’t speak because Camilla’s with her. She’s working on another identity card.”
“Procedure requires you to send in guards if you believe the prime suspect is present,” Malc replied.
“Mmm.” Luke looked out of the window. The snowfall was definitely less dense. He said to Malc, “Sadie’s safe till she finishes making the card. And she knows the situation because you sent her that message. If she’s got any sense – and I reckon she’s got lots – she’ll play for time. Can you place a document in her computer that she can open when no one else is looking?”
“Confirmed.”
“All right. Tell her I’m on my way. Give her your best estimate of arrival time and tell her to stall if Camilla’s with her. Then, I want you to request a team of guards. At least twenty, but not to barge in. Tell them to surround the block where Sadie lives, but not to show themselves. They do nothing till I get there. It’s too dangerous. If Camilla gets a whiff of them, she might turn on Sadie.”
“Processing tasks. However, you should note that a person in a building would not be able to smell human beings outside it.”
“I wish you wouldn’t take me so literally.” Luke took the edge off his grumble with a smile. Then, aware of a sudden transformation outside, he looked out of the window. The air was clear and a full moon lightened the evening. The cab had come out of the northbound blizzard and accelerated. Ahead, the corridor was thick with fallen snow. “Make sure the route’s open all the way to Derby, Malc. I don’t have time to wait, so get snowploughs out now if anywhere’s blocked by drifts.”
****
The storm had left Derby several centimetres deep in soft snow. Against a lot of the buildings, huge drifts had collected. As Luke made his way down the brightly lit walkway to Sadie’s apartment block, the snow cushioned his every step. His boots scrunched the stuff and packed it down into clear impressions of his soles. Closer to her home, more footprints gave away the position of the ring of guards. Luke nodded towards a couple of them as he passed. “Stay in place, please. If anyone comes out of her block, stop them. Okay?”
Sadie’s apartment was at the rear of the building so, when he approached the main entrance, Luke knew that no one could look out of her quarters and see him. He swiped his identity card through the reader and the main door sprang back for him. Inside, a cold draft was coming down the passageway towards the elevator because, at the far end, the fire exit had been forced open. Luke imagined that the splintered door was Camilla’s work. She would have had to break in because the entrance would not have responded to Farrah Bruce’s identity card. It would open only for residents, service engineers and forensic investigators.
He went up to the third floor and tiptoed along the hallway until he reached Sadie’s quarters. As an FI, Luke had an identity card that would open her door but he had no idea what to expect on the other side of it. “You are at full power, aren’t you?” he whispered to Malc.
“Confirmed. I recharged in the cab.”
“Okay. Defence mode. Whatever happens, protect Sadie.”
“I cannot comply. My programming allows no flexibility. I must protect you first.”
“All right. But just make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”
“I should enter first,” said Malc.
Luke nodded and held out his identity card towards the security panel beside the door. “Ready?”
“Confirmed.”
Luke pushed his card against reader. The door slid back and at once Malc flew into the living quarters. Luke followed, but came to an immediate halt. Beyond the open glass panel that extended from the floor to the ceiling, Camilla was standing at the edge of the balcony. In her right hand, she held a stinger. Her other hand steadied Sadie’s unconscious body which was lying untidily and horizontally along the rail.
Through the open window, Camilla smirked at him. “You’re becoming a nuisance, you know, Harding. But you can forget the element of surprise. Her computer flashes up a security message, identifying anyone who comes in the main entrance.”
&n
bsp; Once again, Camilla was a step ahead of him.
Luke did not need Malc to tell him that Sadie was still alive. By the lamps above the balcony, Luke could see little puffs of condensation as she breathed in the chill night air. Luke switched his gaze to the electric plasma gun. “Have you stunned her?”
“What does it look like?”
“It looks like an assault with a stinger. I’m guessing it’s what you did with Farrah on the boat before you pushed her in. The trouble is, she woke up and grabbed your brooch, didn’t she?” He pointed at the tear in her coat. “I’ve got her body and your little blue butterfly.”
Camilla grunted angrily. “She was following me. So, I let her. I stunned her down by the pier. The rest was easy. I bundled her on board and weighed her down with a rock. But as soon as I got her into the water, she came round and struggled...” She looked down at the rip. “The cold got her quicker than I thought. She went down with my brooch.”
Luke was bristling with tension but tried to look calm and in control. “My mobile can put you out of action any time I tell him to fire.”
She laughed. “Why do you think I put Sadie here? If I let go,” she said, glancing down at her hostage, “over she goes.”
“Okay,” Luke replied, knowing that she had trumped him. “But you can’t get away and you know I’ve got enough evidence to charge you with the murder of Farrah Bruce.”
“So, it doesn’t matter to me if I kill Sadie as well. You can’t give me more than one death sentence. Send your mobile away. Then we can talk about my terms for letting her live. A hostage and a stinger put me in charge. I can get away. You know it.”
Luke could feel cold drops of sweat running down his back and soaking into his shirt. He shook his head. “Malc’s programming won’t allow him to leave.”
“Overrule it. If you don’t, I’ll let go and you can watch her fall. We’re a long way up.”
Staring at Camilla, Luke was convinced that she would take Sadie’s life with barely a thought. “Okay.” He turned to Malc and said, “I’m giving you a direct order to leave the building.”
Searching his set of instructions for guidance, Malc hovered for several seconds without responding.
“Drift out of the window,” Luke told him.
“Hang on,” Camilla snapped. “Don’t try anything silly. It can come out of the window, but nowhere near me.”
Luke put up both palms. “No tricks. I haven’t told him to do anything apart from get out. You heard it all.”
“Okay,” she muttered. “That way.” With the stinger, she gestured towards the furthest point of the balcony.
“Fair enough,” Luke replied. He was relying on the fact that his mobile would take his order literally. Once Malc had glided through the window, he had fulfilled the instruction to leave the building. Luke trusted that Malc would stay within recording distance but remain hidden somewhere outside. Luke also hoped that his mobile had interpreted his second instruction correctly. Trying to make certain, he added, “Drift below the balcony.”
The place was eerily quiet apart from Malc’s hushed whirring. Eventually, he replied. “I will comply.”
Camilla’s eyes followed the mobile suspiciously as he made his way deliberately through the window, across the balcony and plunged downwards, out of sight. Then she stared angrily at Luke. “Right. We’re equals now. I can see you want to play the hero and get this sad specimen back alive. To do that, you’re going to have to do some things for me.”
“Like what?”
“Guarantee me safe passage to a cab and an overseas plane.”
“You want me to let you off three counts of murder! That’s what you’re saying.” He ran his fingers nervously through his thick crop of hair.
“Yes. Exactly.”
Luke showed no outward sign of triumph, but he had just tempted Camilla into admitting that she had killed three times. He trusted that Malc was close enough to record her response. “The Authorities will have something to say about that.”
“If you want Sadie back, you don’t have a choice. You agree to my demands.” To make her point, Camilla shifted the hand that kept Sadie balanced on the rail. Her limp body wobbled dangerously.
Luke racked his brains for the best option, resembling Malc when he was caught in a dilemma not covered by his programming. He had tried to give Malc a coded message but maybe his mobile had not understood because he was not reappearing behind Camilla and Sadie. Perhaps Luke was on his own this time. “I haven’t been in this position before,” he said. “I could contact The Authorities – if I had my mobile – and see if they agree to a deal.”
Camilla laughed. “You’re just a little boy lost without your toy! No. It’s just you and me. When Sadie’s conscious, you clear the way to the freeway and get us a cab. No one’s going to question you. You’re an FI.”
“I’ll do it if you leave Sadie here and take me as your hostage.”
“No. She’s a much better bargaining tool.”
Luke was caught in an impossible standoff. He had to agree to Camilla’s terms and hope that, at some point, he had an opportunity to pounce. “All right. I’ll take you to Birmingham Airport.” He took a step towards her.
“Back off!” she shouted, pointing the stinger directly at him with her finger on the trigger. “I don’t trust you.”
“If you want me to get you to the airport, you won’t shoot,” he said, hoping that he was right.
“I will if I have to.”
In that instant, Luke was distracted. Outside, Malc rose up behind Camilla. A narrow guide-beam came from him, pinpointing Camilla’s right arm with a red dot, a few centimetres up from the stinger. Without hesitation, before Luke could shout a command, Malc fired his laser.
Immediately, Camilla cried out in pain and dropped the stinger. Her left hand jerked up and clutched at the purple scorch mark on her right arm.
Without support, Sadie rolled off the balcony railing and fell noiselessly.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Luke reacted first. He darted forward, through the open window, and picked up the stinger. Training it on Camilla, he shouted to his mobile, “Guards in here now!”
“Transmitting.”
Camilla was doubled up, nursing her arm.
“Keep watch on her,” Luke said to Malc. He leaned over the balcony and looked down. Sadie had fallen into a deep snowdrift a long way below him. The soft snow had cushioned her weight. Anxiously, he asked, “Is she all right?”
“I detect life signs within normal limits.”
“Get a medical team here, anyway.”
“I calculated that the impact would cause only acceptable damage.”
Relieved, Luke managed a weak smile at last. “You got my message, then.”
“You use language skilfully. Therefore, when you made the ambiguous statements, ‘Drift out of the window, and ‘Drift below the balcony,’ I assumed you wanted me to act on both interpretations. I left the building via the window and checked if there was a snowdrift underneath the balcony where the hostage would fall.”
Camilla looked up and swore at them both.
Luke grinned at her. “It’s amazing what a little boy lost and his toy can do, isn’t it?” He turned back to Malc and asked, “Did you pick up the conversation in here?”
“Confirmed. The sound quality is poor because it was recorded at a distance, but it is adequate for the purposes of the law. I have filed it in case notes.”
“Including the bit about three murders?”
“Yes. You have sufficient evidence to charge Camilla Bunker with the murders of Rowan Pearce, Lee McArthur and Farrah Bruce.”
Three armed guards crashed into the room and the case was at an end. With a huge sense of relief, Luke handed over both Camilla Bunker and the stun gun.
****
The next morning, after Luke had slaughtered a pomegranate in Sheffield Hotel and refreshed himself with a shower, a middle-aged man appeared on his telescreen. Wearing the
badge of a member of The Authorities, he began, “Thank you, FI Harding. Your investigation of the Everton Kohter conviction was very thorough. Your case is going before the relevant committee and I’m sure it will get a sympathetic hearing. Well done. You have saved us a certain amount of embarrassment.”
Luke interrupted. “Embarrassment?” he spluttered. “It’s a boy’s life!”
“Indeed. I hope you have been as conscientious in probing alleged corruption by Sheffield Pairing Committee. I’m eager to hear your findings, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. Today, I’m recalling your Mobile Aid to Law and Crime for a major service. A lack of communication regarding the corruption case suggests that it has a fault. This will be diagnosed and rectified today. Your mobile will be returned to you tonight so that you can present your report tomorrow morning.”
“But...”
“There can be no objections. This is an immediate emergency recall.”
****
Sadie Kershaw glanced at the time showing on her telescreen. “It’s nearly one o’clock in the morning!” she exclaimed. “And the doctor said I’ve got to rest.”
“Yes. Sorry. How are you feeling?” Luke walked into the familiar quarters in Derby with Malc behind him.
“Two broken ribs. Sore, but okay.”
Luke nodded sympathetically, but he didn’t linger on her injuries. He had something important to do. “I’m up in front of The Authorities tomorrow. Strictly, I mean later today, I suppose. Anyway, pairing and forgery will be on the agenda.”
“You’ve come to warn me.”
“Not really,” Luke replied. “I’ve come for your help. Listen to this.” He turned towards Malc and said, “Define skeleton in the cupboard.”
“A skeleton is the supportive rigid structure or framework of...”
“Stop,” Luke commanded. “What about the meaning of the whole phrase?”
“It means that a collections of bones has been found...”
Interrupting, Luke said to Sadie, “You see? A week ago, he knew that skeleton in the cupboard meant hiding a guilty secret because I told him to put it in his memory. But it’s gone. Worse, he doesn’t know some vital facts about the Chair of the Sheffield Pairing Committee and the behaviour of The Authorities.”