Aeolus Investigations Set 2: Too Cool To Lose: The Continuing Evolution of Lexi Stevens

by Robert E Colfax

  Crane had used this type of software before. The menu was easy to navigate. He pulled up photos first. She felt sympathy for him when he pulled up pictures of his dead parents, zooming in on their faces. She said, “They didn’t suffer. Death was instant.”

  He looked at the third body next. He frowned as he said, “This guy did suffer. Gut shots are painful. He was shot in the shoulder too. Anything special about the bullets?”

  “No.”

  The rest of the images he scanned through quickly. Then he opened the report filed by the crime-scene tech. He gave Geena an odd look. “Why is there a scent analysis?”

  She shrugged. “Being thorough. There was an overly strong floral scent in the small shop. I wondered what it was covering up. We identified traces of a male cologne that we couldn’t tie back to anyone in the store.”

  Crane nodded. “That could be useful.” He read the rest of the technician’s report prior to switching to the statement made by the witness, Tregan Klamin. Then he spent several long minutes examining the inventory of stolen objects, occasionally zooming in on an image as he had with the crime scene images. At that point he sat back, closed his eyes, and rubbed his forehead just below his hairline.

  Geena waited until he opened his eyes and brought up the images of the dead clerk again. She asked, “Should I be offended that you haven’t looked at my notes?”

  He shook his head, startled. “What?”

  “You’ve gone through everything except my notes on the case.”

  Crane smiled. “Oh, just saving the best for last. Tell me, Geena — do you mind if I call you Geena? — what stands out about all of this?”

  She had already decided if she was going to be working with this man not to hold anything back. What she was about to say wasn’t in her case notes. “It was a professional hit on your parents. Everything else was just stage dressing. Why? And why at that particular store?”

  “Very good, detective. I agree. It wasn’t a very large haul, certainly not large enough to risk murder charges. Two expert shots took down Mom and Dad. Then one of the employees was messily killed. I think the intent was to lead us to believe the other two were just lucky shots. They left Klamin alive to give testimony that it was nothing more than a robbery. The security sensors have been rerecording footage from last week. I don’t understand why no one buys the upgraded software that raises an alarm when it notices that. Which means not only did they know my parents would be coming in, they wanted something specific.” He opened an image of one of the missing pieces, expanded it, and displayed it holographically above the table. “It also has something to do with this.”

  “That’s the custom piece your parents ordered,” Geena said.

  “It is,” Crane agreed. “Fiftieth anniversary present for my mother. Dad told me about it. He’d been planning this for a couple of years. I don’t know how many years he had that stone for. The jeweler was mounting in a setting for him.” He paused. “I hope Mom got to see it before she was killed.”

  He looked so sad, Geena asked, “Can I get you anything, Crane?”

  He shook his head. “No, thank you, I’m OK. This was planned. They knew my parents and that necklace would be in the shop at the same time.”

  “The Planetary Police datanet has details on all of the stolen jewelry. If it turns up anywhere on Cardin, we’ll know about it. What’s special about the necklace?”

  “I don’t know. Like I said, Dad had the raw gemstone for ages. We’ll have to go through his logs.”

  Geena patted him on the shoulder. “Is now good? I want to catch these guys.”

  Chapter 4

  Reviewing Ship’s Logs

  Crane said, “I want to visit the jewelry shop, first, if you don’t mind.” He paused, but before Geena responded, said, “I just want to see where they died. Then we can go to my starship and start going through their exploration logs.”

  The first part of that, Geena understood. “You have a starship?”

  He smiled. “Don’t you?”

  “No. Why do you?”

  “It was my parents’ ship. They signed it over to me when they retired five or six years ago. You know they were prospectors, right?”

  “Of course. We checked their backgrounds as soon as I realized something didn’t add up.”

  “Good. Well I own their old ship.”

  “Why aren’t you out exploring, then?”

  “I’ll make a deal with you. Let’s stick to the case for now. Have dinner with me tonight and I’ll answer more personal questions. I expect the same from you.”

  “We’ll have to see how the day goes, Crane.”

  ***

  The ship was an older model. That was obvious to even someone as inexperienced as Geena was concerning starships. It was small, too. She figured conversation about the ship could wait until dinner, if she decided to have dinner with the man, or until tomorrow, otherwise.

  After an hour of scanning through logs, looking for references having anything to do with gemstones, Geena said, “Is there an intelligent algorithm we can run to filter through this?”

  Crane looked up and chuckled. “Sadly, no. The ship’s AI isn’t smart enough for anything like that.”

  “Can we copy the logs to the computer at headquarters. It should be able to search through this much data in an hour — two at the most.”

  He shook his head. “Sorry but I don’t think so. Not only are they encrypted with Mom’s own algorithm, the operating system is so archaic anything in these files would have to be translated from that perspective too.”

  Geena thought about that a moment. She could legally seize the logs. He didn’t seem adverse to voluntarily turning them over — he just didn’t think her people would be able to get anything from them. “Why are the logs encrypted, Crane?”

  “Some of their discoveries over the years were fairly valuable. They explored outside of the Accord, finding ore deposits they could stake claim to and then auction off to the mining conglomerates. They couldn’t risk someone hacking in before they sold off the rights.”

  “Interesting way to make a living.”

  “Yes, it is. I don’t think you meant it that way but think about it. Sometimes they were the first humans to ever set foot on a new world. In fact, and this is more dinner conversation, but what the hell. Dad alluded one time to my birth mother being a woman he met on an alien planet, before he and Mom became life-mates.”

  “You’ll tell me more about that at dinner?”

  “I don’t know much more, but sure. So we’re dining together?”

  Geena smiled at him. “I think so.”

  ***

  They went to a middle-of-the-road seafood establishment Geena knew of. The food was always decent and she had never had a glass of wine at the place she didn’t enjoy. She watched as Crane took the first sip of the wine she selected for them. He nodded, saying, “Nice. What do you want to know?”

  “Most of what I’m curious about concerns your starship. Why don’t you just talk about it rather than me interrogating you?”

  He laughed. “Fine. I grew up on that ship. My younger brother died when they were exploring an asteroid. I think that had a lot to do with my parents’ decision to retire. I was on Cardin at the time. While I love visiting different worlds, prospecting is a lonely job.”

  “So you were here? Becoming an insurance investigator?”

  “Yes. I was thinking of becoming a cop, like you, but solving puzzles appealed to me more and, frankly, I didn’t want to have to work my way up through the ranks.” He sipped at his wine. “That ship is nearly seven hundred years old. It’s sturdy enough but was never top in class.” He laughed, wryly. “It’s clunky and it’s slow. It is sadly lacking in cargo room. You need a crew of two in order to get it into space. Trying to fit more than four people on it severely taxes its environmental systems.” He shrugged. “But it is mine. And like I said, I spent a lot of my childhood on it. Where did you grow up?”

  �
��In the capital. My mother was an artist, Dad an accountant. They both died in a mid-air collision when I was at the academy. I miss them.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Thanks. So, you’re a young man who owns a starship. Why haven’t you gone exploring?”

  “Good question. My parents were getting old, Geena. I wanted to spend as much time with them as I could while they were here. Sure, my job takes me all over the world but I come home after every case. And in a worst-case scenario, like this one, I can get home quickly.”

  He paused while he took a bite from the complimentary seafood cocktail. “Once we solve this, I’ll probably take my business interstellar. I make a good income here, but frequently, the more challenging cases are found out there in Accord-space. Of course, I’ll need to hire somebody. That may be a problem — finding someone to work for me when I can’t guarantee that we’ll get any cases. Plus, we usually don’t get paid unless we actually recover the missing objects.”

  Geena laughed. “I see where that could be an issue.” She finished her cocktail. “I’m a little envious of your plans.”

  ***

  The next morning they were hitting the logs again. After a little over an hour, Geena sat back, asking, “Crane, what’s cretalscallalite?”

  “I don’t know. Look it up. Why?”

  “Just a sec.” She pulled out her datapad and keyed in a search. “Listen to this. It’s a gemstone, one that has never been found in nature. Very expensive to manufacture. According to the log, Paddrick and Merla found a deposit on a planet decades ago. They never put the find up for auction. In the log, he speculated the planet was cooked inside the furnace of a red-giant star. I’m not sure how important that is. How many red-giant stars are there?”

  He laughed. “In what volume of space? Probably hundreds. They’re not that rare.”

  Geena grunted. “Unlike their other finds, the coordinates of this one arn’t recorded. Paddrick believed the deposit came from a meteor impact. Why wouldn’t he list it for auction?”

  Crane shook his head. “I don’t know. If it was a meteor, there may not have been enough material for one of the mining conglomerates to be interested. It’s still odd he didn’t document where they found it.”

  “Do you want more coffee? I’ll get it.” As she got up to refill both of their mugs, she said, “We’re not done, you know. We still need to go through the rest of the logs. Is it odd that the jeweler’s inventory didn’t mention cretalscallalite?”

  “Maybe not. The jeweler may not have recognized the stone. The description went into detail about the platinum setting and the orbital diamonds but listed the main stone as ‘gemstone of unknown composition.’ Then it went on to describe cut, clarity, weight, and more of that kind of detail. Listen, Geena, I went through some of their correspondence last night after you went home. If we don’t finish this before dinner, I’ll tell you about it then. Are you up for dinner again tonight?”

  “Yes, I’d like that. This time, you pick the place.”

  Chapter 5

  Getting Dirty

  Geena’s first thought when she regained consciousness was, Why am I still alive? Seconds later she started wondering what happened to Crane.

  She was in a dark room with a cold, hard floor — probably a basement. It was chilly. She smelled the odor the scent analyzer from the jewelry store identified. So at least we’re on the right track. Since both her hands and feet seemed to be manacled that may not have been a good thing.

  Crane, who admittedly had more experience at this than she did, had warned her they were going to “get dirty” chasing their suspects. From where she lay, she could smell the dust on the floor and the dried blood on her cheek. She wondered if that was he meant.

  They had followed the trail to the city of Lobarton after both of their datapads lit up squawking, an hour before they would have gotten up anyway, alerting them that at least some of the stolen jewelry had been fenced there. Crane had looked across the bed at Geena and said, “Damn. I had other things planned for this morning.”

  Geena smiled. “Yeah. Me too. I’ll have my people book us a flight.”

  Crane snorted. “Ah, sweetheart, you know I have a starship parked ten miles from here?”

  “Ah, I don’t think of grabbing a starship for a two-thousand-mile hop around the planet.”

  With a smile, Crane said, “Stick with me and you will.”

  “Didn’t you say your ship needed two people to fly it?”

  “I did. I’m one and you make two. Besides, we’ll just be suborbital. Not a big deal.”

  “But, Crane, I know nothing about flying a starship, or an airship, or even a rowboat.”

  “I’m sure that’s not true. You must know neither of the first two use oars and that you need a starship to get into space. Right?

  Geena laughed. “OK.” She frowned.. “Still, unless you want me to find something in the ship’s logs, I’m going to be useless sitting in the copilot’s seat.”

  “It will be OK, dear. We won’t be leaving the atmosphere. There won’t be a thing for you do unless I pass out at the controls. So let’s grab coffee to make sure that isn’t going to happen and get a move on.”

  ***

  Geena quieted her breathing. After a moment, she decided she must be alone on a cement floor. Sitting up might be good. Her hands were manacled behind her back which made doing so somewhat difficult. She pulled her legs up to her chest and by loosening her shoulders was able to force her wrists pass her feet, thankful she was wearing flats and not high heels. She was already slightly taller than Crane and some men were weird about that. So far, he didn’t seem to be. Besides, fashion had no place when stalking criminals. Her hands were still manacled, but at least she could lever herself into a sitting position. She scooted backward until she was up against a wall. Then she waited.

  When someone came to get her, she had her plan in place. It was a woman, one who seemed to be shorter than she. She came in alone. That improved Geena’s odds considerably. As the woman approached, Geena asked, “How’s Crane?”

  After a chuckle, the woman replied, “Probably not the best day of his life. They’re going to see if hurting you loosens his tongue more than hurting him does. Should be interesting.”

  It may have been that the room was, even with the lights on, still only dimly lit. Maybe this woman was annoyed at being sent to fetch the captive. Maybe she was enjoying her own smirk too much. Regardless. She was careless. She bent over to unlock Geena’s leg manacles after stating, “You’re wanted upstairs. I’m going to take the irons off your ankles, then you walk. Behave yourself, sweet cakes. No one is going to care if I put a bullet in you before we get up there.”

  Her jailer was clever enough to step back several feet once she freed Geena’s legs before drawing a gun to hold on her. What she wasn’t prepared for was Geena springing forward onto her hands, whipping her legs through the air to lock around the woman’s throat. Geena was a young woman and a strong one. Not only did she have fairly recent self-defense training, she remembered a good deal of gymnastics from her school years. The shock of having a pair of powerful thighs around her throat along with the jolt of crashing sideways to the floor disoriented Geena’s captor long enough for Geena to deliver a smashing open palm blow to the woman’s head.

  Geena couldn’t see where the gun had gone. She stood and dragged the lighter woman to the wall. Then she went through her opponent’s clothing to retrieve the manacle fob. She unsealed her wrist bracelets, slapping them on the woman after positioning her arms behind her back. Then she added the ankle piece. Her prisoner secure, she found the lost handgun across the room, near the door. After checking the clip, and making sure a round was already chambered, she turned off the light, locked the door behind herself, and went stalking.

  The lighting was better in the hall. As she expected, she was a filthy mess. She could ignore that for the moment. She passed three closed doors before she got to the stairs. If it wasn’t jus
t her, she would have checked what was behind each of them. For one thing, it was a bad idea to leave enemies behind you. Hopefully, those rooms were empty. And, she needed to find Crane sooner rather than later. The woman she overpowered had said Geena was to be taken upstairs. So, up she went.

  She moved almost silently through the kitchen at the top of the stairs, collecting a paring knife as she went. Without her personal comm, she couldn’t call for backup. She and Crane had followed protocol and checked in with the Lobarton PD when they arrived. It didn’t matter now. She had no way to reach them.

  She had thirteen rounds in her handgun. What she would have liked, but didn’t have, was a silencer. She had no way of knowing how many people were in this large-looking house. It looked residential. Hell, there could be kids. Although one would hope that with a man being tortured here, any children would have been sent somewhere else.