Whoa! he grumbled. Got dizzy for a second there.
I advise you to watch your blood pressure, Captain Stesco, Bester said, helpfully. You dont seem like a well man.
Well, what didja want, anyway?
Just to thank you for your time and to assure you that Ill report whatever I come up with directly to you.
Oh. Well, thanks. Guess Ill be goin now.
I guess you will.
After he was gone, he turned to Lyta and found her staring at him in undisguised horror.
You have something to say, Lyta?
Isir, that was illegal.
Yes, wellI was tired of talking to him. The man had a foul mouth. A foul mind, too, but a scan is over with more quickly than a long conversation. Besides, it was a fairly cursory scan, with minimal damageand he wont remember a thing.
But sir
Look at her, Lyta. He pointed toward the corpse. Look at her. There she lies, dead and mutilated. Shes not the first, but by God we can make sure shes the last. If I have to scan a few small-minded bigots to speed up the process of catching this monster and protecting our people, Im not above it.
Her face struggled to find an expression and settled for a dead neutral.
He sighed. Lyta, when I was younger I believed in doing things by the book. I still do, when it makes sense. But in cases like these, Ive become more interested injustice than in procedure. Sue me.
Yes, sir, she said, though it was clear to him she still did not agree. Did you learn anything from him?
As it happensyes. He isnt the killer, and he doesnt know who the killer was. He doesnt want to know who the killer was he thinks our man is doing a fine job, ridding his planet of teeps. Which is perhaps why he hasnt mentioned to the Corps what he does know.
Which is?
There was another killing a week ago that he thinks has something to do with this. A mundane named Jack Finn.
Its not in the record.
I didnt think it would be. You have a summary report of all of this for me?
Yes, sir.
Ill want that first. I also want you to look up anything you can find on Jack Finn. He looked around. What about the security system?
Our killer has some way around it. We almost caught him, the first time, because a call did go out. Response time was slow, probably because the house belonged to a telepath. Still, we think the patrol only missed the killer by a few minutes.
That only happened the first time? Since then there have been no calls?
Thats correct, sir. Umm, excuse me, sirmy tel-phone She unfolded the small device. Alexander here. Oh, yeswere at the crime scene. Yes, of course, Ms. Mallory, Ill ask. She lowered the phone. Our station chief is back and would like to see you at your earliest convenience.
Mallory? Would that be Anne Mallory?
Yes, sir.
Tell her well be right there.
Lyta did so, then closed the phone. You know Ms. Mallory?
Sure, we worked together some back on Earth. A good cop.
Would you like to put your things in your room, before going to the office?
No, plenty of time for that. I dont want to keep Anne waiting.
Al. So pleased to see you again.
You havent changed since we served together under de Vries, Anne. I had no idea you were out here on Beta.
Oh, lm here, all right, lm sorry I couldnt join you at the crime sceneI was on the other side of the pole zone, checking out some leads to another case when we got the word. I knew your ship was getting in about that time, and I knew you were competent to handle it. Any trouble?
The scene had been disturbed.
By Captain Stesco? Her face colored. I left definite orders
Captain Stesco seems to have some problems with authority when the authority is a teep. Dont worryI think next time youll find him a bit morepliant.
Anne Mallorys narrow face took on a sudden worried caste. Al, you didnt. I know your reputation
And so does the Corps. They wouldnt have sent me, Anne, if they didnt think my methods were needed here. At least he hoped that was the case.
Al, this isnt Mars, thats all Im saying. The locals are sometimesnarrow-minded.
Im used to that. Dont worry. Ill be discreet. But Ill find the killer. You dont kill seven of my people and just walk away. How many officers can you give me?
For walking around? Just Ms. Alexander, Im afraid. When you really need them, three. She leaned forward and clasped her hands. I was wonderingwhy didnt you bring your bloodhound units?
Bester gave her a wan smile. Youll have to ask the central office. Personally, I think they believe Ive become lazythat I cant work a case without my minions anymore. Ill be happy to prove them wrong. He didnt tell her his deeper suspicionthat there were probably those in the Corps who would be just as happy if he didnt return from this assignment.
Tell me about your copsRan and Farmer? Ms. Alexander said the MO was different.
A little. Sort of a quickie version. Their eyes were scooped out, but he just taped and glued their mouths shut.
Ive looked at the reports on the other victims. At first I thought we had something fairly typical, herethe victim forced to look through the eyes of the killer as the deed is done. I worked a case in Buenos Aires like that. Every mundane psycho who comes up with it thinks hes the Thomas Edison of serial killings, when in fact its so obvious He trailed off. But I didnt notice the rest of it right away. All of the other body orifices were sewn up, toothe cops?
Epoxied, she corrected, with a slight quiver in her voice.
So its something more ritualistic. Something to do with the soul, the life force. Our killer has religious beliefs.
Are you familiar with the religion? she asked.
No. Nor do I intend to become familiar with it.
What do you mean?
One of my first lessons as an investigator was to learn to see things from my quarrys point of view. If you can understand your enemy, you can defeat him. But AnneIm getting old. I dont want to understand this sick son of a bitch. I just want to find him and punish him. Is that all right with you?
She looked at him for a long moment, then nodded, grimly, a new determination settling upon her features.
Good, he said. And now, I think Ill go put my bags in my room and freshen up a bit. Then Ill want to go over the evidence in more detail. Do you have a list of suspects, witnesses?
No.
No? That was a big house. Didnt she have any servants?
She had a houseboy, a maid, and a cook. None of them remember anything useful.
Did you scan them?
No. None of them would agree to it. As you may have gathered, the locals are squeamish about telepathy.
I want to see them anyway. You can promise them they wont be scanned, if you wish.
Will I be lying?
Anne. What you dont know for sure, you cant lie about.
Good enough.
Im glad to see you coming around. I think Ill go to my room now. See you later.
Lyta was waiting for him outside the office. Youre ready to go to the hotel?
Hotel?
Unless youd like to spend the night in a holding cell. The local office doesnt have dormseveryone lives in private homes.
And you, Ms. Alexander?
Im still in the hotel. Since Im an intern, Im allowed to comp it.
I see. Well, the hotel it is.
Bester meant to drop his bags and get straight to work, but the room seduced him. The high gravity was already wearing out its welcome with his knees and lower back. The bed was huge bigger, almost, than his entire bedroom on Mars.
But it was the tub that brought him to at least a conditional surrender. It was enormous, with massage jets.
The guidebooks all said off-worlders from lower-gravity worlds should bathe often, to give their skeletons and muscles a break.
He started running the water, then went to a terminal and used his access code to call up and execute
a notepad copy of the report Alexander had given him. He took his usual security precautions and then, with the pad in his good right hand, he sank thankfully into the buoyant waters.
With the exception of the two cops, all of the victims had been business teeps. Some good basic work had been done already, including a list of clients for each victim going back several months, cross-referenced in several waysby company, association, type of transaction. Several firms showed up more than once, but that was to be expected in a community of this size. Interestingly, all of the victims had been freelancers, rather than being attached to a particular corporation.
He looked over the list carefully. The victims had been chosen because they were telepaths, and business teeps were the easiest to come by. They made their livings by being accessible. Most likely, the killer had called them, set up an appointment, met them, killed them.
But in the lists of meetings, phone calls, and correspondence, no common denominator had turned up that checked out.
So try it from another angle. The bodies of the business teeps were all found in their homes. A servant? Some sort of maintenance worker?
He closed his eyes. He was tired, more tired than he had any right to be. The water felt very, very good.
No. He couldnt rest yet. Miles to go and all of that. He opened his eyes and focused on the report again. The letters seemed to swim. Too tired. He closed them again, and let his mind flow out. It had been a long time, he realized, since he had listened to a new city. He had never listened to one in another star system. For a moment, he felt an almost youthful excitement at the idea.
And yet there was nothing.
He concentrated, and more nothing.
Something in the stone the building was made of? In the atmosphere? In the solar wind? And yet he had had no trouble earlier, when he scanned Stesco. Indeed, he had been in fine form.
His head bumped back into the edge of the tub, and he suddenly realized how slow and stupid he felt. Too slow, too stupid to be explained by fatigue.
With a snarl that came out only as a snort, he started trying to lever himself out of the tub. He was only halfway out when the man in the black hood stepped into the bathroom.
* * *
chapter 4
« » Bester sat back down in the tub. I dont suppose you came to scrub my back? he asked.
The black-hooded figure didnt answer, but he did raise a wicked-looking weapon, rather unhurriedly. Bester thought it might be a Narn hunting pistol.
Bester raised his own PPG out of the tub in something more of a hurry. His first shot missed, as the water dripping from the muzzle of the weapon vaporized and distorted the path of the phased plasma. His second shot was dead on target and caught the black-clad man in the right shoulder. Something spattered against the tile behind himpresumably something fired from the pistoland he quickly scrambled out of the tub, for fear that the ampoule had contained enough nerve toxin to affect him even though it had diffused in the water. He kept his own weapon level.
The hooded man moaned, leaning against the door frame and obviously in pain. There was a good bit of blood.
Yes, I know Im a bit old to keep toys in the tub. Bester held up the PPG. My version of a rubber ducky, I suppose. Push that weapon toward me, will you?
The fellow managed to, though it wasnt easy for him. He sank to the floor. Dont kill me, he said.
Hurt a poor, disturbed serial killer like you? Bester said, taking a robe down from its hook on the wall and slipping into it. Now why should I do that? You want to pull that mask off, or shall I shoot it off?
Struggling into a sitting position against the commode, the would-be assassin managed to pull the hood off with his left hand. The face beneath was unfamiliar, the green eyes startling jewels in a nearly ebony setting.
You got something into my bathwater? Something like sleepers? Im guessing that because Im feeling better already. It was a lie, but at least he wasnt feeling any woozier. When he tried to scan the fellow, though, all he got was a frustrating sensation of needing to sneeze, almost being able to sneezebut not quite sneezing.
Yes. In your water. May I tie a tourniquet?
Not just yet. You arent the serial killer, are you? Im guessing your bag has all of the right toolsneedle and thread, epoxy, ropebut you arent him. You came here to kill me, and with equipment I seriously doubt anyone outside of Psi Corps could get their hands on.
The man just looked at him sullenly.
Okay. Get up. Were going in the next room, where we can have a civilized conversation. He motioned with the weapon.
Ive lost too much blood. I cant stand up.
Shall I cauterize that wound for you? Sometimes, at the medium setting, if you hit just right
The fellow shook his head and climbed reluctantly to his feet. At Besters direction he stumbled out onto the balcony and into a chair.
There, Bester said. This is tiled, too, so the maid wont have a lot of trouble cleaning it up. Now, why did you try to kill me? No, let me make it simpler for you. Who sent you to kill me?
Scan me and find out.
I will, in due time. What did you hit me with? Sleepers dont work that quickly, certainly not absorbed through the skin. Something new Department Sigma is developing?
Youre letting me bleed to death. Let me tie this off and Ill tell you everything.
Very well. Ill call for some help. He backed into the room and picked up the tel-phone that lay on the counter.
The assassin bolted out of his chair. Bester dropped the muzzle of the PPG, to aim at his knees
Too late. He had misjudged the man. Helped him, even.
Disgusted, he walked back to the balcony. Here, six stories was more like eight or nine on Earth. The broken body was already starting to draw a crowd. He sighed, punched a code into the phone. After an instant, a female voice answered from the other ehd.
Lyta, could you come up to my room? I need you.
From the tone of her affirmative answer, he could guess at least one thing she might be imagining. He didnt have the energy to care.
They had coffee the next morning in the hotel restaurant, and a local breakfast specialty called poksh , a sort of heavy, steamed, sweet bread.
But how can you be sure, sir, that this Koste wasnt the killer were after?
First off because thats not his real name, Bester said. The coffee was heavy and pungent, and left a complex aftertaste. Not exactly like any hed had on Earth or Mars. He wondered if it was one of Beta Colonys exportsif it wasnt, it ought to be. I tracked him through two aliases before I lost him. No, he was a professional assassin, and other than wishing to make it look as if I was killed by our local hero, Im afraid he brings us no closer to resolving the case.
I see. But who would want to kill you, sir?
Bester laughed, his first genuine laugh in a long time. You dont know me very well, Lyta. He took another sip of the coffee and a bite of the poksh. He found the bread less inspiring than the coffee. What did you find out about Jack Finn?
Well, only that he disappeared a week ago, about the same time the Psi Cops were killed. They found his body two days ago, in a field about twenty klicks from town. I dont see a connection. He wasnt a teep, and he wasnt killed like the others. He was stabbed in the heart, very simple.
Huh. Yet there was a clear connection in Stescos mind.
Maybe it was simple association.
Maybe. What did Finn do?
He was the chief information ecologist for the city. That is, he monitored the way flows of informationin computer networks, id-phone and link calls, and so onrelated to power flow in the city.
Thats interesting. What else do we know about him?
He was an Adamist.
That got Besters attention. In other words, he was a Teep-hater.
Yes, sir. But about half the population of Beta has Adamist leanings.
Yes, what a surprise. But stillthink about it. Were he still alive, Finn would be a prime suspect.
How
do you figure that?
All of the security systems in the victims houses were linked to a citywide system. Finn was in a position to put kinks in that, if he wanted to. To block calls at the metropolitan level long enough to gain entry.
Maybe. I think it would be more complicated than that, if you dont mind my saying so. He would still need the particular code, retina and fingerprint information, and so on for each house in question.
Its worth checking into.
You think he might have been working with the killer?
That would be highly unusualif our killer is really a serial killer. They usually work alone. He ticked his finger against the table. Our good friend Captain Stesco thinks Finns murder is connected, doesnt he? But he doesnt know why he thinks that, or I would know. Its a gut instinct, on his part.
Anyway, Lyta said, even if Finn was working with our killer, he couldnt have been in on the last murder. He was already dead.
True. Ah, well. Today I want to do a series of interviews. Domestics, servicemenanyone recorded as going near the houses in question. AlsoIm assuming the reports regarding the two cops are in a separate file?
Ohyes, sir. I was going to give them to you when you finished the first. Its procedure here, I guess
Right now what I want to know is thiswhere were the cops found?
In their homes, like the others.
And yet, they were quickie versions. Serial killers like to be in control, and their rituals put them in control. They tend to follow scripts to the letter. The cops must have been getting close to himbut if he went so far as to kill them in their homes, why not go all the way and do it right?
Maybe he felt pressed for time, having to do two in one night. Maybe he has some arbitrary deadline he wants to be done by.
Good thinking. But the time of death of the other victims doesnt seem to confirm thatat least, I dont see any obvious pattern. Would you run an analysis? Just search for any patterning in the time of death. Meanwhile, I have some interviews to conduct.
Babylon 5 11 - Psi Corps 02 - Deadly Relations - Bester Ascendant (Keyes, Gregory) Page 24