by Ian Williams
“Hopefully tech support should be able to do something with it. I’ll give them a call.”
The pair waited while a link was established with the tech department back at the station. After a long pause and a flicker of interference, a gentle face appeared on Conrad’s wrist computer. The redheaded Barbara was head of the tech department. She had a friendly smile ready to greet him with.
“Conrad, dear, what can I do for you?”
Joe mouthed the word dear back at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Hello, Barbara.” Conrad waved his partner away with a degree of embarrassment. “Could you take a look at an old data coin for me?”
She and Conrad were roughly the same age and yet she barely had any crow’s feet around either eye. “Sure, honey, just place it on your screen and I’ll see what I can do.”
The coin stuck magnetically to his wrist computer the moment he held it close. A glowing and pulsating circle then formed around it as the device tried to read the contained data. It remained like this for a second or two until the process had ended. A flashing red shape signified it had failed to read the data coin.
Typical, Conrad thought. It was never that simple.
“No good, I’m afraid,” Barbara said. “The coin isn’t responding. I’m sorry, Con.”
Another raised eyebrow from Joe.
Removing the coin brought Barbara’s face back to the fore, still smiling and ready to help.
“Never mind. If I have someone drop it off to you, do you think you could try again?”
“Absolutely. The equipment here should have a better chance of finding something. Is it urgent, I mean do you need it today?”
“If you wouldn’t mind.” Conrad returned an awkward smile.
“Anything for you, dear.”
When the call ended, Conrad let out a long breath he had been holding in for most of the conversation. She had a pleasant personality and a genuinely likeable nature, but she still made him nervous. Such attention brought him feelings of guilt anyway; his wife had died more than five years ago and still he could never imagine being with anyone else. Even his two daughters had often told him to try.
“Would you like me to leave the room next time she calls, maybe give you some privacy?”
“Very funny, Joe. Can we get back to this now, please?” Conrad said with a smirk. “Anything else we missed?”
Joe shook his head. “Nope, we got the rest.”
“Good. I want to take a quick look downstairs, see what else was dropped. Come find me when you’ve finished packing the scanner away.”
“Fine.”
Pulling the door open and stepping through landed Conrad right in the middle of a crowd, the corridor full of people trying to catch a glimpse of the crime scene. Some had a strange fascination with death that he could never understand.
“Move back, please,” Conrad ordered. It quickly dawned on him that the uniformed officers there had been trying to achieve the same long before he showed up. He had things to do, though, and decided to leave them to it.
At the end of the corridor he entered a lift and pressed for the ground floor. Deep in thought, he failed to spot someone enter and stand beside him. It was only when the person spoke that he even realised he had company.
“Did the guy in that apartment murder his friend and then kill himself?” the person said.
“What?” Conrad replied as soon as his mind had cleared. “Did you know him?”
“No, no. I’ve just heard a few things around here. Some are saying his friend was killed and dumped in a warehouse or something.”
It took Conrad no more than a couple of sentences to see through the ploy. He faced the man, focusing intently on his blue eyes. He knew a reporter when he saw one. This one had at least dressed casually to try and fit in with the neighbours. The scraggly jumper he wore and scuffed jeans were trying far too hard, though.
“You live in this building? Which apartment number? I can check myself when we reach the ground level if you’d like?”
The man dropped his shoulders and leaned back against the lift’s railing. “Fine. You got me. Come on, man, surely you’ve got something you could give me? I’ll keep your name out of it.”
“No deal. I’ve got enough on my plate without the likes of you sniffing around. When the time’s right you’ll get everything. Until then I can’t say a word, got it?”
“It will have to come out sooner or later, the Mayor can’t hide this for much longer. You worried he might cut your paycheque if you speak out or something?”
The reporter had hit the nail on the head with that one. Conrad had been given enough of a talking to about letting anything slip about the murders. It had never been said explicitly that going against the Mayor’s wishes would incur such a punishment, only implied. Still, hearing someone who knew nothing spout it out at him like this brought his blood to a boil.
He slammed the man hard against the wall and stared into his face. “Just fuck off, you got it?” The lift rattled as the weight inside shifted suddenly to one side.
“Hey, easy, easy. I get it, I get it.”
A ping noise announced their arrival while both were locked in place. Anyone waiting outside would have gotten a worrying sight as the doors opened. Thankfully the lobby was empty.
“Go,” Conrad insisted, releasing the man a second later. He disappeared through the entrance doors soon after.
Take it easy, Conrad, he told himself during a moment of quiet. Composure restored, he ventured out into the open air. He was glad to see the reporter had left the area. Now he could return to his job and see to tracking down more evidence.
Around the rear of the building he followed the path until reaching the right place. A glance up to the third floor showed the open window of the victim’s apartment. Lying in a scattered pattern about the ground were the torn pieces of paper spotted from above. He bent down and scooped up a handful to look over. They had been left to soak up the small, black puddle of grease they sat within. When the wind threatened to blow a few more away he stepped on them. The wind had probably taken some of it away already anyway, it would not have mattered to lose some more. Most of it was irrelevant, just bills and letters.
But there was something else too.
“Joe,” he said into his wrist computer. A moment later his partner appeared, curving away slightly at the forehead.
“What’s up?”
“I’ve got the trash down here,” Conrad said. “Most of it is covered in muck, the same as the carpet stain upstairs, I suspect. But I think I’ve found something. This is part of a shipping manifest, dated from a week ago – well a copy of one anyway. A company called GEL. No mention of what it’s for. Still, it could be important.”
“GEL?”
“Yeah, stands for Global and Efficient Logistics according to this paperwork. Are you finished up there? I think we should take a look, might be a while before we get anything from the data coin.”
Joe grimaced at the mention of visiting another location. “That will have to wait. I just heard from the DCS that she wants to speak to you, urgently.”
“About what?”
“No idea. She sounded pissed though. I think we should head back there first. I’ll ask Ericsson and Roberts to take a look at the place for us.”
Conrad sighed loudly. “Fine, but make sure they follow the scene inspection instructions on their wrist computers to the letter. I’m not letting them screw things up because they didn’t stick to the correct procedures again. Meet me downstairs?”
“Sure,” Joe replied. “Oh, one more thing. The witness reports seem to match what you said. Three people in the building saw two men throwing black bags out the window a couple of days ago. While one witness said they saw two guys in black fatigues on the staircase last night. Reported to have been around late twenties and wearing some kind of electronic headbands.”
“Headbands?” Conrad said, perplexed by the mention of something so seemingly unthrea
tening. “What kind?”
“They didn’t say. Why?”
A thought had struck Conrad. “Well, were they small and with something stuck somewhere in front of the left ear?”
“What are you getting at, Conrad?”
“Nothing. I’m just thinking out loud, that’s all. Seems an odd thing to have specified in the report.”
“Yeah, well, that’s people for you.”
“Roger that.” Conrad ended the call and pocketed the loose paper before leaving the area.
For some reason that he could not even guess at his presence was required back at base. He tried to think over the last few days to find anything he might have done to have angered the DCS. There was nothing he could see. He would find out soon enough and for the time being would just have to keep thinking. Knowing what he may have done wrong before arriving at the station would take some of the heat off of him. If not, he risked making it worse.
After meeting up with Joe and helping him carry the equipment as he continued to pack it away, they went straight for the Mag-Lev line. With the power restored it was again running, albeit as well as it currently did. A small queue ahead of them made a mild inconvenience, but after a wait of around twenty minutes they eventually had a free Mag-Lev car and were travelling at speed.
Conrad hated the state of the transport system in the city. Since the disastrous loss of the relay network and the subsequent collapse of the Simova Corporation, everything had fallen apart. The government had stepped in to try and take control of the country’s data and power network, but they found themselves quickly swamped by the sheer size of the task the repairs represented. Since then a mass auction had handed the job to any private investors willing to step-up. New Chelmsford’s saviour was their current Mayor.
Things were getting better under him, just very slowly. Conrad had to laugh to himself when he conceded; his city was one of the lucky ones. They were all rather privileged to find themselves being looked after, while other cities were struggling. However bad the Mag-Lev line operated and despite the amount of times there were breaks in service, he was at least able to expect it back sooner rather than later. The Mayor was the one to thank for that.
* * *
Back at the station and about to step into the unknown, Conrad and Joe cautiously entered their office. Only two of the desks inside were occupied, by fellow CID officers tending to their reports. Despite this the noise in the room was high. And worryingly, almost all of it came from DCS Chalmers’ office. She had not once lowered her voice since they walked in.
“That doesn’t sound promising,” Joe said.
“You said she only wanted to see me?”
“Yep. Sorry.”
Conrad flicked up his eyebrows. “Here goes then.”
“I’ll drop the data coin off to tech support while you’re in there. I’ll wait there for you.”
“Sure,” Conrad replied, his eyes hovering in the direction of the closed office. The DCS rarely shut her door like this.
He stood beside the entrance and waited to be seen. Knocking was not a wise option in his mind; the last thing he wanted to do was make things worse before they had even started. Eventually the shouting subsided and a muffled conversation took its place. One of those arguing had conceded.
A shadowy figure approached a moment later and the door then opened. DCS Chalmers greeted him with a frown that sucked the blood from his face. The obvious disagreement had aged her own face by a couple of years, it seemed. Needless to say, she looked angry, although not with him.
“Come in please, Conrad,” she said. “Take a seat.”
The room was dark, and now Conrad could see why. On the far wall loomed a pale face, waiting patiently for him to enter and sit. He partially recognised the person on the screen. Something about the man’s waxy looking skin and dark eyes had jolted his memory a little. They had met before somewhere. A name was trailing not too far behind, it was on the tip of his tongue. Unfortunately, when his memory eventually served it up to him the conversation had already started.
“Hello, Conrad,” the man said. “My name is Stanley Cartwright.”
“Good evening, sir.” Conrad was far from positive that the Sir was warranted, he used it anyway, just in case the man had authority over him.
“I expect you need some context here. I am the Deputy Mayor.”
That’s it, that’s where I know you from, Conrad thought as he took the seat left empty just for him.
The camera backed away to reveal a long wooden table behind Stanley. Sitting at it, and in full conversation with his much younger secretary, was the silvery haired Mayor. The situation was not even getting his full attention, instead he had delegated it to the Deputy Mayor.
“My job here is to pass on our decision as to how your investigation is to proceed.”
Proceed? It was happening again, Conrad realised. The Mayor had once again taken it upon himself to interfere in police matters. The question that remained was: how far was it to go this time?
“I don’t quite follow, sir,” Conrad said. “The investigation is already ongoing, there’s no need to change anything.”
“That is not entirely true, Mr. Robinson. The Mayor and I feel the time has come to intervene, for the good of the city, you understand. We’ve decided to see a new police taskforce set up to deal with this possible serial-killer-cult. You are requested to hand over all and any evidence pertaining to the case and to cease your own investigation immediately.”
“What? You can’t do that.”
DCS Chalmers sat on the corner of her desk and looked apologetically at Conrad. “I’m sorry, I tried to stop them.”
“Surely I should be part of the taskforce then. You can’t just shut me out like this.”
“Mr. Robinson, I understand this is hard for you to accept, but this thing needs to be dealt with appropriately. It cannot be allowed to get any bigger than it already has. Now, the taskforce will bring all of the evidence together and proceed from there. You are off the case.”
The room fell silent as Conrad tried to find another angle to use in his effort to remain involved. Did he really have any other choice but to give up? He had nothing to hand that worked, short of begging. In the end he decided to try that.
“Please, I need this,” he said, his hands linked and shaking toward the large face in front of him.
“Conrad, there’s something you should know.” DCS Chalmers walked around the table and took her seat. “Another station has found one of these dump sites. They have six bodies, all with the same injuries as ours. The case is too big for us to deal with alone.” She turned and faced the screen. “You’ll get what we have by the morning. Is that all, or is there more?”
Angling himself away from the display, Stanley conferred wordlessly with his superior. Mayor Crawley looked up from his paperwork and nodded his approval. The matter had not even warranted an apology, they simply took the case without any concession at all.
Stanley reached for the off switch to his side, before glaring down at them both. “That is all.” He then disconnected abruptly, sending the room back into darkness.
The lighting slowly increased automatically upon ending the video call.
“This is bullshit!” Conrad said, slapping his fist against the table beside him. DCS Chalmers flinched with surprise at the outburst.
“Please, Conrad, take it easy,” she said. “There’s nothing we can do about it. Once we hand over what we have, the case is out of our hands. Gather everything together. I need it ASAP.”
“So, what am I expected to do after that, ignore it ever happened?”
“Not quite.” DCS Chalmers spun her clear plastic computer around and hit the screen to bring it out of hibernation. “Mr. Cartwright gave me this.”
On the display was a photo of a blonde woman with a spikey haircut.
“Who’s that?” he asked.
“No real name, just a nickname. She’s known as Phoenix. The Crime Detection System
picked her up entering the city this morning, before she then disappeared. She’s wanted in connection with the terrorist attack eighteen months ago. The Mayor wants you to find her.”
A long sigh said everything Conrad thought about that.
“Look, I can see this is a wild-goose-chase, but we can’t refuse, we’re already in the Mayor’s bad books. I for one can’t risk pissing him off any further; I made it quite clear to Mr. Cartwright what I think about all of this before you came in,” the DCS said. “Get on with tracking this woman down and I’ll keep pushing to have them add you to their taskforce, how about that?”
“Fine, thank you, Ma’am.” Conrad stood and walked out. He had to get out of there and tell Joe straight away. His partner was much better at venting anger and would be the only one able to stop him bottling it all up inside.
Just as he turned the corner out into the hall, DCS Chalmers called after him.
“Get yourself home after you’ve told Joe, you need a rest,” she said.
A couple of corridors later and he arrived at the tech support department with a new redness to his face, and a whole heap of heat in his veins. The anger had built as he walked, only causing him to need a release sooner.
The very moment Joe spotted him entering the brightly lit room, he got to work calming his superior down. “Breathe, long breaths. In, out, in out.”
“We’re off the case,” Conrad said. His glasses steamed up quickly with each hot breath let out.
“You’re kidding.”
“No. They took it and they want everything we have too. Start getting it together, we have until morning.”
“Even the data coin?” Joe asked, with a flick of his head to the busy computer behind him.
“Even that.”
After a long release of breath of his own, Joe then called to Barbara. She popped her head out from behind a row of server cases at the end of the room and gave them a nervous smile.
“Yes?” she said, her usual pleasantries on hold for the time being. She was clearly trying to hide from an uncomfortable situation.
“How long will it take to access the data coin?” Joe asked.