Murder in the Fabric

by Andrew Jennings

insider?”

  “That helps. But they can’t go through the scanners with one of our devices.”

  “OK.”

  George headed for the elevator, back to the wall.

  “You want to turn Amy?” Alice said

  George looked annoyed. “Who says we are on the other side here? SciTec are holding back. Holding everything back. Why?”

  “Protective. Cautious.” she said.

  “So polite. I don’t think so.” George said.

  “So we try and sign her up. What if she just reports us?”

  “She didn’t strike me that way. Racked with remorse. Will do anything to uncover who did it. All we need to do is convince her that we are committed to uncovering it all.”

  “Purity and light.” she said, smiling. “Shouldn’t you clear this with Kate?”

  Yes, George thought. He should clear it with Kate. They weren’t a spy agency, and signing up random members of the public wasn’t in their charter. Come to think of it, there was probably a whole chapter of misconduct charges devoted to it. He looked across at Alice and Steve. Fine for himself, he thought. But.

  Kate looked up as he brushed past the outer office. She could see her assistant hovering, looking hesitant.

  “It’s ok.” she said.

  “Sorry. It’s about the freeway thing.” he said.

  “Getting anywhere?”

  “Not really. It doesn’t follow the script. No aggrieved ex-lover, nothing like that. It seems to be more about his work.”

  “SciTec.”

  “Yes.”

  Kate stood up, walked to the floor to ceiling window, with its view right across Docklands.

  “You want to probe around inside SciTec.”

  “Well not just that, actually.”

  He explained about Amy. About signing up Amy to probe. Kate turned around and looked him straight in the eyes.

  “Have you considered you might be putting her in danger.” she said.

  “I’ll be careful.” he said feebly.

  // Dennis

  Dennis rode his bike into the park off Jasper road in Bentleigh. Looking around, it would be harder to imagine a more suburban scene. Kids playing on the swings, dog walking. For a fleeting moment he was almost sentimental about it. Then his attention turned to the fact that the latest recruit was five minutes late. Not a good start. So hard to get good help these days, he said to himself, and then laughed. A middle class chant.

  He sighted him navigating tentatively along the path. Casting his eyes right and left, then relieved at sighting Dennis. His bike was towing a trailer, and he began unloading. The two small drones were of the recreational type, and nobody would give a second thought to them flying them around the park.

  “You are late.” Dennis said.

  “Sorry. I don’t really know this area.” Jack said.

  “Your nav fluttered all over it then.”

  Jack looked up. He wasn’t used to apologising. The money was good, so he was trying to make it work.

  “I’ll make up time. You just want the standard setup?”

  “Yes. Nothing special. The cannister is controlled from here.”

  A reference to the small container at the back of the drone. It looked like a gas tank.

  “Where do I place them?”

  “Just over there.”

  Jack hesitantly walked a few metres away, placing it on the ground. All designed to look like a casual day in the park for the surveillance cameras.

  Then the drone took flight. Jack put the glasses on, and holding the phone he could easily steer it. At first just around the park.

  “This Peregrini thing. It’s like a protest thing?” Jack asked.

  Dennis looked across. He was handling the drone well, but he balked at the question. Was he going to go with the cover story, or the actual story. Still pissed off by starting late, he couldn’t go with the pleasantries.

  “That’s just a cover story. For the media. Titillate the punters.” he said.

  “So it propagates. Angry of Alphington. That sort of thing.”

  Maybe he wasn’t completely and hopelessly stupid, Dennis decided.

  “Exactly. You remember the government planning system. Keep the ‘character of the neighbourhood’. All that bullshit. Lock away areas like this.”

  “Yes. When do we turn the tap on?”

  “Leave that to me. Get it hovering lower over the roof.”

  “The bullshit government. Doing the King Canute thing. Trying to hold back the tide. Well we are hired by the tide. To make sure that the tide happens.”

  “Now?”

  “Now.”

  There was nothing visible happening, which Jack found disturbing. He had expected something like the media events. Something visual. He was reluctant to ask though, as he needed the work.

  “The tide?”

  “This housing is financially ridiculous. Too expensive for anyone to buy. So we are hired by those that will turn it into apartments. Simple really. Just the economy finding balance.”

  “Where do you want me to navigate?”

  “Just close to the houses, all the way from Jasper Road across to South Road and Centre Road.”

  Jack was struggling to process Dennis’s story. To reconcile it with flying the drone about and dropping what seemed like nothing everywhere. In the end, he just had to ask.

  “What’s in the cannister?” he asked.

  “Scabies. Instant itchiness. Give it two weeks and everyone here will get a visit from somebody with a wheelbarrow of money. Itchiness or money? Pretty easy choice.”

  “What if they say no?”

  “Ramp it. No real limit. They all surrender eventually.”

  // Michael

  He was nervous, being sent out on his own. The drone bay was East of Dandenong, in the industrial zone. Normally as it was so open, they would not have even considered it. Too easy to be spotted from the air. But with the backers all things were possible. Donning the headset, and the subvocal microphone, he would be in constant contact with Mia.

  He drew the two drones behind him as he rode the motorbike off the South Gippsland Highway exit. In a sense they were too close. Right at Thompson Road he was within two kilometres.

  “OK. Have lock. Keep going.” Mia said

  “Ok.”

  He grabbed the accelerator and the front wheel raised slightly off the bitumen. The sun only just glinting behind his shoulder. But enough light to see almost the full 180 degrees. No-one around. Too early.

  It was as if a child had drawn two grey lines towards the heavens. Not quite straight. The lines wobbled and stuttered, gaining speed. Then formed the arc. A thing of beauty, he thought.

  “Magic.” he said

  As they gained speed, they locked. A death dance. As the drone moved to the left, so did the missile. Close enough to engage the heat seeking. Which combined with the sensors looking for electrical activity gave an almost perfect definition.

  No sound. Two small puffs of smoke.

  “Clear.” Mia said.

  “I like travelling first class.” he said

  He swung into the street with the warehouse, slowing. Expecting the cameras to pick him up. Expecting a response.

  “Too much to ask for them to open the gate.” he said.

  “You’re getting lazy.”

  It was a simple enough matter to cut through the fence, rather than deal with the gate. He cut a small square then folded himself through. Instinctively watching for signs of anyone in the yard. A dog? No. Nothing. All done remotely. Assuming that the drones and the perimeter cameras would be enough.

  He made for the racks of drones. Ten in total. It was a race against time now, to replace the chips. He pulled the slot, with the board. He liked the way that the replacement chips had even been pre-aged so that they looked in place on the board.

  “You’ve got thirty seconds each one.” Mia said

  “Ok. Ok.” he said

&
nbsp; He couldn’t feel his left foot. Lying stretched flat, in the dark, he was on the third level of the drone bay. Maybe if he wriggled his toes? But he still couldn’t tell.

  “How many more?” he said to Mia. The sub-vocal headset on - it was something made to help those with damaged vocal cords. But it found its application here. He had only to very quietly whisper and Mia would hear it full volume.

  “Five more.” she said. “They are on the next level.”

  It had been easy enough to get into the yard, and clamber up the framework. As he ran across the yard, their cameras got a loop of the previous traverse. Unless they were watching like hawks, hard to notice.

  Up here, twenty metres above the ground, he wriggled along, searching for the socket point. No lights, in case somebody was watching. He jiggled the plug into place, just so. Then tapped on the keyboard - the tray slid out, with the circuit board. He had to carefully place the tool above the board, grab the chip and pull it out. Any sideways movement and the board would be damaged. Not only that, but the drone would fail and reveal his attempts.

  His hand shook. He pulled it back and steadied for a moment. Then completed the insertion in a single movement.

  “Done. Moving on.”

  He froze. Someone was walking directly below the rack. The footsteps were heading directly underneath where he was lying. In the dark he wasn’t easily visible, but if they looked straight up...

  It seemed as if he was holding his breath.

  “Had somebody below me. Moving now.” he said.

  Time seemed to stand still as he worked along the row of drones. Was this what he had in mind when he signed up? In a way, yes.

  He dropped to the ground and made for the exit gate. Knowing that Mia would open the gate just as he got to it. The lane was his pathway out..

  It was pure chance. The perimeter patrols did not follow a fixed schedule. Instead they were directed by a random number