The iFactor

by R. W. Van Sant

  “You, detective, have a meeting in seven minutes in the conference room.”

  Matt scowled; seven minutes wouldn’t be enough time to get a cup of coffee or a pastry. It was good that Jill thought to make him coffee and toast for breakfast or he’d have to go through the danger with a grumbly stomach. It was strange to have someone taking care of him, strange but comforting at the same time. She was good at planning, he thought. Earth boy scouts had nothing on a colonial grade school teacher. Matt walked toward the elevator, realizing that he was actually relaxed. Were the pills kicking in or was he under the effect of more natural drugs, endorphins?

  Chapter 35

  The briefing was short and boiled down to a simple truth: the powers that be were freaking out. No one in the Governor’s office nor the corporate board rooms were happy with the lack of progress the department had made with finding the serial killer. The last killing was hard to hide, they tried to pass it off as an accident, but several witnesses, including Jill, had seen too much for that. The populace realized that the man had been killed. The governor, every CEO and representative wanted something done immediately; they wanted the people to see something being done. The Governor was going to have to make a public statement soon.

  Until that declaration, the department needed new tactics to protect the people. Detective Rishards came up with the plan. The killer always sent a message via the public communications panels, then during the next black-out an officer would be stationed at each public access terminal. They would watch each carefully. They may not be able to stop the next killing, but the killer’s compulsion to send calling card would lead to their apprehension. It would soon be over. Matt was not ecstatic with the thought of ‘giving’ the killer another victim, especially when that victim could very well be Jill. There was also another problem, there just wasn’t enough manpower within the department to protect the people and cover every station, when face with no choice the killer might decide to wait until the surveillance ended to send the message.

  Rishards had though that through also and the chief agreed. He called in every member of the department to guard and patrol. To assist in watching the public terminals, high standing members of the colony should also be recruited. These members would have to be pulled from those segments with a stake in maintaining stability and the status quo. These people wouldn’t have to know the whole history of the case, just enough to realize when they see the killer leaving their message. Each one would be given an old style radio communicator. There would be static on the line because of the solar radiation present during a black-out, but they would work well enough.

  Matt felt that the plan was the best one they’d had. It might just work and only cost a human life. For his part in the operation, he, and Detective Rishards would be co-coordinating the teams and maintaining contact with all groups, governmental and civilian, during the course of the black-out. Each observer was ordered to be contacted every ten minutes. Four officers assigned to them to keep calling the volunteers.

  From the moment the black-out occurred, Matt became the messenger for every bored executive and homemaker’s call. They saw culprits in anyone that wanted to access the city com system. It would have made the situation easier if they could forbid the use of the system for the duration of the event. To do that, however, the government would have to notify the public and declare martial law. It had never happened in an off world colony and the governor of Sirius didn’t want to make history.

  By their sixth false alarm call, Matt and Rishards were exhausted. The chief told that it was going to be a long black-out, ninety-seven minutes long. Matt looked at his chronometer. He never knew time could move so slowly, while false alarms continued to jam the lines. Thus Matt and Rishards were nearly insensible when the new officer approached them with a concern ninety-one minutes into the black-out.

  “Ma’am,” the officer approached Rishards instead of Matt. He was pacing and obviously not in the mood for another false alarm. “I’m not sure if this is important. I haven’t had contact with one of our volunteers for over twenty minutes.”

  “Twenty minutes?” Rishards yelled. “Why did you wait?”

  “She said she was going to the restroom. When she didn’t answer, the first time I assumed she was still in there. I got worried when she missed the second call ten minutes later.”

  “So you haven’t heard from a volunteer for almost thirty minutes.”

  “Which volunteer?” Matt demanded.

  “One from the executive’s.” The officer’s voice was week.

  “Which one?” Matt yelled at the officer.

  “Mrs. Travis. At box seventy nine.”

  Matt was running as fast as his tired legs could carry him. It was extremely unlikely that the killer could have predicted the exact one volunteer out of a hundred who would abandon her post to go to the bathroom at the exact time they were hunting their next victim. Was it possible that they set someone up as a victim? The patrols were watching civilians, not observers. They wouldn’t have been in a position to hear her screams. Vivid images of a dead woman splayed on the ground flooded his imagination as he ran. He ran until his side hurt and the breath burned his lungs. He could hear Rishards panting just a few paces behind him.

  The two detectives rounded the corner at full sprint. Matt nearly collapsed, he settled instead for bending half over, struggling to catch his breath while viewing the bloody scene from tilted head. The body lay flat on the ground. The woman’s expensive black silk dress was cut down the front, from top to bottom, and left open to display the open chasm where her organs once resided. The organs now decorating the ground around the body. Her open palm still bled from where her identification chip had been removed.

  “Adria Travis.” Detective Rishards indicated to the woman of Matt’s dreams, splayed out as he had seen her in his vision. “Wife of Mikael Travis,” She stopped to take a few deep breaths. “Executive vice president of ES mining Corp; she was our volunteer and we couldn’t even protect her. Dammit, we served her up on a platter. What do we have to do? This thing, it’s not human, Dales, it’s not!” Rishards put her face firmly into her hands so as not to see the spectacular demonstration of her failure on the ground before them.

  “This just happened,” Matt, observed. His skin crawled with the feeling that the killer, at that moment, could be watching them. He scanned the area looking for anything moving; unfortunately, the crowds of police officers and observers were moving all over the city. How could he tell what was out of the ordinary when everything was?

  All of the activity had obscured all the footprints. Perhaps, he reasoned, he might have better luck if he tried to track back to the communications panel. It was on the side of a multi-level building about twenty yards from the body. He moved slowly toward it, scanning the ground as he did so. Three steps and he saw the small bloody device, lying on the ground at the base of the wall that held the terminal. His stomach turned as he saw the item. They were powered by micro fuel cells powered by the person’s body temperature. The power on this chip had not yet faded. “Rishards, I need an evidence bag.”

  A shadow crossed over the chip.

  “Thanks.” Matt held his hand up to receive the clear plastic bag.

  “Hold on Dales,” Rishards’ voice met his ears from a distance. His partner was still at the body.

  Matt looked upward, for a microsecond he saw a shadow move on the balcony above. He was on his feet and running. There was no way he could have known, but still he was sure. The shadow belonged to the killer. “He’s on the balcony!”

  Matt reached the top floor and ran onto the balcony. He’d seen no one along the way and the balcony was empty. He was pacing back and forth over the surface when Rishards arrived. “I missed him, I saw him, and he was watching us. He’s getting more brazen.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “Don’t know, the sun was in my eyes.”

  “Then how…?”

  “I was in his
shadow, damn he moved fast. It was him, I know it.” Matt walked around. “We need an evidence crew up here, now. That bastard just made a mistake. We’ll get him.”

  Chapter 36

  The forensic team found nothing conclusive on either the balcony or the body. The entire exercise had proven futile. Matt spent several hours with an artist to try to get any details they could on the killer. In the end, the picture was a dark hazy ghost, about average size and shape for a human blur from the upper chest to top of his head.

  Discouraged, Matt returned to his desk to study all the evidence four a fifth time. The communicator on his desk buzzed. “Detective Matthew Dales.”

  “Hey Matt,” Perry’s voice came from the speaker.

  “How are you doing?” He asked. “Quite a screw up we had, wasn’t it. Please tell me you found something?”

  “You asked me to help you move furniture after work, remember.”

  “Sorry” Matt said.” It’s been a frustrating day.”

  “I understand. How bout we do it after shift end.” Matt wasn’t moving, or redecorating, so it didn’t take a detective to guess he was talking about the other matter.

  “Can we make it quick?” Matt asked. “I have a date after work.”

  “Okay then, how about I meet you afterward.”

  “Sure, I’ll give you a call.”

  “Please don’t take too long lover boy. I’ve got important things to do.”

  “Got ya.” Matt couldn’t stand Jill up, or even delay picking her up, not after another dream came true. He was even more convinced that she was in danger. The killer had become brazen. He wanted Matt to see him, or at least his shadow. The game was a lot more dangerous. He would call Perry once he got Jill to a safe place. “It’ll be tonight.”

  “Good, see you then.” He disconnected. Why did he even care about the man on the bench? He was most likely going to quit when the case was over. Hell, he wanted nothing more than to stand up at that very minute, walk right into the chief’s office, and resign. The killer had forced him into a game of cat and mouse that he never wanted to play. Matt wasn’t even sure who the cat in the game was, but he strongly suspected that it wasn’t him, and he didn’t like to think of Jill as the catnip.

  He didn’t have more than a few minutes to study the case notes before he was called into the chief’s office. Matt answered the summons quickly. Even so, the chief didn’t look pleased. “What’s up?”

  “Trace on your assailants showed nothing.” He said flatly.

  “Don’t tell me we got another block on the ID?”

  “No,” the chief looked stern. “What I’m saying is that according to the trace we ran, you were alone the entire time, from the moment that you left that woman, what was her name.“ He looked at his file pad. “Oh, yeah, Jill Cochetti, at her apartment.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  ‘There was no one there Matt. The tracking system says you were all alone.”

  “That’s not possible.” Matt said. “The forensics team found signs of a scuffle there.”

  “It could have been from the people who had been there earlier; we are a fairly crowded city.”

  “Is it possible to block a tracking signal?”

  “I don’t know, Dales.” Vanderhaar’s tone grew impatient. Did they have their hands encased in lead? “No, I don’t think so.”

  “So what then?”

  “Matt, I want you to go back the psychiatrist. I made an appointment for you, today at five. “

  “I can’t, I’ve got plans.”

  “I can make it an order, Detective.” the chief declared.

  “Are you pulling me from the case?”

  “Let me tell you straight, Dales, between the unsubstantiated report of an attack and the wasting of several hours of my forensic team, chasing your phantom shadow today, I really should.” He slumped back. “But dammit, I need your hunches. This bastard is beating us. He’s found a way to beat the tracking system. I don’t know how, but he leaves no evidence. I need,” He lowered his voice. “A little psychic help.”

  “Chief,” Matt protested. “I’m not psychic.”

  “You’d better hope you’re wrong,” he said. “Cause right now, the only thing saving your job is the hope that you might get a hunch to lead us to this psychopath.”

  “Yes, sir.” Matt replied. “Sir?”

  “Yes, Dales.”

  “After this case is over we need to talk. I may not have been ready to take on these duties.”

  “I am aware of that.” Chief said. “But I need your help, so you will pull yourself together. Get one of your hunches and find me that killer or we might both be in a sleep tube back to Earth.”

  “Yes Sir,” the thought of having to go back into those caskets, filled him with trepidation. “I will do my best.”

  “I’m sure you will.” chief said. “And you will be at that appointment tonight.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “When this is over, we’ll get you an easy job, less stressful. One more thing.”

  “Sir?”

  “The woman, Cochetti. You’ve been spending a lot of time with her.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “Is it serious?”

  “Yes Sir, I think it is.”

  “Matt, I’m happy for you.”

  “Thank you Ken.”

  “Do not let it distract you. This is way too important.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “You may go.”

  “Yes Sir.” The reprimanded detective crept out of the office. He would have to arrange to meet with Jill before the appointment and secure her somewhere safe.

  Chapter 37

  Matt confronted Perry before they went into the daily meeting.

  “Perry?”

  “Yes, detective.”

  “The chief scheduled me a mandatory meeting with my shrink. I’ll need your help moving stuff afterward.”

  “Yeah, sure. I have something coming out of the oven in a little while. I’ll bring it with.”

  “Sounds good.” Perry was one of the few people that he really trusted. He thought about telling him that the city tracking system sometimes failed to record the presence of people at all, like the two who attacked him. Was it possible that some of the colonists had faulty palm units? It made sense; nothing ever worked perfectly, defects happened in all product lines. Why not palm chips? A person with such a chip could wander the city with impunity. They would also not have access to buildings, money or anything else a person would need to survive. How would they live, was it possible that someone could live on the fringes in a colony like Sirius?

  Another thought occurred to him. Was it possible to make palm chips that could be turned off? He could see how it could be useful for the government or certain corporate entities to have people that could move around untracked. The men who attacked him certainly didn’t look like people who survived from hiding, begging and stealing. The Trust? If such an organization did exist, the killer could be one of them.

  Matt whispered, “I need you to look into whether it is possible to turn off a chip’s tracking feature, or if it’s possible to for that to be faulty.”

  “I don’t think so, but I’ll look.”

  “The two who attacked me, they system was up, but it said I was alone.”

  “Yeah, will do. Catch up with you afterward. Meet me here.”

  “Perry,” Matt said. “The chief thinks I’m hallucinating. Nevertheless, they were there. , I need to know why they didn’t register.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Inside, Rishards and Doctor Taylor sat around the table and viewed the data scrolling down the screen; the chief was not in attendance.

  “It’s impossible,” Taylor announced. “Five murders and not one molecule of analyzable data.”

  “I’d like to bring up something, an idea.” Matt spoke quietly. “But it’s out of left field.”

  “At this point,” Rishards said. “I’ll listen to anyth
ing.”

  “I was thinking about Sherlock Holmes.”

  “The fictional character?” Perry announced.

  “When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains must be true.”

  “Makes sense,” Perry agreed.

  “I see where this is going.” Taylor announced.

  “You’re saying we’re getting too caught up in trying to figure out how they are doing the impossible?” She slumped back into her seat.

  “Yeah,” Matt said. “If it’s impossible, then it cannot be done.”

  “And seeing as how it has been done five times, then it cannot be impossible.” Perry mused aloud.

  “So what would the killer have to know or be able to find out in order to commit these murders during the ‘black-out’ periods,” Rishards said.

  “How would they know when and where they could do these killings without witnesses?” Taylor added. “Some of the killings took time.”

  “The killer’s timing would have to be perfect.” Perry said.

  “And the victims,” Matt asked. “Do we have any way of determining how the victims were chosen? Did they have anything in common?”

  “We haven’t found any.” Rishards said.

  “Maybe the victims were chosen at random, in the wrong place at the right time.” Perry said. “Is it possible that they were targeted simply because they were in an isolated place at the time of a black-out?”

  “The killer would have to be patrolling remote areas, looking for victims.” Matt thought aloud, “If they were very observant, and mapped out the patrol patterns of the police, as well as the flow of human traffic within the colony, they might be able to pick locations and times when they would have the time to kill with impunity.”

  “Perhaps,” Rishards allowed. “But how could they know about the black-outs?”

  “Let’s leave that alone for a moment.” Matt suggested.

  “But how can we just ignore--” Rishards started.

  “Because,” Matt cut her off sharply. “He does. One way or another, the killer knows. It doesn’t matter how. We need to simplify this equation. We don’t need to know why Y is Y, if we just accept it; it gives us one less variable to deal with.”