Investigating Deceit

by Michael Anderle

  A workplace dispute remained the most likely source of the threat, but hunches and guesses weren’t the kind of thing that would score a warrant.

  “You pick up any weird patterns related to Dr. Chen’s team, Emma?”

  “Unfortunately, no,” Emma replied. “Not based on the available files, at least. I should reiterate that this is obviously curated data, and unless you want me to actively attempt to penetrate the systems of 46 Helix and other companies, I can only work with what I have available. If they’ve gone out of their way to hide something, it might be difficult to determine what it is, especially since they had some anticipation of your needs and interests.”

  “No, don’t need any hacking. Not yet. If we have to go that far, we’ll go in with a warrant. With these corporate types, we don’t want to give them any reason to slither away if they’re up to something.” Erik frowned. “After what happened with Esposito and Ceres Galactic, I bet all these corps are being a lot more careful, especially if they’ve been doing something they aren’t supposed to be doing.”

  “Very well, then. I’m going to do some additional cross-analysis. If you need me, address me. Otherwise, I’ll be silent.”

  Erik didn’t go for the obvious crack. He appreciated the times Emma faded into the background. It’d been creepy at first, but he was now used to the talented if rude AI.

  The detectives were also quiet as they resumed looking through the files.

  There were two ways to deny someone information. The most obvious method was to not give the information out, but in doing so, one naturally increased suspicion. The second method was potentially more dangerous, but often more effective: bury them in too much information.

  The running of a modern multi-planetary corporation generated so much data in the course of its day-to-day business, it was hard to know where to begin, even with algorithms and AIs to help cull and collate data. Jia and Erik were only two people, supplemented by AI and Digital Forensics. They didn’t have months to go through the evidence.

  If the threats against Dr. Chen were real, they might escalate into action in the coming weeks. The arrogance displayed by 46 Helix’s employees undermined Erik’s confidence in their security efforts.

  “Too obvious,” Jia murmured, breaking the silence consuming the room. “It’s all too obvious. If that’s the case, it’s probably wrong.”

  “Huh?” Erik looked at her. “What’s too obvious? Can you be a little less cryptic?”

  Jia looked up from her window. “If it were as simple as it being someone from his team threatening him, 46 Helix would have found out and patched the hole already, even if they had to do something off the books.”

  “They could be right. It could be nothing. I don’t believe that, but I’ve been wrong a time or two in my life.”

  “True, but that means it’s even more likely not to be some angry ex-researcher. And if it was about someone willing to go to extremes, the company could have taken their own extreme measures rather than risk too much attention. Everyone’s worried about terrorism after what happened at Halloween.”

  Erik raised an eyebrow. “You’re saying you think they would have killed the guy?”

  Jia narrowed her eyes on a staff image of Dr. Chen’s team floating to the side of her main data window. “Given everything that happened with Ceres Galactic, I’m not dismissing any possibility out of hand, but I’m not ready to ignore Occam’s Razor. As much as I want to find some massive conspiracy here, they’re too lackadaisical, and this feels far too personal. If someone’s willing to commit a crime, then they’re willing to break NDAs and leak information, too. Threatening Chen isn’t going to guarantee 46 Helix gets taken down.”

  “Yeah, that’s where I’m coming from. There’s something here, but it feels a lot more personal than just being pissed at the company.” Erik swiped away the cafeteria window. He had his doubts that an angry chef would go after someone through remote threats instead of just poisoning them when they had the chance. “You scared that PR flack, but he’s just a PR flack. If he or his bosses honestly believed there was incriminating evidence in here that would screw over 46 Helix, they would have stonewalled a lot harder, especially against the Obsidian Detective and Lady Justice, the Corp Hunters.

  “My instincts tell me there’s something to be found, just not 46 Helix pulling too many stunts.” Jia smirked. “Maybe they’re just that scared of me.”

  “You’re getting there, but not yet.” Erik muttered a quick recall command. Three data windows popped up, each containing employment records for different departments. “If it’s not revenge, we should consider other motivations, like competition.”

  “You mean, a researcher trying to slow Dr. Chen down? From what he told us, that doesn’t seem likely. I don’t think he would minimize the possibility since it’s his life on the line.”

  “Yeah, but he might be thinking about it the wrong way.” Erik nodded. “He was thinking about it from the research perspective, but what about the money perspective? Are we sure it’s not corporate espionage? Maybe one of 46 Helix’s competitors believe they can slow things down by messing with one of their researchers.”

  “It’s a possibility, but I doubt it. The risk versus reward ratio is off, especially by doing it in a way that’s attracting our continued attention.” Jia pointed to one of her holsters. “And Dr. Chen might be brilliant, but he still is one man, and he has an entire team with access to his data. Even if they straight-up killed him, 46 Helix would recover. It’d make far more sense to poach him with a better offer than harass him.”

  Erik’s gaze traveled the rows and columns of text and numbers hanging over his desk. “What if Dr. Chen’s only a target because he’s a symbol?”

  “A symbol?” Jia thought a moment. “Of what? Progress? You think this is some sort of Purist incident?”

  “Maybe. He’s a big symbol of the lab and of the company. We should isolate a little bit more. Emma, please give me a list of everyone with access to Dr. Chen’s main lab who has left the company in the last three months, regardless of the reason or their team.”

  A new data window appeared with the requested information. Erik took a moment to look over the names and termination data. He chuckled.

  Jia eyed him. “I’m glad one of us finds this entertaining.”

  Erik pointed to a line on the window. “I just never thought a company would keep detailed records about such specific stuff.” He paused for just a moment. “Most of the firing notes are boring, with crap like ‘failure to perform duties,’ but some of these are viciously specific and overkill. They’ve got one guy here, a security guard, who was fired for, and I quote, ‘Employee had sexual intercourse with girlfriend in the restroom during business hours and while on duty. Employee brought in unauthorized personnel. Employee violated health policy by failing to clean hands after leaving the restroom.’”

  “They fire people for not washing their hands?” Jia asked. “Not sure I disapprove.”

  He looked at her. “That’s the thing you’re focusing on out of everything I just listed?”

  Her shoulders went up. “Just noting an opinion.”

  Erik grinned. “I knew you’d say that. I saw a few firing records like that when I was looking through the cafeteria staff, but it’s funny that they bothered to tack it onto their HR records for someone they were obviously going to fire anyway. There’s got to be some funnier stuff in there.”

  Jia leaned back with an amused look. “Such as?”

  Erik replied without hesitation, “Employee fired for using company resources to train a ferret as a sniper?”

  Jia chuckled. “Using a ferret-sized rifle or a human one? Natural ferret or clone?”

  “Uh.” Erik paused. “I hadn’t thought it through,” he admitted. “I think you need a non-clone ferret for maximum killer instinct. And a ferret-sized rifle would need special ammo for kills.”

  Jia tapped her lip. “There’s probably something ridiculous in the list. Som
ething like using a corporate AI to filter their potential dates for them.”

  Erik’s voice held a touch of curiosity. “Oh? You want the human touch for dates?”

  Jia snorted. “Not everything in life can be reduced to an algorithm. Certainly not romance.”

  “So you say,” Emma murmured.

  Erik shrugged. “I agree, but you seem like the kind of woman who wouldn’t mind a little algorithmic help in that department.”

  “I’m dating someone.” Jia looked uncertain. “Why would I need help? Corbin’s a pleasant enough man.”

  Erik’s cynicism leaked into his voice. “Stirring recommendation. Just saying.”

  “If we could set aside the sniper ferrets,” Emma interrupted, “I think I might have found something useful.”

  “We also setting aside Jia’s love life?” Erik asked.

  “Yes!” Jia shouted.

  He didn’t care if his merry grin was slap-worthy. “What do you have, Emma? Anything funny?”

  “I said useful, not amusing,” Emma explained. “There was someone fired from a security team last month. Kevin Tomlinson. Interestingly, his personnel records classify him as being in a different department, Maintenance. There are some discrepancies in the record that might be the result of human error, or it could represent an active attempt to hide something.”

  “What bizarre reason is cited in the firing?” Jia asked.

  “No ferret snipers,” Emma explained. “They simply note his supervisor recommended termination for failure to follow company policies. They mention him having to sign another NDA prior to release.”

  Erik grunted. “Who signs an NDA and gets fired right after?”

  “What policies did he violate?” Jia leaned over her desk. “Or is this another stupid guy who couldn’t keep it in his pants?”

  “There’s not enough information to make that determination. It doesn’t state the exact policy violations, which is odd, because in almost every other case when those are relevant, it clearly does. I can’t say that the lack of detail and records mistakes are unique to Mr. Tomlinson, but he is the only person with a recent, direct connection to Dr. Chen’s laboratory since it fell under the purview of his security team.”

  “Close enough for me.” Jia looked at Erik. “We should at least ask Dr. Chen if he knows anything. That way, we have something if we decide to knock on Tomlinson’s door for a follow-up, but I don’t want to harass the man just because he was fired by 46 Helix.”

  Erik nodded. “Agreed. Go ahead and contact Chen to set something up. He’ll probably want to push it off until tomorrow since it’s already late, but maybe we’ll get lucky.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Jia tried to not be irritated as Dr. Chen stared in complete silence at a full-sized hologram of Kevin Tomlinson.

  The scientist’s pinched expression made it feel like he was annoyed they had dared show up and ask him a few questions about the man who might be harassing him.

  Talking with the doctor in person might be more time-consuming, but Jia had learned in the last year that interviewing a witness face to face helped encourage the truth. Most, but not all, people had trouble looking someone in the eye and lying to them, especially the authorities.

  She’d gotten around it for most of her life by not lying, but now she was carrying secrets, including Erik’s. They didn’t bother her. Announcing the existence of a deadly conspiracy to others wouldn’t help most people, it would only endanger them. Erik and Jia were in a war against someone who thought they could murder soldiers and get away with it.

  In war, you didn’t announce your plans where the enemy might hear them.

  “Dr. Chen?” Erik prodded.

  The scientist didn’t immediately respond but continued to stare at the image, his arms folded. His glower built with each passing second, and he finally gestured toward the hologram. “What did you say this man’s name was?”

  “Kevin Tomlinson,” Jia answered, trying not to sigh. “He was in Security. He had access to your lab and was involved in security patrols. He’s been in the lab several times. Some of the corporate records mention his interactions with you. He got fired, but it’s unclear why. We were hoping you could explain before we go lean on HR again for information. You might have a unique insight that will help us better understand what happened.”

  Dr. Chen’s expression shifted from annoyed to lost. “I’m not saying it’s impossible that I’ve talked to the man.”

  “The records state you did. Are you saying they’re incorrect?”

  “No, not that.” Dr. Chen sighed. “Not that all. I’m just…”

  “You’re just what?” Jia asked. “Anything you remember or think to mention might be helpful. Remember, we want to find whoever is threatening you. Our goal isn’t to protect 46 Helix. It’s to protect you.”

  He nodded at the hologram. “I don’t know what to say other than I don’t recognize him, but if you say he interacted with me, that’s completely possible. I should be honest. I don’t waste my time remembering unimportant things unrelated to my research, and I doubt this security guard was relevant to my research.”

  Erik chuckled. “If he’s the one threatening you, he is now.”

  “Be that as it may, he wasn’t relevant at the time,” Chen clarified.

  “And the people you work with are unimportant?” Jia asked, exasperation building in her voice. She didn’t care that Dr. Chen was focused only on his career.

  She wasn’t his ex-wife, but it’d be helpful if he could at least identify potential suspects for the two of them, and provide evidence. If it weren’t for the small voice in the back of her mind telling her to stick with the case, she might have considered asking the captain to reassign it. She didn’t want to waste time helping people who barely cared about others.

  She took a deep breath. Getting angry with a useless witness wouldn’t help things.

  Dr. Chen leaned forward, peering intently at the hologram for another few seconds before shrugging. “I don’t know. I’d have you talk to my lab manager about him, but he’s on vacation on Venus right now and said he’d be incommunicado.”

  Jia and Erik exchanged looks.

  “That’s suspicious,” Jia commented. “It’s convenient timing for someone to allegedly be off-planet when you’re getting threats.”

  Dr. Chen shook his head. “The threats started before he left, and he’s had this trip planned for two years. There’s some particular festival he wanted to attend. It all sounded rather out of control if you ask me, but I barely remember, other than the fact that he kept stressing he’d be gone. We rearranged the timelines on the major projects months ago. He works hard. He deserves time off, and he handles the annoying matters, so I have to give it to him.” He looked up. “I can’t help you, Detectives. I don’t know anything about this Kevin Tumblerman.”

  “Kevin Tomlinson,” Jia corrected.

  “That’s what I said,” he shot back. “Feel free to ask around. Maybe someone else has a better idea.” Dr. Chen returned to looking annoyed.

  Jia nodded. “I think we’ll do just that.”

  Erik nodded to Jia and then to the open door of Dr. Chen’s office. A pensive-looking woman lingered outside the entrance, her gaze locked on the hologram. Jia recognized the woman from the personnel records—Dr. Marianne Karton, a junior researcher in the lab. She was a hard worker, but not someone who had blazed a path of glory in her two years with the company.

  Dr. Chen looked up. “Is there something you need, Marianne?”

  Dr. Karton sighed and gestured at the holographic image. “Is it him, after all? I’m not surprised.”

  Jia faced the woman. “Dr. Chen doesn’t recognize him, but you do?”

  “Of course.” Dr. Karton wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Dr. Chen doesn’t recognize him. He has better things to do than deal with low-level criminals.”

  “Exactly.” Dr. Chen nodded his agreement with her statement. “I do. Why don’t you talk to the
detectives and tell them what you know? I’ll finish what I was doing, and you can help them with Kevin Tolberin.”

  “We can talk outside,” Jia suggested, not caring enough to correct him again.

  Dr. Chen didn’t spare them a glance as he brought up several data windows packed with colorful graphs and numbers. The annoyance left his face, replaced with concentration.

  Jia and Erik stepped out of the office. The door slid shut, leaving them in a small side hallway connecting the office area to the main lab.

  Erik glanced up and down the hallway. “You want to do this somewhere else? We’ve got time.”

  Dr. Karton shook her head. “There’s no point. If you’re talking about the company, it doesn’t matter. There are so many cameras in this place, they’ll know I talked to you.”

  “Do they not want you talking to us?” Anger crept into Erik’s voice.

  Jia frowned, her hand reflexively going to her badge. Her time with Erik might have shattered all her illusions about justice on Earth, but that didn’t mean she liked the idea that a company thought they were above the law.

  Dr. Karton let out a quiet laugh. “Of course, they don’t want me talking to you. Police and investigations are bad for PR, even if the company’s done nothing wrong. The fact that you’re having to ask about Tomlinson proves the theory. They think they handled the problem already, and now here you are a month later.”

  Jia frowned. “You said you weren’t surprised. What was Tomlinson fired for?”

  “Theft,” Dr. Karton answered. “Can you believe that? The man’s getting well paid to basically do nothing but walk around. If anything serious happened, the bots would take the brunt of it, and he still was taking things, mostly small pieces of equipment. He used his security credentials to get them flagged as garbage and took them at night. From what I’ve heard, he probably wouldn’t have even been able to sell them, but who knows?” She shrugged. “I’m glad I’m leaving before this blows up into some big public mess.”