Eros at Zenith: Book 2 of Tales of the Velvet Comet (7 page)

The screen froze.

“In every case you listed, you've made the murderer either stupid or crazy. I don't think he's either one.”

UNTIL YOU PROVE OTHERWISE, ALL OF MY HYPOTHESES ARE AS VALID AS YOUR OWN.

“You simply don't understand human psychology.”

YOU ARE IN ERROR.

“Bunk.”

I CAN ANALYZE YOU, ALLOWING FOR ERROR DUE TO MY LIMITED INFORMATION.

“Go ahead.”

YOU ARE A COMPULSIVE OVERACHIEVER.

YOU UNDERSTAND THE SOCIAL GRACES, AND CHOOSE TO IGNORE THEM. YOU ARE OPENLY AMBITIOUS. YOU ARE “Hold it,” said Crane. “That's not psychology—it's memory. You heard the Dragon Lady say all that at lunch.”

THEN I MUST BE MORE PERSONAL.

“Go ahead.”

YOU ARE SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO THE BLACK PEARL. YOU “You're crazy!” snapped Crane.

WHEN YOU WERE WITH HER YOUR HEARTBEAT AND BLOOD PRESSURE INCREASED, YOUR SKIN WAS FLUSHED, AND YOU BREATHED MORE RAPIDLY, A RESPONSE THAT OCCURRED TO A LESSER DEGREE EACH TIME HER NAME WAS MENTIONED BY THE DRAGON LADY OR MYSELF. THIS IS MY UNDERSTANDING OF SEXUAL ATTRACTION.

“Well, you're wrong.”

I WILL ANALYZE BOTH YOUR ANSWER AND YOUR CURRENT PHYSICAL CONDITION AND REACH A CONCLUSION.

“Don't bother.”

I AM COMPELLED TO, FOR IF IT SHOULD TRANSPIRE THAT YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF ANALYZING YOUR OWN PSYCHOLOGY, THIS IN TURN MAKES YOUR CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE KILLER SUSPECT.

“I'm ordering you to let the subject drop,” said Crane.

I CANNOT. I POSSESS A HIGHER DIRECTIVE TO SEARCH FOR, ANALYZE, AND CORRECT ANY AND ALL PROGRAMMING ERRORS.

“Look, she was very pretty, okay?” said Crane uncomfortably.

AND YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO HER?

“I'm attracted to
all
pretty women.”

YOUR RESPONSE TO THE BLACK PEARL WAS OF A GREATER MAGNITUDE. I SHALL HAVE TO CONTINUE ANALYZING THE SITUATION.

“Then do it with some other part of your goddamned brain and let's get back to business.”

IF YOU WISH.

“I wish the whole subject had never come up,” growled Crane. “Now where were we?”

WE WERE DISCUSSING HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY.

“Well, we're all through discussing human psychology!”

PRIOR TO THAT, WE WERE ANALYZING YOUR HYPOTHESIS.

“We're not analyzing it—we're accepting it, at least for the time being,” said Crane, trying to keep his temper in check. “That means that the murder was committed to frighten a third party. Now, it stands to reason that Infante and the third party knew each other, or else his death wouldn't have been necessary.”

YOU ARE JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS. IF INFANTE AND THE THIRD PARTY DID NOT KNOW EACH OTHER, THEN YOUR ENTIRE HYPOTHESIS IS WRONG.

“They
had
to,” said Crane irritably. “I'm telling you—that body was moved for the sole purpose of being found. Now, there are a lot of crazy reasons for doing it, but forcing a third party's hand is the only sane one.” He paused. “So it seems to me that the very best way to handle this is to keep the lid on the whole thing. If it becomes obvious that we're not going to allow the third party to know about the murder, we're going to nudge the killer into making another move. After all, he's working with some kind of time limit.”

HIS NEXT MOVE MAY BE TO KILL AGAIN.

“I doubt it. Infante wasn't picked at random.”

YOU HAVE NO EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THAT.

“Of course I do. How many patrons would be willing to help breach the security system solely to follow someone else into a tramway tunnel? Probably Infante did some business on a regular basis with the third party, the killer got wind of it, and was offering to help him or threatening to blackmail him. But whatever the reason, Infante was the key. Now, if Infante was in business for himself, there's nobody left to kill—and if he worked for someone else, there's a good chance we can keep the news from his employer long enough to force the killer to try something else.”

SUCH AS MURDER.

Crane shook his head vigorously. “He's not going to kill the third party. If he wanted to do that, he'd have done it already and not bothered with Infante. He wants him to do something or stop doing something, and since we've short-circuited his message he's going to have to send another one.”

THAT IS A VERY TENUOUS CHAIN OF REASONING.

“Most murderers don't announce their plans and motivations on a public address system,” replied Crane caustically. “That's why we have detectives, and that's why a tenuous chain of reasoning is better than nothing.” He paused. “The first thing we'd better do is cancel my order to release the body after the post mortem.”

IT HAS ALREADY BEEN CANCELLED.

Crane looked his surprise. “Who did it?” he demanded.

THE BLACK PEARL.

“You're sure?”

IT WAS DONE AT 1317 HOURS, SHIP'S TIME, WHILE YOU WERE HAVING LUNCH.

“Patch me in to her right now!” demanded Crane.

The screen went blank, to be replaced an instant later by a holographic representation of a section of a magnificent bathroom. The floor was covered with a black fur rug, the walls and ceiling were mirrored, reflecting the tub and its occupant endlessly, and three fur-covered stairs led to a raised obsidian tub with pewter fixtures. Inside the tub, with only her face and breasts above the water, lay the Black Pearl.

“Mr. Crane,” she said with a smile, looking at a screen that was just out of camera range. “What can I do for you?”

“You countermanded one of my orders,” he said heatedly. “Why?”

“You mean about the corpse?” she asked pleasantly.

“Yes, I mean about the corpse! I told the computer to cancel my order, and found out you had already done it!”

“Then what's the problem? I saved you the trouble.”

“The problem,” he said, trying to control his temper, “is that you did it without my permission.”

“I don't need your permission to act in the best interests of the
Comet
,” she replied calmly. “If word gets out that one of our patrons has been murdered and that the killer is still at large, business will drop off drastically. I can't permit that.”

“What do you mean—
you
can't permit that? I'm in charge here!”

“You're in charge of the investigation, Mr. Crane,” said the Black Pearl. “I'm in charge of the
Velvet Comet
. There's a difference.”

“The hell there is!” he snapped. “And have the decency to cover yourself up when I'm talking to you!”

“I didn't initiate this conversation, Mr. Crane. It's hardly my fault that you chose to interrupt me while I was bathing.” She looked mildly amused. “You can always look elsewhere, you know.”

“Do you plan to do it again?” he demanded.

“Do what—bathe, or countermand a dangerous order?”

“You know perfectly well what I'm talking about!”

“Yes, I do,” she said, suddenly serious. “And any time I feel you have issued an order that is detrimental to the welfare of the
Comet
. I will not hesitate to overrule it.” She paused. “Now that that's over, suppose you tell me why
you
decided not to send the body back to Deluros.”

He glared at her and made no response.

“Brace yourself, Mr. Crane,” she said at last. “I'm about to stand up.”

“What?”

“I'm through with my bath. I have to get out of the tub.”

“Right now?”

“I can't run a brothel from a bathtub,” she answered him. “I'm on duty again in half an hour. Had you anything further to say?”

“I need some information,” replied Crane, as the Black Pearl got to her feet and he found himself unable look away from her.

“Certainly,” she replied, walking unselfconsciously down the three stairs to the floor of the room and taking a large towel from its heated rack.

“How can I help you?”

“I need the name of the girl who spent the night with Infante.”

“That would be Venus. Would you like to interview her?” she asked, holding an end of the towel in each hand and drying her back vigorously. “Mr. Crane?”

“You're distracting me,” he said irritably. “Do you have to do that right now?”

“You really must learn to be less ashamed of the human body,” she remarked, wrapping the towel around her with a smile. “All right. Is this less disturbing to you?”

“Somewhat,” he said. “You say her name is Venus?”

“That's correct.”

“Did she sleep with him on any of his other visits?”

“Not to my knowledge. I can check it out if you'd like.” The Black Pearl put the question to the computer, read the answer, and then turned to face him again. “No. This was her only liaison with Infante.”

“Can you get me a list of all the other women he slept with?”

“Yes,” she replied. “But it's a bit awkward to keep splitting the screen. After we're through speaking, I'll simply instruct the computer to allow you to access the information.”

“Fine.” He paused. “As for this Venus, I want to speak to her.”

“She's with a patron right now. She should be free in about three hours.”

“It takes that long?”

“This isn't some sleazy little planetside whorehouse, Mr. Crane,” she said condescendingly. “You'd be surprised at how long it can take.”

“Then set up a meeting with her for four hours from now.”

“You know,” she said thoughtfully, “if you require a companion for tonight, why not request Venus? It would be a way of killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.”

“I'll choose my own.”

“Perhaps it's for the best,” said the Black Pearl, staring at him and appraising what she saw. “I have a feeling that she might be just a little too imaginative for you.”

“What the hell is
that
supposed to mean?” he demanded.

“Nothing at all,” she replied easily. “I'll tell her to report to your suite in four hours—or would you rather speak to her via the computer?”

“Either way. It makes no difference.”

“I'll see which is more convenient for her.” She paused. “Are you ready to tell me why you decided to cancel your order about the body?”

“I think the murder was a warning.”

“Oh? To whom?”

“I don't know—some member of the crew, certainly. Since I'm working on minimal information and I'm pretty sure that the killer's operating within a strict time frame, I think the best procedure is to keep a lid on it and see if we can force the killer to act again.”

“By killing someone else?” she suggested sharply. “I thought you were a damage control expert.”

He shook his head. “He's not going to kill anyone else.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because if it didn't matter who he killed, he wouldn't have waited for Infante.” He paused. “I'm hoping that his next move will be to approach the crew member personally.”

She began walking into her elegantly-appointed bedroom as the camera followed her. “How long do you think it will take?”

“Two or three days, no more,” replied Crane. “He knows we've found the body. When another 48 hours pass and no announcement has been made, he'll figure out that we're not about to broadcast it, even to the crew.”

“I hope you're right,” she said.

“I usually am.”

“Such modesty,” she said with more than a touch of sarcasm.

“Well, one of us ought to have some. Your towel is coming apart.”

She looked down and readjusted it.

“How thoughtful of you to instruct me on how I must appear in my own apartment, Mr. Crane.”

“Well, your holograph is in
my
suite.”

“
I
didn't initiate the connection.”

“I needed information,” he said. “I can't help it if I'm irritating you.”

“You're not irritating me, Mr. Crane,” said the Black Pearl.

“You're sure?”

“Absolutely,” she replied. “I'm used to dealing with prima donnas and their over-inflated egos.”

“Well, this prima donna's got to get back to work,” he said angrily, breaking the connection. He got to his feet, walked to the bar, considered making himself a third iced coffee, decided not to, and returned to his chair.

“Computer, how are you coming with those 22 incomplete files?”

I AM STILL WAITING TO ACCESS THE GOVERNMENT COMPUTERS.

“While we've got some free time, show me some of the prostitutes who are still available for tonight.”

He spent the next twenty minutes studying holographs of some of the most sensuous and beautiful women he had ever seen. Where the prostitute had some special interest or field of expertise, it was so noted.

THAT ENDS THE LIST OF THOSE WOMEN WHO WILL BE AVAILABLE PRIOR TO 2400 HOURS. ARE THERE ANY YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE AGAIN?

“Not right now.”

IF YOU HAVE MADE A DECISION, I CAN REGISTER A LIAISON HERE AND NOW, AND THUS ASSURE YOU OF YOUR COMPANION'S AVAILABILITY.

“I haven't made up my mind yet.”

I SHOULD POINT OUT THAT WE HAVE AN EQUALLY LARGE SELECTION OF MEN, AND THAT ANY CONCEIVABLE NUMBER AND GROUPING OF PARTNERS CAN BE ARRANGED.

“I'll bear that in mind,” he said sardonically.

THE BLACK PEARL HAS JUST INSTRUCTED ME TO ALLOW YOU ACCESS TO HER FILE OF LIAISONS.

“I'm surprised she remembered,” said Crane, getting to his feet.

WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO BRING THEM UP ON THE SCREEN NOW?

“Later,” said Crane. “I think I'll go out for a breath of air.”

THE AIR IS THE SAME QUALITY THROUGHOUT THE SHIP.

“That was a figure of speech. I feel restless. A little walk around the public rooms will do me good.”

I WAS RIGHT.

“About what?”

YOU ARE SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO THE BLACK PEARL.

“The hell I am! I thought we'd been through all that before.”

I CAN GIVE YOU A READOUT OF YOUR CURRENT PHYSICAL CONDITION AND COMPARE IT TO YOUR READING WHEN YOU CAME ABOARD.

“I'm just feeling a little tense,” said Crane defensively.

YES. I KNOW.

“You go to hell!” snapped Crane, stalking out of the suite and heading off to the reception foyer.

The Dragon Lady looked up as the Black Pearl, swathed in silver beads and silver boots and very little else, entered the hospital's waiting room at 0430 hours the next morning.

“Jesus!” muttered the madam irritably. “If it's not one damned thing, it's another. Where are they?”