Deep Yellow (31 page)

It was certainly an
unexpected turn of events, here in a beam studio office during a
live show. Brune had plenty of experience of death, homicide,
suicide, and robocide, so was not fazed by the investigation ahead.
He would appraise his boss later, after the Challenge was over.

"Who found him?"

"The virtual assistant
of a studio director raised the alarm. Security alerted Police
Corps, who forced entry inside," Scrivvens said.

"So the room and body
are untouched?"

"Yes, apart from the
Corps officer and a doc bot, everyone else stayed out in the
corridor. As the life signs scanner showed negative, the body has
not been moved."

"Good."

Brune stood by the
doorway, his bulk practically filling the whole doorframe. He kept
still, just moving his head as he examined the scene in silence. It
certainly lacked organisation and order. Empty intox bottles on a
table in amongst solid holo books piled on top of each other. A
square black box rested on top of a work desk. It had three rows of
push buttons on its front and a rounded handle mounted on top. A
black curly wire connected the handle to the box. Could this be
anything to do with it? The shelves were stuffed with objects, none
of which Brune could discern whether they were from Association
planets or Inhab-47. He shook his head. How can someone be so
untidy?

Williams wore a
colourful shirt, trousers, and a string of wooden beads around his
neck. He was sprawled face down on the floor as if he had fallen
forward from sitting on the cot. His right arm underneath his
chest, there were no marks or anything unusual apparent on clothing
or skin.

"Scrivvens, prepare
the scanner."

Brune stepped out into
the corridor and joined Scrivvens, who opened an oblong case marked
“Crime Scene Examination” in faded letters. Taking out what
resembled a silver ball, he placed it into a dish within the case.
A holo screen appeared, displaying various buttons, sliders, and
graphics. Once programmed and thrown up in the air, the minute jets
held its position. After self-calibration, the ball flew slowly
along an invisible set of grids lines around Williams' office,
performing a deep scan. He did this twice more and, after clearing
the area of people, the ball was set free to roam along the
corridors adjoining the office.

Brune watched the
scanning process over Scrivvens’ shoulder.

"He had a holo
assistant. Do we know where this would have been controlled?" Brune
asked.

"Yes, sir, there is a
console link near his desk and on his comm implants."

"Have you got
experience investigating holo assistants?"

"I’ve got some
experience. I did a posting on Rhyll where you spent more time with
holos than real people. I learned some techniques there, so when
the scan is finished, I will examine the console. There are plenty
of technicians here that could help."

"No, we keep this in
house."

"Yes, sir. I’ve also
tasked Corps officers to find witnesses and review the security
streams. Do you think this is connected to the challenge?"

Brune rubbed his chin.
"Yes. But we keep this to ourselves, okay?" he said, lowering his
voice.

Scrivvens nodded, "Yes
sir."

"When finished, get
the body to the hospital for a death scan. I'll go and see the
Twins."

Brune left the area.
Definitely connected, but who and why?

***

The Twins were in a
nearby office waiting for Brune to give them an update. Thankfully,
he considered, their virtual assistants were not present. They were
creepier than real people.

"What happened?"
Mayleth said.

"Well, we will
investigate to see if there are any suspicious circumstances. Was
he in good health, do you know?" Brune said.

"Yes, as far as we
know. He used to smoke, disgusting habit, of course but healthy
weed, I think," Mayleth said.

Brune coughed into the
back of his hand.

"Did he have any
relatives, birth, life, marriage, virtual, or bot partner?"

"Not that we know
about. He originated from a common birthing pool." Mayleth pursed
her lips.

"Okay, we'll check
central records. Need to know where to send his stuff."

"This won't affect the
show, will it?" Ayleth said.

"My orders are to not
interfere with the show. The death appears to have happened since
the challenge started. We are going to carry out an investigation
as per regulations."

After Brune left, the
Twins left the office to appoint their new director.

***

Carac realised that he
had rattled Brell. Shame their transporter had not crashed with
both of them in it; would have left him on his own then. He nearly
caught the nun, but she was faster than he first thought and had
escaped the building through an exit door. Not seeing the door, he
had run further into the building and fell over a few of the
exhibits inside. One of which was a body wrapped in bandages, which
became dust by the time he had finished with it. At least he could
have reduced the competition to one. The nun was trickier than he
gave her credit and should not be underestimated. As his anger
subsided, he spent a while brushing his trousers and returned to
the street. There, of all things, were the two of them trying to
drive away.

He rubbed both hands
through his sweaty hair then wiped them down his trouser legs. Back
to the Challenge. He had seen various places to sit in back up by
the bridge to Alcatraz. There must be one with an auto chef and a
research machine. If it had a window, he could sit and wait for one
of the women to walk back towards the bridge. He might even do some
research himself, might get lucky. He almost laughed.

***

Ayleth and Mayleth
watched their bank of holo screens with the lights dimmed. The new
director was now in charge and doing a good job. Argenta and Flip
were shocked but professional; the promises of extra credits and
other beamcast opportunities seemed to help. All staff knew what
had happened, and the gossip suggested it was natural causes, due
to overwork, intox, and smoke weed intake. It had shocked everyone,
but as it happened during a live show, staff could not just stop
what they were doing.

"Work now, we’ll
celebrate Williams's life when it’s all finished. Big party. Extra
credits. The show must go on," the managers said.

Mayleth informed the
Tinker, but received no reply. She would wait a while before asking
Williams’ replacement for the location of the real key. Ayleth,
lately, would never be far from one of his special inhalers and
today was no exception. Mayleth knew that the next few hours would
be nerve shredding. Hopefully, the Corps Commander would not be too
thorough.

***

Having monitored the
state of the holo worlds, backgrounds, soft and hard holo people,
and transporters, Technician 22 sat back and considered his next
move. Pulling up another screen, he worked through some changes to
the security bots programming. As a backup, just in case. His
thoughts strayed for a moment onto what he would do with his
Tinker-sponsored retirement fund. The “by the rules” Corps
Commander would spend so long investigating Williams’ death, he
would be half way across the galaxy by the time they made any
conclusions.

***

Brell managed to drive
the transporter a couple of blocks away from Carac. She narrowly
missed hitting a ground transporter full of people whilst, it
seemed, that her driving improved the more she shouted “Frag it” or
“Frag you.” Nearly missing the large trundling vehicle in the
middle of the road, she avoided this by shouting “Fotting bastard
transporter.”

Meren sat looking out
of the window, hands resting on her lap. "Your swearing abilities
have got better since driving," she said.

"Do you know any swear
words?" Brell said, not taking her eyes off the road.

"Well, I heard some
young men, the holos, swearing at each other just now on the
pier."

"What were they
saying?”

"Your mother is a
fucker, something like that."

Brell braked hard to
avoid some vehicles that raced across an intersection that had some
coloured lights overhead.

"Your mother is a
fucker," Meren said loudly out of her window.

"That’s it, good
girl," Brell said. "Fragging transporter drivers, what are the
fragging Police Corps doing about it?"

Happy enough distance
had been put between themselves and Carac, they looked around for a
place to start their research.

"There." Meren said,
pointing towards a large multi floored building with a signboard
over its wide entrance that read, “Hotel California”.

"A hotel. Safe,
lockable room inside, perhaps?"

"Okay, will pull over,
hang on." Brell knew the drill and parked up a side street, in case
Carac spotted their vehicle outside the hotel.

The hotel foyer was a
grand affair; wood panelling, paintings, smell of leather, and
plush seats like some old pre beam stream production. Two people
with fixed grins were standing behind a semi-circular desk.

"A room," Brell said,
"with an auto chef and one of those computer things you call
it."

"And a window," Meren
said. Brell exchanged a glance with her.

"Yes, a window," Brell
said.

"Room 101," The female
said.

"Where do we go?"

"Room 101."

There were a few
people in the foyer; a couple sitting on a seat reading from a
large paper, a male constantly looking at his watch, and a hotel
worker, judging by the uniform, idly standing by the front
entrance. Brell noticed two men walking up the main staircase;
perhaps that’s where the rooms were.

They followed the men
and found themselves in a dark corridor. The room numbers were
clearly signposted, and soon they were inside. The large room had a
king size bed, ensuite bathroom, a sofa, an old computer thingy,
and a kitchenette with an auto chef.

"Do you think the
doors are a similar shape to the ones used in the Living Room, you
know, to get into the holo worlds?" Meren said.

"Williams. Bet you’re
laughing now. Good chance he stayed in a hotel like this on
Inhab-47."

"Perhaps this became
Williams’ own cell when he was there, until he realised that he
could walk amongst Inhab-47 people without being found out," Meren
said.

"Yes, it is," Brell
said and laughed. She noticed a couple of strong locks on the door
and slid them across. Safe, for a while.

She then opened all
the cupboard doors and found a small fridge. Taking one of the
small bottles out, Brell held it up to the light and realised it
was intox, which, after a sip, she confirmed.

"Not bad. Williams you
old fragger. Girls," Brell said and held the bottle up in the air
in mock salute. She felt its courage, finished the bottle, and
looked for the next one.

"Want one?"

"No, thank you."

"Will your vows hold
to the end?"

"Jayzan still guides
me. I have nothing to fear at the end."

Brell stared at her
and shrugged her shoulders.

"We have to solve the
clue," Meren said as Brell fumbled around in the fridge.

Brell stood up holding
two bottles of Scotch whisky.

"Yes. Killjoy," Brell
said in reply, the laughter and fun of the last few minutes
dissipating. She started to unscrew the top.

"The clue," Meren
said, looking directly at Brell whilst placing her hand over the
bottles.

Brune ordered another milky drink from his
Corps auto chef. It was a particular Corps mixture that kept
officers alert during long periods of duty. He was re-reading
The Rules and Regulations of Homicide Investigation
when
Scrivvens arrived, still looking fresh in a neat uniform,
considering the hours worked.

"Sir, initial scans
have been processed."

"Good, take a seat,
we'll go through it. Milk drink or something?" Brune said.

"No, thank you, sir,"
Scrivvens said, uncertainly.

"What have we got?"
Brune said, taking a sip from his glass.

Scrivvens opened up
his cube and displayed three screens.

"Cause of death,
sudden heart overload and electric shock, probably a beam of some
sort. More or less instant. It is possible the beam was only meant
to put him in an unconscious stupor, but its frequency had been set
too high. The position of body suggests Williams had no notion of
it happening, probably grabbed his chest as he fell. Apart from a
deeply inked mark, of unknown origin, there were no other unnatural
marks on his body.”

“Unknown origin?”

“It had the words
Route 66 written inside a shield shape. It’s in Inhab-47 main
language, we have no idea what it means, but it was on his
backside. Believed connected with his time on Inhab-47 and not to
do with this matter.”

“Okay. Carry on.”

“Nothing appears
missing from the office. When last spoken to, he was in good
spirits and had gone for a break whilst the challengers made their
initial movements."

"Holo assistant?"
Brune said.

"Nothing, console has
been fried."

"A coincidence? What
do your virtual experiences tell you?"

"This is not uncommon,
actually. I am sure Williams would have had his assistant awake as
he slept, to capture messages, wake him if needed, that sort of
thing. The assistant would have been monitoring everything,
awaiting a task or something. Consoles and assistants are often
electrically overloaded to cover the criminal’s tracks."

Brune nodded. "Yes.
Okay, what about his last movements?"

"He left the directors
booth and went straight to the office. His implants are all
civilian, no military style tracking programmes, but his movements
are not disputed. He had only been dead for ten minutes before the
Corps arrived there. So it occurred well after the Challenge had
started."