Too Like the Lightning (27 page)

I had long desired, even expected, these honors, but each in their course as I earned them, not all in one breath. I asked Caesar in some bewilderment why they granted me so much so quickly. This was my true investiture: “I have a use for you. You will be my instrument, my touch, my voice, my proxy while my work keeps me away, the one Masonic influence to counter all the others. You will teach and guide my son.”

That night I met the
Porphyrogene.

*   *   *

The first stage of my investigation of the
Black Sakura
and Saneer-Weeksbooth double break-in has already been related. At 17:57 UT on 03/24/2454 I requested permission to interview Tsuneo Sugiyama, preferring to conduct the interview in person rather than over the tracker system. I was invited to the Sugiyama residence, outside Kanazawa in the Ishikawa prefecture of Chubu, and arrived at 19:31 UT. The Sugiyama bash'house is a compact town house, three stories, pressed tightly on both sides by similar houses. Tsuneo Sugiyama is eighty-nine years old, female, one hundred and sixty-two centimeters tall, dark brown eyes, short grayish white hair, with distinctly yellowed front teeth, no other distinguishing marks. Sugiyama wore a Japanese-cut Mitsubishi suit, green, with a spring pattern of morning glories climbing bamboo. Eight strat insignia were visible: on the right wrist a Japanese nation-strat bracelet and Lune Cassirer Fan Club bracelet, on the jacket front a Journalists' Guild clip and Gazetteer Gaming Club pin, on the shoes skiers' buckles, on the front pocket a Shiba Inu dog breeder's patch and an Ishikawa Region patch, on the left ring finger a Nagoya Campus ring, and on the right little finger a Great Books Club ring. Sugiyama offered me tea, and I accepted. I commenced formal interview at 19:37 UT. The following is a verbatim transcript, interspersed with my interpretative comments:

*   *   *

Sugiyama seemed unusually relaxed at the beginning of the interview, though not in a joking or jovial way. I did not understand the reason until later on.

Guildbreaker:
“Thank you for seeing me, Mitsubishi Sugiyama. You are aware this is being recorded?”

Sugiyama:
“Of course, Mason, of course.”

Guildbreaker:
“This is just an initial interview. There may be more detailed sessions later, once I've had a chance to act on your initial statement.”

Sugiyama:
“I know how interviews work, youngster.”

Guildbreaker:
“And you know I represent a poly-Hive investigation? If you report anything here which is pertinent to the security of a non-Mitsubishi, I'm legally obligated to inform the Praetors of the affected Hive, or the Tribunes' Officers in the case of Hiveless.”

Sugiyama:
“I knew outside police would come. It doesn't make sense for this to be handled among us.”

Guildbreaker:
“I am not police, I am a polylegal investigator. My team is handling the initial stages of this, since it affects all seven Hives at sensitive levels, so they want it handled delicately. Once we've secured the safety of the essential parties, the police will apprehend the actual offender.”

Sugiyama:
“You're using Utopians for the grunt work, aren't you? I know how it works. I covered the Mycroft Canner case as well.”

Guildbreaker:
“First, for the record, is it correct that you are not the author of the Seven-Ten list which was stolen from
Black Sakura
two days ago and subsequently recovered by the police?”

Sugiyama:
“That's correct, but no one outside
Black Sakura
knew I wasn't writing it this year. Seven-Ten lists are only popular when they're written by big names, and with
Black Sakura
being only the second-most-important Mitsubishi paper, the Hagiwara-san knew our readership outside the Hive would fizzle if the public found out I wasn't the author. That doesn't excuse them trying to pass off Masami-kun's work as mine, but I understand why they did it.”

Guildbreaker:
“How long have you worked at
Black Sakura
?”

Sugiyama:
“I first worked for them from 2382 to '86, then did graduate school from '86 to '90, worked at
Black Sakura
again until 2411, freelance from '11 to '25, then took nine years off to write my books, started again at
Black Sakura
full time in '34, and retired last week. That last run was nineteen years, nine months, eleven days all told.”

Sugiyama answered this question with a speed which indicated that they had prepared their answers ahead of time. My flight to Chubu had taken forty-six minutes, and they had clearly spent that time preparing. Having worked so long as a reporter, Sugiyama was experienced with interviews, so it was safe to assume that, if they chose to lie to me, I would have no way to detect it.

Guildbreaker:
“You retired last week?”

Sugiyama:
“Unofficially. A lot of people invest in the paper counting on me as a draw, so we decided it was best to wait and announce at the end of the quarter when the contracts expired.”

Guildbreaker:
“Was this a planned retirement, or…”

Sugiyama:
“Oh, it was sudden. I know doctors keep telling me I have another fifty years left in me, but after seventy-two years as a journalist voker I decided it was time to pay more attention to family. Knowing me, I probably won't be able to keep myself entirely retired very long, but it's the plan for now.”

Guildbreaker:
“How far ahead had you planned this?”

Sugiyama:
“It wasn't planned at all, totally sudden.”

Guildbreaker:
“What was the cause?”

Sugiyama:
“My grandchild Aki tried to kill themself.”

Guildbreaker:
“I'm sorry to hear it. Do you know why?”

Sugiyama:
“Aki's lover killed themself. You see, Aki is already twenty-one, and had been living in a Campus seven years but hadn't really gotten close enough to anyone to think about forming a bash', except this one lover, a bright young Irish Brillist named Mertice O'Beirne. Had a marvelous voice, that kid, but a bit unstable, into gore photos and Canner-beat, but lots of potential. They were very close. Aki wanted the two of them to come join and continue my bash' rather than forming a new one, since Aki's always been close to me and my bash'mates, but Mertice wanted to stay in the Campus longer to see if they could find some others of their generation to make a new bash'.”

Guildbreaker:
“How did Mertice die?”

Sugiyama:
“Car crash.”

Guildbreaker:
“A car crash?”

Sugiyama:
“Yes, the one over Mexico City, nine days ago. You must have read about it.”

Guildbreaker:
“Yes.”

I do not jump to conclusions, neither do I ignore data when it appears before me. Yes, murder entered my mind as a rational possibility. No, I did not have any special intuition of something sinister beyond the facts. I did note to myself that Sugiyama could not know where the stolen list had been found, so they had no reason to share my suspicions.

Sugiyama:
“It was Mertice's own fault, the experts say. There's this kit you can get, apparently, that makes the cars crash, scrambles the system. A Thrill-Ride Suicide Kit it's called. It's illegal in most Hives to sell something like that, but Humanists will insist on these things being art for art's sake, whatever the buyer does with it.”

Guildbreaker:
“Then you believe the crash was suicide?”

Sugiyama:
“Like I said, Mertice was unstable, even attempted suicide once before. Mertice called Aki and talked to them over the tracker in the final minute when the car was flying out of control, horrible morbid stuff about death and eternity.”

Guildbreaker:
“Did Mertice specifically say it was suicide?”

Sugiyama:
“You can get the recording from the cops. I don't want to listen to it. Aki tried to jump off a building themself after that, and made another attempt at home the day after, but they've finally calmed down. I'm past being pissed at poor Mertice, the kid obviously needed help, but almost losing Aki made me think about how little time I'd spent with them, or with my ba'kids and bash'mates, since I've always been a voker.”

Guildbreaker:
“So you decided to retire?”

Sugiyama:
“That's right. Maybe I'll write another book. But for now I've spent all week with Aki and my bash'mates, and some from Aki's birth bash', just relaxing. Feels pretty right. I'm still going to do editorials now and again, but no more vokering for me. You're a voker too, aren't you, youngster?”

Guildbreaker:
“Yes.”

Sugiyama:
“Ever calculate what portion of your time you spend with the people you care most about?”

Guildbreaker:
“My bash' are all vokers.”

Sugiyama:
“Ha. No hope for you then.”

I considered the possibility that the tangent might be intentional evasion, and cut it off.

Guildbreaker:
“What about the Seven-Ten list? You were supposed to write it.”

Sugiyama:
“Yes, I was beginning the editorials when all this happened. My assistant offered to finish the editorials for me and publish the original list, but I don't like to do things halfway.”

Guildbreaker:
“Your assistant, that is Masami Mitsubishi?”

Sugiyama:
“Yes. Brilliant kid, memory like an elephant and a razor sense of humor, I can see what Andō saw in them. But I told Masami-kun if they were going to write the list they should do it themself, their own list, start to finish. They're young and it's good to have young ideas out there sometimes. I told Hagiwara-san that Masami-kun's status as a member of the Andō-Mitsubishi bash' would be a draw in itself, but do editors listen?”

Guildbreaker:
“Had Masami known who was on your list?”

Sugiyama:
“Only the three outsider names. Masami-kun set up the interviews for me. Most of the staff at
Black Sakura
can usually guess who my bottom three will be since they know who I've been interviewing lately, but I never show anyone the order of the Big Seven.”

Guildbreaker:
“Did you write it down?”

Sugiyama:
“Of course. I had a paper copy in shorthand, and half-finished essays on most of the ten started on my computer. I know what you're thinking: Masami could have accessed my computer, and it's true, they could have. So could anyone around the office. Thing is, I've seen a copy of Masami's list now, and there's no way Masami would come up with that after seeing mine. You know how you can tell if an artist has studied another even if they don't copy it directly?”

Guildbreaker:
“Do you have the original list here?”

Sugiyama:
“I knew you'd ask. I've written a translation for you.”

Guildbreaker:
“Thank you, but I will also want to examine the original paper list for fingerprints and other signs of tampering.”

Sugiyama:
“Of course, of course, just read my translation first.”

I read the list at this time. It was on the same type of paper as that recovered by Mycroft, but written in a very unsteady English hand. I was unable to keep my hands from shaking as I read. I do not have (nor do I believe in) powers that can sense import in things beyond what reason and the facts supply, but I do believe that some minds, appropriately specialized, may get a true sense of a thing at first glance, even before the conscious mind translates the details into thoughts. Surely President Ganymede, presented with a painting, knows its period, school, and quality before becoming conscious of the brushstrokes, pigment, and stylistic traits which are the grounds for their deduction. Princesse Danaë Mitsubishi, though not as fluent in art as the President, is experienced enough at least to recognize the school. As Princesse Mitsubishi is with art, so I am far from the foremost expert at solving crimes, but even on first reading of the list, I knew that I held motive in my hands.

#1: Cornel MASON

#2: Anonymous

#3: Sniper

#4: Ziven Racer

#5: Bryar Kosala

#6: Felix Faust

#7: Hotaka Andō Mitsubishi

#8: François Quesnay

#9: Julia Doria-Pamphili

#10: Lorelei “Cookie” Cook

Guildbreaker:
“This … this is … Sniper instead of the President? And Racer instead of Perry?”

Sugiyama:
“I wanted to stir things up a bit.”

Guildbreaker:
“Masami Mitsubishi knew about this?”

Sugiyama:
“Masami knew I'd been interviewing Racer, Julia, and Cookie, but I'm sure they assumed those three would be eight, nine, and ten. In fact, I went so far as to start a fake editorial about Ganymede, so anyone glancing through my files would think my list was normal. Leaks are rare but they do happen, and I didn't want anything to spoil the surprise. Bookies don't even take bets about outsiders making it into the top Seven.”

Guildbreaker:
“Did Sniper know?”

Sugiyama:
“No. Every paper interviews Sniper twice a week, what's one more?”

Guildbreaker:
“Racer I understand, but why, if I may ask…”

Sugiyama:
“Everybody knows Ganymede only had the margin they did last election because Sniper endorsed them. If Sniper didn't always publicly decline office, they'd be Vice President or even Co-Consul by now.”