Inescapable (22 page)

‘That’s sneaky.
Now you’ve got me wondering.’

Cleopatra
grinned. ‘Got your mind off your problems for a minute.’

‘That’s
very
sneaky.’

Vali’s Homestead.

‘I am concerned about
her,’ Kit said. ‘She is not sleeping well and I believe that it is
the thought that this serial killer could strike again, soon, which
is disturbing her.’

‘Zorra is a
responsible, morally strong woman,’ Vali replied. They were sitting
on the grass outside his farmhouse watching the sunset he had just
decided to program in, but he could tell that Kit was not really in
the mood for mead and romance. ‘It’s natural for her to empathise
with the victims, and to wish to catch her quarry before he can
strike again.’

‘It seems more…
personal.’

‘Perhaps the
sexual element of the crimes? A woman might empathise more with a
rape victim?’

‘Maybe.
Detective Sandoval did…’ She paused, wondering whether she should
share that kind of information with Vali. ‘Detective Sandoval
employed chemicals to persuade Zorra to have sex with him.
It’s–’

‘Reprehensible,’ Vali interrupted, his young face dark. ‘He
deserved worse than he got.’ He looked back at the sun falling
behind the mountains. ‘Apologies. I feel quite strongly regarding
the value of justice.’

‘Justice,’ Kit
replied, ‘not law?’

‘Justice. I
would rather the justice was arrived at through law, but the law
can and does stand in the way of justice under some circumstances.
Laws are made by men, and men are imperfect.’

‘Nothing is
perfect.’ Kit gave a small smile, a little surprised by his sudden
intensity.

He looked as
though he might argue, and then let out a long breath. ‘No, of
course you’re right. No matter how I might like to believe it’s
possible, nothing is perfect. Nothing can really
be
perfect.’ His eyes brightened and the corners of his mouth lifted.
‘Though I am required to add “except for you” at this point.’

Colour swept
over Kit’s cheeks. ‘I am
not
perfect. If I were, I would
have solved this case for Zorra and we would not be having this
conversation.’

‘That is true,
but only someone who was practically perfect would know that.’

Kit giggled.
‘Do you think I would look good in glasses?’ she asked, which left
Vali looking more perplexed than she had ever seen him.

New York Metro,
26
^th
April.

Kit pushed her new
glasses up the bridge of her nose and peered at the threads
connecting the various images in the crime room. Fox had to stop
herself giggling because it was an entirely serious business. But
the sight of her PA in her ‘serious investigator’ outfit was taking
the edge off a little, which had to be worth a couple of
points.

‘I’ve received
word from Inspector Ivers regarding the bank,’ Kit said, stepping
back from the display. ‘They are not exactly being obstructive, but
they refused to do anything before today.’

‘Banks are one
of the big holdouts against the use of AIs,’ Fox replied. ‘They
blame the legislation which resulted from problems with automated
share dealing systems, but it’s basically a mechanism for making
sure those high-paying jobs stay in human hands. And that they can
ignore everyone at weekends and whenever else they feel like
it.’

Kit nodded and
then pushed her glasses up again. ‘I have been unable to expand the
banking node because of this. The MarTech node was a complete bust.
None of the same technicians dealt with these clients, none of the
same account managers. No similarities.’

‘Pretty much
what I expected. We’re not really getting any closer.’ Fox paused,
scanning the thinning web of connections. ‘How are we doing with
Sam’s place?’

‘Ah, there I
have had more luck. MarTech Group has several AIs which analyse
businesses when a takeover is being planned. Due diligence, they
call it. They work weekends, especially if you give them something
interesting to look at.’

‘And this
is?’

‘Apparently. I
said that Mister August was one of four people who own much of
Manhattan. Apparently they operate as a sort of consortium. Using
their collective buying power, they are able to reduce maintenance
bills and other costs. There are a number of rumours that they
collectively apply pressure to keep others from acquiring property
in the district, and they have definitely been buying up anything
they can get their hands on for the past fifteen years.’

‘Interesting.’

‘More
interesting is that this consortium operates from a club that is
housed in a building which was put up beside the Museum of Natural
History in twenty thirty-eight. It’s known as the Great Park
Club.’

Fox gave a
grunt of displeasure. ‘If we’re dealing with that kind of money,
things are going to get sticky. Damn. Get everything you can on
this consortium and we’ll see where we can take it. Maybe we can
get them to back off at least.’

‘I’ll have the
information compiled. You have your meeting with Mister Martins and
the Palladium board members in thirty-eight minutes.’

‘I’d better get
dressed then.’

‘It would be
wise. Fox, do you think the glasses work?’

Fox grinned at
her. ‘They’re good. Kind of librarian chic, with the square frames
and the slight upward slant. Now you need to learn to take them off
while thinking, and then play with the earpiece. Kind of touch it
to your lips and purse, and twist the shaft a little. Watch some
movies or something, you’ll get the idea.’

‘And this will
make me look more efficient and studious?’ Kit asked, frowning a
little.

‘Maybe. If
you’re talking to men, they’ll be too busy watching your mouth to
care what you’re saying anyway.’

~~~

‘The idea has some
issues,’ Fox said. She was sitting at the conference room table
with Jackson and Mariel Hoarsen, and the images of the Palladium
board beamed in from Chicago. ‘The biggest at the moment seems to
be this consortium of property magnates who want to buy the
place.’

‘Harper August
is a particularly stubborn man,’ Hoarsen said, ‘with a strong
belief in the right of the leisured class to pretty much do as they
wish. They earned their money, paid the price for it, and now they
should be allowed to spend it for their benefit. He isn’t big on
social spending, he only funds charities for the tax relief, and he
is strongly political.’

‘It sounds as
though thumbing our nose at him might make this a
very
beneficial arrangement,’ Jackson said. ‘Assuming that we can
persuade him to cease his attempts.’

Hoarsen had
developed something of a malign grin. ‘I’m willing to put some
resource into that.’

Jackson raised
an eyebrow, but did not comment further. ‘Technical considerations.
I’d imagine we would need to upgrade the building’s IT
infrastructure?’

Vaughn perked
up, straightening in her seat and pushing an array of floor plans
and some work item lists into the air above the table. ‘We have a
proposal which was worked out for Mister Clarion. It could be
enhanced, but we would need to go over the details with Mister
Clarion. It
is
his house.’

‘Of course…’
Jackson trailed off as he began peering at the plans and making
notes.

‘I think,’ Fox
said, ‘that Alice should come over to New York to handle the
negotiations personally. This kind of thing needs the kind of
immediate discussion a personal visit makes possible.’

Jarvis’s eyes
flicked around to look at Fox and she saw the corners of his mouth
twitch upward.

‘Good idea,’
Eaves said, nodding, before Vaughn could say anything different,
though Fox was fairly sure he
did
just think it was a good
idea. ‘Maybe we can take the rest of this week to finalise the
plans and Alice can fly over Friday morning.’

‘I’ll make
arrangements with Sam,’ Fox said. ‘I’m sure he can clear some space
in his schedule, but better be prepared for an overnight stay,
Alice. He works odd hours.’

‘That won’t be
an issue,’ Jackson said. ‘She can stay in the tower here. I’ll have
the suggested alterations worked out by Wednesday evening. There
are a few things I’d like to put in which… Well, you can do some
more product testing for us, Fox. If Sam is willing, of
course.’

‘And we can
clear the security issues,’ Jarvis said, finally joining the
conversation. ‘I don’t like this August business. I don’t like the
man’s interest in that house, and I don’t think we can go ahead
with this unless we can make him stay well away from the
building.’

Fox nodded.
‘Agreed. But then I was planning to do that if it’s possible
anyway.’

27
^th
April.

Kit was looking
puzzled. Puzzled and worried. ‘She does not fit the pattern. Naira
Emerson does not fit the pattern in a number of ways.’

Fox looked
around the virtual murder wall, trying hard not to worry as Kit
was. The image of the killer’s newest victim sat on one side, set
apart from the others as Kit had yet to find anything connecting
her into the web. Emerson had not been at home; she had been
discovered by a cleaning robot, with enough programming to
recognise a dead body, in her weekend home out in the Westhampton
Beach area. It was in precinct 14, a large, underfunded precinct
because most of the properties out there had private security. It
had taken a couple of hours before Ivers had been notified of the
homicide, but the local detectives had been happy to get the case
off their books.

‘What do we
know?’ Fox said. ‘How far off-pattern is this?’

‘You are
considering the possibility of a copycat? Or a new victim of the
“demon,” perhaps?’

‘I’m
considering staying calm and examining the facts. Put your glasses
on. Let’s get serious.’

Kit had been
sufficiently distracted by the new information to appear in her
shorter skirt. Her brow knitted and she reached down, smoothing her
hands over her skirt, and the ‘fabric’ flowed down to become her
pencil skirt. The distraction of the action stopped you noticing
her jacket vanishing or her boots becoming shoes, and then she was
lifting her hands and unfolding her glasses, and slipping them on
with a nod. ‘Yes. Serious. Miss Naira Emerson, thirty-six. She is a
little older than the previous victims and is not prone to the…
excesses of the others. Her money comes from her grandparents. Her
parents died in a car accident when she was eighteen and her
grandparents supported her until their deaths six years ago. She
was heavily involved in charity work, fundraising.’

‘So she never
had to work for the money she has personally. Went from education
straight into charity fundraisers?’

Kit paused
briefly as she scanned her available data. ‘There are no references
to any form of employment in her history. She does receive small
incomes from a number of organisations which employ her for advice
on raising money. Apparently, Miss Emerson has made something of a
career of knowing older, richer people.’

‘Huh. Kit, see
if we can get a five-minute teleconference with Jackson and
Mariel.’

‘I will
enquire… Here, or should I mask the case data?’

Fox smiled.
‘Here. I want them to see Emerson’s picture and they should see
your hard work.’ She had been expecting to wait so she was a little
surprised when the two avatars appeared in the room with her and
Kit almost immediately. ‘You know, I don’t expect the top brass of
my company to come running when I call.’

‘I was doing
paperwork,’ Hoarsen replied with a shrug. ‘A five-minute break
would be good.’

‘I’m just
curious,’ Jackson added. ‘This is how you plot out your cases?’

‘Well, we’re
trying it out,’ Fox told him. ‘So far I think it’s working pretty
well, but we have a new murder victim and she doesn’t seem to fit
with the others. I’m trying to get background on–’

‘Naira
Emerson,’ Hoarsen said, looking at the image. ‘I know her. In
passing more than personally.’

‘I don’t
believe I do,’ Jackson said, peering at the picture. ‘Perhaps… I
may have seen her at some charity event.’

Hoarsen nodded.
‘You’re the wrong kind of rich man, Jackson. Emerson courted men,
and women, with intent to procure money, but she was mainly
interested in medical charities, some social schemes. You’re noted
for giving money to good causes, but it’s mostly in design,
technology, science, and education. I believe she was involved with
a group trying to get sprawlers in the MCD into paid jobs, which
included retraining, so you may have seen her at an event for
that.’ The CEO smiled. ‘Your Mister August was heavily involved
with that, Fox. It was not exactly a secret that the intent was to
clear as many unemployed people from the district as possible.’

‘I
do
remember her now,’ Jackson said. ‘Prodigious, probably enhanced,
bust which she used to considerable effect on men twice her age.
It’s flattering, in a way, but I could see her calculating
potential donations when she looked at me which took away from the
effect of her décolletage. She was intelligent, coldly so, I
thought, though I admit that was on a relatively fleeting
acquaintance.’

‘Who did she
bank with?’ Fox asked.

‘First
Transmetro,’ Kit replied, sounding a little morose. ‘Her
grandparents banked there and she continued the tradition.’

‘Okay, but what
about funds she might be helping out on? If she gives advice on
raising money, she may have contact with fund managers and
financial advisors from other banks.’

‘That will
require more research.’

‘Maybe,’
Hoarsen said, ‘but if you’re trying to link her to Manhattan
Consolidated… That project to get the homeless out of Central Park
was being managed by consultants from Manhattan Consolidated.’