Shadows (18 page)

“
She's a
witness,
”
Sheriff Cann cried.
“
Get her out of
here. I don't want any testimony she's going to make to be tainted
after the fact.
”

“
What the
hell happened?
”
the mayor demanded.

“
Not now,
Rosie,
”
Sheriff Cann replied.
“
I need to get
Charlie processed and into a holding cell.
”

The sheriff took Charlie by
one arm while the deputy that had brought him up the stairs took
his other arm. They force marched him across the square as
onlookers stood watching in stunned silence.

“
Don't
believe them, Sue,
”
Charlie cried, twisting around so he
could see her as he called out.
“
I didn't do it, I
swear.
”

Once Charlie was in the
sheriff's office, the deputy holding Susan let her go and jogged
over to the office to join the sheriff. Mayor Johns was talking
with Hammond. Susan ran over to them, desperately wanting to
understand what had happened.

“
I've got
fifteen witnesses that saw them fighting on the landing outside IT
before the quake,
”
Hammond cried, yelling rather than
talking to the mayor.

“
Charlie
wouldn't do that,
”
Susan protested, not realizing what
she was protesting. In her mind, the topic was Barney being
murdered, but Hammond had rewound to the scuffle earlier that day
and she suddenly realized how damning her comment was. Charlie had
fought over her, there was no denying that.

“
She saw the
whole thing,
”
Hammond yelled, pointing at
Susan.
“
Betcha never thought he had it in him before
then, did you?
”

Susan was stunned. She
couldn't admit it verbally, but Hammond was right. She'd never seen
any indication of violence in Charlie's behavior before yesterday.
A week ago, she would have said he couldn't hurt a fly, but now she
wasn't so sure. Charlie had been enraged beyond reason. A kiss had
seen him respond with murderous rage. Her head was spinning. She
didn't know what to believe. She wanted to believe Charlie, but she
had to admit to herself she had no reason for taking that position
other than that she loved him, and standing there, that level of
reasoning seemed fickle and shallow.

Mayor Johns
was coldly dispassionate, with calm deliberation in her voice she
addressed Hammond, saying,
“
Go
on.
”

“
We lost
power. Lights went out. It was pitch dark. We still haven't
restored power. Sections of the ceiling gave way, not the entire
floor above, but enough concrete flaked off to mean it rained rocks
and stones on our level. IT security will testify Charlie jumped
the turnstile and ran into the darkness during that
time.
”

“
But
—”
Susan began. Mayor Johns cut her
off, raising her hand in a gesture that she should hold her
peace.

“
Could he
have been trying to help? Or perhaps trying to take cover away from
the Great Fall? There was a lot of debris coming
down.
”

“
He could
have,
”
Hammond admitted,
“
But he didn't. We
found Barney by the back meeting room this morning while conducting
a second search with flashlights. At first, it looked as though
he'd been struck with a slab of concrete. His head and shoulders
were pinned by the concrete, only there was no injury to the back
of his head. His throat had been cut.
”

Susan hung her head in
silence.

“
But you
don't know it was Charlie?
”
the mayor pointed
out.

“
Did you see
the blood on him!
”
Hammond cried.
“
He's
covered in it.
”

“
A lot of
people are covered in blood,
”
the mayor
replied.

“
But it's not
his,
”
Hammond protested.
“
He doesn't have a
scratch on him.
”

“
We'll call a
trial,
”
the mayor said.
“
Sheriff Cann is
going to need time to investigate properly.
”

“
Now, come
on,
”
Hammond replied, settling his hands on his
hips.
“
You and I both know that's not possible. The
Mids are already up in arms over one of their own being slaughtered
by an Upper. How long do you think they're going to sit on that
anger?

“
It's going
to take at least three months to repair the silo. Sheriff Cann
doesn't have the resources to cover a murder investigation while
the silo is in a state of confusion, so what are you going to do?
Are you going to have Charlie sitting in a prison cell for the next
six months waiting until we can assemble a jury? What will have
happened to the evidence? What about the distortion of testimony
over time? It happens. You know it does.
”

“
So what are
you proposing?
”
the mayor asked.
“
Throw him
out of the airlock?
”

“
I'm not
saying that,
”
Hammond replied.
“
I'm saying
we need to ensure justice is met. The Order is clear on the
subject: Judgement should be swift. A delay could pervert the
course of justice. Whether innocent or guilty, judgement should be
made, and it should be made now. Any delay will cause unrest within
the silo, and after all that's happened with the quake, we can't
afford to let discord foment.
”

Mayor Johns had her lips
pursed. Her eyes were locked with Hammond's.

Hammond took
a deep breath, adding,
“
I'm saying, we have
all the evidence we're ever going to get, so we let the Quorum
decide.
”

“
The
Quorum?
”
Susan asked, interjecting into the heated
conversation.

Mayor Johns
turned to her, saying,
“
The Order allows for
a quorum to make executive and judicial decisions in a time of
crisis. There are five members: the mayor, the sheriff, the head of
IT, the head of medical and the head of
resources.
”

“
Oh,
no,
”
Susan said, she could see where this was going.
Hammond was overall head of departments. At best, a quorum vote
would be three-to-two in favor of a conviction, and that was only
if the mayor and the sheriff saw through Hammond's ruse.

“
It is a time
of crisis,
”
Hammond said calmly.
“
And look a that screen. We need a
cleaning.
”

“
NO!
”
Susan shouted, her eyes wide with
fear.

“
Sue, you're
not helping,
”
the mayor said, trying to calm
her.

Sheriff Cann came up behind
the mayor, addressing Sue as he approached.

“
Susan, you
need to leave this floor immediately.
”

“
They're
going to kill him,
”
she said, pleading with the sheriff,
looking deep within his eyes.

“
I will ask
you one more time to leave and then I will have you forcibly
removed. Your presence here, in this discussion, could constitute a
perversion of justice. You're too close to the accused. If you want
to help Charlie, you need to let the system work. If you interfere
with the system, you will disqualify yourself from providing
testimony, and right now, Charlie needs all the supporting
testimony he can get. Do you understand that?
”

He rested his
hand gently on her shoulder, adding,
“
You've got to let me
do my job.
”

Susan had
tears in her eyes. She nodded and started to walk away before
turning back to the sheriff and asking,
“
Can I see
him?
”

“
Not
now,
”
the sheriff replied, his voice stiffening as he
added,
“
Now go.
”

Chapter 10: Trial

A quorum trial was arranged
for two day's time. Those two days seemed like months to Susan, she
had nothing to do. Her apartment felt like a prison.

News of the murder swept
through the silo. In the midst of the devastation left by the
quake, it seemed incomprehensible that anyone would murder his
fellow man when it was clear everyone needed to band together for
survival. Susan would hear hushed whispers in the hallway behind
her, catch accusing glances on the stairway, and found those she
once rubbed shoulders with shunned her as though she had been the
one to draw the knife across Barney's throat.

Her mother sobbed for hours
on end, more so for her daughter than either of the boys. Rumors
were rife. If they were to be believed, Susan was sleeping with
both Barney and Charlie and had been doing so for years. She was a
slut, a whore, it was all her fault. Anything she said in her
defense only made it look as though she had something to hide, so
she said little, even to friends.

The day of the trial arose
and Susan headed up to the cafeteria level before dawn. She wore a
brand new pair of coveralls, neatly ironed and starched. Her mother
pleaded for her to put on some makeup, something to make her look
more soft and feminine, but she thought it would make her look like
a tart, and given the innuendo circulating about her, that didn't
seem like a good idea to perpetuate. She swept her hair back into a
tight ponytail, unable to face wearing her hair-band. Heading up
the staircase early allowed her to avoid most people, whether they
were porters going about their assignments or curious onlookers
wanting to see how the quorum process played out.

Susan may have disagreed
with Hammond, but she could see he was right about the level of
interest in the murder. In the midst of the reconstruction effort,
the trial took center stage. Under normal circumstances, most of
the conflict within the silo arose from class privileges, with
those Down Deep being the bedrock, the foundation that supported
the Mids and the Uppers. For the mechanics, seeing the Mids take on
the Uppers was strangely satisfying. Although both she and Charlie
technically lived in the Upper, they were mostly shunned; her
because of her parents, him because both his father and grandfather
had been cleaners, but that didn't matter to those in the Deep.
They saw the Uppers getting a taste of their own medicine. Susan
had heard that Sheriff Cann had arranged for his deputies to spread
word of the outcome throughout the silo. He was clearly worried
about unrest and wanted to avoid rumors and conspiracy
theories.

Susan walked out onto the
top floor with all these thoughts swirling through her head. The
floor was quiet. There were cooks in the kitchen. The lights had
come on in the cafeteria but there was no one at the serving line
or sitting at the tables. Charlie would have been there if he could
have, she thought.

On the massive wall-screen,
smoke continued to billow from beyond the shattered remains of the
hillside. The ferocity of that unseen furnace had not abated in the
best part of a week. Smoke rose, enfolding itself as it mushroomed
into the sky, dusting the hillside in fine ash. Susan wondered what
Charlie made of it, She wanted to talk to him about it, if only to
distract herself from what had happened to Barney and what might
happen to him.

She sat on the bench seat
next to the mayor's office, across from the sheriff's office.
Lights were on within both offices, and she caught a glimpse of the
sheriff moving around through the horizontal slats covering his
windows. She so wanted to ask if she could see Charlie, but that
would never happen, not until after the trial.

Dawn broke above the hills
on the wall-screen. Workers began milling around the cafeteria,
grabbing breakfast before returning to the levels for the
day.

One of the deputies came
and sat with her.

“
Hi
Mitch,
”
she said after he failed to say anything. He
must have felt more awkward that she did. Like so many within the
silo, he probably didn't know what to think of the rumors or who to
believe. She smiled, trying to be nice.

“
Hey,
Sue,
”
he said. Well, she thought, at least he remembers my
name.

“
I'm acting
bailiff for the day,
”
he added.
“
Sorry, but I'm
here to make sure none of the witnesses talk to each other before
or after providing testimony.
”