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  Scarlet looked at the head. “Well, at least the cortex’s intact. But she’ll need a new body. What happened?”

  “An assassin bot tried to kill me. Jess realised it and shielded me from the blast.”

  “She saved your life?”

  “Yeah. That’s why you’ve got to save her.”

  “You liked her, didn’t you? She was more than just a fembot to you. You built an emotional attachment to her. I get it. They’re not just pieces of inanimate material. They’re almost human.”

  “Yeah.” She was right. Jess had kept him sane after his wife and daughter were killed. They learned sign language together, which gave them a bond, something personal between them.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have judged you so harshly. It’s late. Why don’t you stay the night. I have plenty of rooms free.”

  “Isn’t that awkward?”

  “Have you anywhere better to stay?”

  “No. But I could find a cell at the Justice Department.”

  “You’re staying. There’s one condition… You need to take a shower. You smell like a hobo.”

  Later, in the shower he wondered what Scarlet had been talking about earlier. He gave up. Women — he had no idea how their minds worked.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The following morning, Shelby started work on the case at the Justice Department. He plugged in the pen drive the Chief Justice had given him into his holo-screen. It projected a 3D image of various videos taken from different traffic cams. The first sequence showed Chambers’s land vehicle arrive at the demonstration. The demonstrators recognised her, surrounded the vehicle chanting abuse, and bashed their boards against the vehicle.

  The fact that the demonstration took place at the precise location and time she was due to arrive implied that the organisers must have known her itinerary in advance. That could only mean that someone close to her was working with the assassins.

  The protestors broke the windscreen, and the chauffeur abandoned the car to run away into the crowd. Next, three men smashed the side windows and pulled Diane Chambers out of the vehicle to the chants “kill the droid bitch” from the demonstrators.

  The next sequence showed the men carrying her through a side alley, which was then blocked by a vehicle. What followed shocked Shelby. Two men held her face down while the third ripped off her clothing and underwear with a knife. Then he calmly smiled at the security camera, unzipped himself and raped her. Each man did the same before one man coldly poured petrol over her body and set her alight.

  Shelby felt sick as he watched her fighting for her life in the flames. He had experienced some horrific scenes during his military career in times of war and insurgence, but nothing as callous and premeditated as this. The Chief Justice was right: this was the type of case that cried out for justice. The men that did this were evil. They could have killed her instantly. Instead, they raped her and watched her burn to death. Shelby felt anger well up inside him. He wouldn’t rest until he found these men and put them down.

  The second time he watched the video, he put his emotions to one side and looked for evidence to identify the men. Small details, like the military tattoo on one man’s arm, showed they might have a Special Forces background. And the expensive watches and designer shoes they wore showed they had expensive lifestyles. These men were not hot-headed demonstrators who had gone too far. They were well-paid assassins. But why would well-paid assassins act the way they did?

  An hour later Shelby was at the site of the crime standing in the spot where the crime took place. The forensic team had left and all that remained was some torn police tape blowing in the wind. Shelby looked up towards the security video camera that had witnessed the crime. The security camera had been originally placed to cover the back entrance of a casino, but it was no longer directed at the entrance. It looked like it had been moved deliberately to record the crime. He looked for the other security camera that covered the first stages of the crime. Again, it looked like the camera had been moved. Whoever paid these assassins didn’t just want this woman dead, they wanted the world to witness a horrific spectacle.

  “You a police officer?” said a woman behind him.

  He turned. She was an old woman pulling a trolley bag.

  “I’m a marshal.”

  “Same thing. I knew people were angry with her, the android maker. But I never expected they would hurt her like they did.”

  “You saw it?”

  She shook her head. “I saw nothing. Not saying anything.”

  “Hey, I could really do with some help.” He handed her a fifty credit note. “Anything unusual… you don’t need to go on record.”

  “Unusual? If they did that to me I would have fought them tooth and nail. I saw her eyes. It was as though she wasn’t all there.”

  “Thanks.” He didn’t know what he was thanking her for, but it seemed the polite thing to do. Some victims freeze when attacked; others fight. He made a mental note and left.

  * * *

  In the afternoon, Shelby paid a visit to Chief Anderson at the Angel City Police Department. The Chief was a tough fifty-year-old no-nonsense career woman. The Chief kept Shelby waiting for half an hour outside her office before she saw him. It seemed as though she was trying to make a point that she was in charge of policing in Angel City, and no one else would tell her otherwise.

  She shook Shelby’s hand. “So Chief Justice Haglon says I should let you lead the Chambers’s case. What experience as a detective do you have?”

  “None. But I'm good at tracking down fugitives.”

  “And killing them too… I've seen the record of your body count and your more recent massacre of the Morelli clan. You’re a maverick, Shelby. But if that’s what the Chief Justice wants. Then I won’t stand in your way. Those shits deserve everything they get.”

  “A marshal only uses lethal force when it’s justified.”

  “So you intend to hunt down these men and kill them?”

  “The video evidence is pretty conclusive about their guilt. When arrested, like anyone else, they’ll be given a chance to surrender.”

  “But they never do, do they?”

  Shelby didn’t answer.

  “But who’s really behind it all? Where’s the detective work to find out who's pulling the strings?”

  “You have a theory?”

  “I can do better than that. I’ve got the suspect sweating it out in the interview room right now. Do you want to see what real policing looks like? I’ll show you.”

  They walked out of her office and down the corridor to the interview room. Chief Anderson stuck her head around the door and called out the two detectives interviewing the suspect.

  “These are detectives Bonny and Taylor.” She nodded towards Shelby. “This is Special Marshal Shelby. Tell him what you’ve got.”

  “He’s James Larsen, Head of Action Against Androids. He claims the three men joined the group two days before the demonstration. Claims to know nothing about them. But there’s no record of them in the membership lists. We think we can link him to the men. We traced three large payments from an AAA bank account to three Cayman Islands’ accounts and another payment to Foulks’s bank account on the day following the demonstration. All the payments came from Larsen’s computer.”

  “Who’s Foulks?”

  “He’s Chambers’s chauffeur. He disappeared after the demonstration. Two days later we pulled him out of the river with a hole in the back of his head.”

  That confirmed Shelby’s suspicion that someone gave her itinerary away.

  “So this was an assassination?” said Shelby.

  “And we’ve got the guy who ordered it.”

  “Has he admitted it yet?”

  “We’ll break him, you’ll see.”

  “Can I interrogate him?” said Shelby.

  “You want to beat the crap out of him?”

  “It might give me a lead on the three suspects.”

  The Chief paused for a few se
conds to think. “Fine. I’m not having you complain to Chief Justice Haglon I haven’t cooperated with you. You have five minutes with him.”

  * * *

  Shelby entered the interview room with detective Bonny. Larsen sat handcuffed to a table in the middle of the room. Everything about him said nerd: scruffy jacket and jeans, a thick matt of unruly hair and pebble glasses. It wasn’t the image of your average psychopath.

  Shelby sat down opposite Larsen. On the wall behind Shelby was a large flat screen. Shelby turned to Bonny.

  “Put the recording on.”

  Bonny fiddled with the controls and the murder scene came on screen.

  Larsen tried to look anywhere but at the screen.

  Shelby stood up, walked around the desk, grabbed Larsen’s head with both hands, and smashed it on the table. “Look at the damn screen.”

  Larsen stared up at the screen.

  Shelby went back to his chair.

  “Start the recording again.”

  Shelby stared into Larsen’s eyes as Larsen watched the screen. Larsen was nervous, terrified about taking his eyes away from the screen. He couldn’t keep still, playing with his fingers, his mouth intermittently gulping air.

  “The witch is dead, isn’t that what you wrote on social media. Are you pleased with yourself?” said Shelby.

  “No. No. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

  “Regret paying them to do that to her?”

  “I paid no one. I wouldn’t. Not that.”

  “But the records show that the payments came from your computer.”

  “I didn’t. I didn’t. You’ve got to believe me. The records must be wrong. Please believe me.”

  “Then who did?”

  “I don’t know. But someone has set me up. I didn’t do anything. You’ve got to believe me.”

  Shelby just stared at him.

  “I wouldn’t do that,” he repeated.

  “You know the punishment for this type of capital crime… Death by lethal injection.”

  Larsen’s jaw opened. He was speechless.

  “I’ve seen what happens and what it does to criminals like you. They strap you down and fix the catheter to your arm. It’s only then you will realise you face a black abyss. There’s no coming back. No appeal. And those watching you are only too pleased to see justice served. I’ll be there watching you. The last thing you’ll see is my smiling face.”

  “No. No. Please no…”

  Shelby stood up and walked out of the interview room, followed by Bonny.

  “Well,” said Chief Anderson, “did you get anything from him?”

  “No. Are you sure you’ve got the right man?”

  Chief Anderson’s face went crimson with anger. “Why do you say that?”

  “A guilty man would have tried to concoct some kind of story to explain his innocence. He hasn’t got one. He hasn’t even thought about it… How strong is the evidence against him?”

  “The payments to Foulks and the Cayman Islands were traced back to his computer and were authorised by his password authorities.”

  “And computers are infallible?”

  “That’s for his defence attorney to argue. He has motive, means and opportunity. That’s enough for me.”

  “Fine.”

  “What I need from you is to find Diane Chambers’s killers and arrest them. We need at least one of them alive to testify against Larsen. So please try not to kill them all.”

  “I’ll do my best. Do we have any leads from the video evidence?”

  “We’re using the video images to track them down now, as we speak. We’re using Guardian. It shouldn’t take long. Detectives Bonny and Taylor will give you their files when we identify them and any help you need.”

  “Thanks Chief.”

  “Don’t thank me. I still think you’re the wrong man for this job. It needs a detective. So I’ve asked Detective Bonny to assist you.”

  The Chief walked away leaving Shelby with Detective Bonny. Detective Bonny took Shelby to one of the spare detective workstations and showed him how to access the case files. There wasn’t much in the file yet: the autopsy report, witness reports, the video evidence and James Larsen’s file.

  Shelby opened James Larsen’s file. It made little sense. He was a former disgruntled employee, sacked by one of the major cyber companies. So he set up a social media site aimed at criticising the large cyber businesses that were manufacturing androids to replace human workers. His blog touched a nerve with many youngsters that had seen their job prospects decimated by the growth of android workers. And so, the Action Against Androids movement began and took hold. Larsen became the messiah of the movement. He preached hatred against androids and encouraged direct action against the cyber companies, their directors, and employees.

  Shelby wasn’t convinced that Larsen was behind the murder. Larsen was a nerd, not a psychopathic killer. But there was little point in voicing his concerns until he had more evidence.

  Someone coughed behind him to catch his attention. It was Detective Bonny.

  “What is it, Bonny?”

  “There’s a problem. We’ve been running the suspects images through Guardian for the last twenty-four hours and we’ve found nothing. Unless they’re sitting in a closed room for the last twenty-four hours away from any security cameras or satellite surveillance systems, they must be dead.”

  “You think someone has killed them.”

  “It’s the only answer I can think of. Guardian has access to every single government and private security system and the most powerful satellite surveillance system on this planet. No one can move in public without being caught by the facial recognition program.”

  “What about cosmetic surgery?”

  “It can’t fool Guardian. There are some things you can’t change.”

  “Then perhaps Guardian has been compromised.”

  “Are you crazy? Have you seen all the security around it? Every request, every change of software is verified by dual operators and a host of controls.”

  “But who designed it?”

  “The biggest cyber company in the world, AndroDigm. Their reputation depends on maintaining absolute security. There’s no way they would put their reputation at risk.”

  “Doesn’t it seem a little odd to you that the victim of this crime was the former CEO of the same company responsible for Guardian?”

  “Hey, it’s a coincidence, unless you’re into that conspiracy theory shit. I’ve seen the security around that system. It’s incorruptible.”

  There’s no system that perfect, thought Shelby. But it was pointless arguing with him. “You’re right.”

  * * *

  On the way back to Scarlet’s apartment, Shelby stopped off at the local hospital to check up on Jim Cordite. He was recovering well.

  “I brought you grapes,” said Shelby.

  “I don’t eat grapes.”

  “Okay, I’ll eat them for you.” Shelby popped a grape in his mouth.

  “So you’re still alive. Morelli’s crew haven’t found you yet.”

  “Looks that way.”

  “I can’t wait to get out of here. They’ll be discharging me soon.”

  “Maybe you should stay at Rosie’s place. She’ll look after you, while you recover. She told me she would be pleased to help.”

  “You don’t mind that? I thought you and Rosie…”

  “No. We’re just friends.”

  “You couldn’t get me a few things from my apartment, could you?”

  “That might be a bit difficult…”

  “Why?”

  “It got kinda blown up… These things happen. Part of the job. You’ve got insurance though?”

  “What! The premiums will double… You got my apartment blown up, didn’t you?”

  Shelby sighed. “It was a setup. I got a message you wanted to see me there. And… the assassin bot did the rest.”

  “Damn you. I’m retired Shelby, I can do without all this crap.�
��

  “Leave it to me. I know some people who can fix it up for you on the cheap. My treat.”

  “Treat? My ass.”

  “I’ll get you a malt instead of the grapes.”

  “Take care, you shit. They’re not going to stop trying to get you. Maybe you should get out of the City for a while.”

  “Maybe I will, once I’ve solved the case I’m working on.”

  “What case is that?”

  “Some high-flying business woman murdered at one of the AAA rallies.”

  “You should keep your head down. Not be taking on high-profile cases. You’re an idiot.”

  “You don’t understand. These killers are real bad asses. They need to be taken down. That’s what I do. It’s what I’m good at.”

  “Take care.”

  Shelby left the hospital and headed to Scarlet’s apartment.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  When Scarlet woke that morning, she was panting. She had been dreaming about the cabin. The dream had been so lucid: an erotic fantasy. She was in the bed with Shelby making love. But when she looked into the mirror on the wall, it wasn’t her face looking back at her. It was Jess.

  Her hand felt the cold sheet next to her and confirmed she was on her own. A shiver went down her spine. Why couldn’t she get this man out of her head? So he screws androids. What’s wrong with that? Many rich celebrities had admitted to using sex droids. But to Scarlet, androids were intelligent beings capable of emotional feelings. They shouldn’t be used as sex toys.

  Scarlet got up, showered and dressed. She had a lot of work to do that day. She wanted to give Jess a new android body. That way Shelby would owe her and have to find her mother’s killers. But first, she had to find her mother’s secret laboratory.

  She remembered when her mother first purchased the apartment five years ago. It was when she had been at university. Her mother had always been obsessive about security. She remembered her mother talking about her secret laboratory being below the main apartment. It could only be accessed via a hidden spiral staircase.

  Scarlet looked around the apartment. Where could the entrance be?

  “Jo, where’s the entrance to my mother’s workshop?”