Fox Hunt (Fox Meridian Book 1) (16 page)

‘I want Sandoval to assist on this one,’ Canard snapped.

‘Sure,’ Fox replied easily. ‘He can start by coming with me and apologising to Shark for the arrest.’

Part Four: Music to Get the Blood Pumping

New York Metro, 23
^rd
January 2060.

Fox looked down at the corpse slumped against the wall of a cheap apartment just south of Rikers. There had been an airport there decades ago that had been abandoned to sprawlers when the need for three airfields in the area had gone away, and then someone had come in and put up four apartment blocks which were a little cheaper to rent space in than those in places that did not overlook a giant prison. People on the way up from the Sprawl moved into blocks like this. Some of them kept on going up, and others fell.

‘Who was she?’ Fox asked.

‘Brianne Adamshi, nineteen, moved in here nine months ago after landing a contract with ATW. Upcoming music artist.’ The speaker was Detective Helen Dillan who had been assigned the case by dispatch. She had recognised similarities between the body and the Trent case, and had done what the protocols demanded and called in Fox. ‘Don’t know what her music was like, but it’s a damn shame either way.’

‘Nineteen? Shit, yes.’ Her eyes flicked over the scene. Someone had knocked over a lamp in this apartment, but there was little indication of a struggle. Blood was splattered over the wall above the body. Blood and brains and fragments of bone had been slowly making their way down to the cheap carpet for the last couple of hours, but the largest concentration of red was high enough up the wall that the girl had to have been held off the ground when the killer had shot her. ‘So he held her up, pressed her against the wall.’

‘Scan suggests pressure over the mouth and jaw which fits with that scenario. Guy’s strong.’

‘Yeah. Then he shoots her in the eye.’

‘From about fifteen centimetres. Ten mil bullet, explosive payload. Whole thing sounds too much like your case to ignore. How d’you wanna play it?’

A sound behind them made them turn to see Sandoval appearing in the apartment’s only doorway. He looked a little less the attractive detective in his crime scene suit, but then Fox was vaguely impressed that he had remembered to wear it. ‘Glad you could join us, Sandoval. Do you know Detective Dillan?’

‘We’ve… met,’ Dillan mumbled.

The grin on Sandoval’s face, even partially obscured by his mask, told Fox all she needed to know. ‘Good, no need for introductions. Okay, since Canard has saddled me with Sandoval, and the killer seems to have saddled you with the two of us, we’ll work on this together until it’s clear it’s the same case, or not, and figure things out from there. You two can canvas her neighbours, and I’ll start going down the corporate line. Dillan, lean on the techs to get the comparison work done.’

‘If this is the same guy,’ Sandoval said, his eyes on the wall and its new coat of speckled, blood-red paint, ‘then we may be looking at a serial. I mean… no
obvious
link between a well-known IB vid star and a more or less unknown musician…’

‘Even if it’s the same guy and no connection, it’s not a serial until we’ve got three corpses.’ Fox looked down at the body of what had once been an attractive young woman. ‘I’ll get my agent to run the MO again anyway. Maybe he’s done this before.’

~~~

‘I am combing as many records as I can access as we speak,’ Kit said as Fox dropped onto her sofa with a mug of coffee. ‘So far I have detected no other murder presenting a sufficiently similar pattern of evidence.’

‘But you’re still looking?’

‘There are a lot of unsolved murder cases on file.’

‘Huh, yeah.’

‘I also sent a request to Vali asking whether Miss Adamshi used his viron.’

‘Came up with that on your own, did you?’

Suddenly the virtual girl looked worried. ‘Yes. Was I wrong?’

Fox smiled. ‘No, it’s a good point, but he may consider it private information. He may want a warrant–’

‘She did go there, but never to Alexandria. Vali responded quite quickly. So quickly that I wondered whether he was expecting to receive the request. He seems quite keen to assist us in this case.’

‘I still think he’s quite keen to get into your virtual panties, but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Look at you, developing your own contacts.’

Kit’s cheeks coloured and she actually squirmed a little. ‘I do not believe I am programmed for that sort of interaction. Anyway, Vali said that Miss Adamshi used the name “Adamshi” in Niflhel, and that she frequented a virtual club where she would act as the DJ and sing. She has not been in the server for over a month, however.’

‘So it’s a link, but a weak one.’

‘That would be an accurate assessment, but unless some hidden connection exists, this is the strongest link we have between them. My initial analysis of their sociometric profiles suggests that it is
highly
unlikely that they knew each other or have ever met.’

‘Well… Keep looking. You got me an interview with her agent?’

‘I will keep looking. I don’t sleep so I have plenty of time to look. You have an appointment with Miss Adamshi’s agent via telepresence at nine tomorrow.’

Fox frowned. ‘I generally prefer to meet with them physically.’

‘That would be difficult in this case. Her agent was assigned to her by ATW and is an infomorph.’

‘Oh… Okay, well I suppose it means I don’t have to leave the apartment.’

24
^th
January.

Brianne Adamshi’s agent took the form of a mid-height, middle-aged, slightly balding man, a little overweight with watery, grey eyes and round, wire-framed spectacles. He was dressed in a dark grey suit. The stereotyping was almost painful and it did not get better.

‘Inspector Meridian,’ the AI said as he appeared in front of the window in Fox’s apartment, ‘I’m Melvin, Miss Adamshi’s management agent. I’ve been asked to state that ATW is horrified by the news of her death and we will do anything in our power to assist your investigation.’

‘Thank you, I–’

‘Commensurate with international law, company ethical policy, and privacy regulations, of course.’

Fox managed a tight grin. ‘Of course.’ What the infomorph meant was that he would tell her absolutely nothing if he could get away with it. ‘This is my agent, Kit. She’ll be recording the interview. Sit if you wish.’ She settled onto her own couch, knowing that he was seeing her in a suit while she was actually still wearing a wrap; thinking about it, this was much better than having to interview humans in their offices.

‘Sitting does not make me more or less comfortable, Inspector, but thank you for offering.’

‘Do you know whether Miss Adamshi had any family? We’ve been unable to track anyone down.’

‘Her parents died in the twenty-fifty-six influenza epidemic. She has no siblings.’

Fox frowned. The epidemic that had swept the North American Metro regions in fifty-six had killed around three million people, though the numbers were a little vague because all the deaths had occurred in the Sprawl. Standard anti-viral nanosymbionts had blocked the disease for everyone able to afford them; the epidemic had killed the poor and there had been an outcry which had subsided quickly and been forgotten. And during that time, a fifteen-year-old girl had been left to fend for herself in the Sprawl. Fox could imagine what an attractive young woman had done to survive, and then just when she had climbed out of that life, some bastard had killed her.

‘Miss Adamshi was a recent signing?’

‘She was signed to our audio production label on the fourteenth of February twenty-fifty-nine. Her first single-track release was made available in April and was well-received. We were hoping to release another ten tracks at the end of this month with considerable advertising. A decision on whether to go ahead is pending.’

‘I’m sure it is. That single release was well-received. Was there any negative fan reaction? Or the opposite: anyone appearing to be excessively interested in her?’

‘We noticed nothing. You are welcome to obtain a warrant to gain access to her fan mail. Of course, we maintain records of all messages received for one year in accordance with normal legal requirements.’

‘Yes, of course you do. Were you aware of her activities in an online club in the Niflhel viron?’ Fox asked.

The question seemed to take Melvin a little by surprise. He paused, literally ceasing to move for maybe half a second before whatever was occupying his thoughts released his avatar. ‘Miss Adamshi made a name for herself performing on free, online sites. Obviously we requested that she cease such activity when we signed her.’

‘Yeah, obviously.’

‘She viewed the Niflhel site as different because it was private and subscription. Still, we requested that she cease her activities there in December.’

‘Uh-huh, and no one objected to her shift from free performances to purely paid ones? There were no threats? No one suggested that she might be selling out?’

‘Such messages are not uncommon when a new artist is signed to a large company. We routinely filter them to ensure that the artist is not troubled with–’

‘But you take them seriously? You presumably ensure that your client’s security is sufficient to protect them from anyone meaning them harm. You look for direct threats and react to them. You inform NAPA whenever such a situation arises.
When
I get that warrant you’re demanding I obtain, there will be no delay in delivering
all
the data and I will
not
find any evidence suggesting negligence.’

There was another freeze in Melvin’s animation, this time lasting longer, maybe a full second. Then the simulated manager smiled the most sickly-sweet smile Fox had seen this side of an accident damages lawyer. ‘There were no messages which raised particular red flags, Inspector, but it is possible that we missed something. In the interests of furthering your investigation, we will voluntarily hand over the data immediately. We would request that a post facto authorisation for acquisition be sent at your earliest convenience, to cover our own legal requirements.’

Fox smiled back. ‘Kit will be happy to take receipt of the data. Kit, would you please put through the request for the data to HQ? Please tell them to make all haste.’

Kit was also smiling, and she seemed to have mastered the diplomatic smile quite well. ‘Of course, Inspector. I am receiving the data records now. I’ll begin processing them immediately.’

‘Thank you, Kit. Thank you, Melvin. I believe we can work with that, but if anyone at ATW should think of anything, please contact Kit and I’ll be available to interview anyone as and when required.’

Melvin nodded, the smile still fixed on his face. ‘Goodbye, Inspector.’ And then he was gone.

‘What a nice… man.’

Kit wrinkled her nose. ‘A class three. They lack creativity and proper emotional development.’

‘That explains why he seemed more like a leech than I’d have expected.’

‘It would also explain why he was so terrible at lying. Lying is a creative process. I suspect the conversation was monitored, or that he contacted a human when he ran into difficulties.’

‘Huh. Do you know what you’re looking for in these mails?’

Kit looked thoughtful for a second. ‘Any indications of obsessive interest, anger at her stopping free performances, or extreme dislike of her work. These will need to be further analysed once they have been weeded out of the mass, but I should be able to create a shortlist within a few hours.’

‘Don’t forget to check for any actual threats. We’ll prioritise those for analysis.’

Kit’s lips twitched. ‘Obviously.’

‘Don’t you start!’

~~~

‘Inspectors clearly get more money than detectives,’ Dillan commented as she looked around Fox’s lounge. ‘You actually have a view.’

Fox grinned. ‘Clear the window, Kit. Let Detective Dillan see the view.’

Dillan walked over to the window as the panes became transparent and looked out. Across the water, the clutter of what had once been Jersey City and was now the Jersey Housing Combine presented a grey wall with a couple of shining spires spearing the sky above it. To the left, the rising concrete wall of the Hudson North Barrier was a mess of metalwork and machines, and thick, grey aggregate construction. ‘Oh… Okay, but that does not look like a cheap agent.’

‘Kit? No, Terri won’t tell me what they’re planning to sell the range for, but I agree, she’s expensive. I’m consumer testing her for MarTech.’

‘Uh-huh. Sure. We’re waiting for Sandoval?’

‘Detective Sandoval has entered the building,’ Kit announced. ‘He should be here in less than a minute. I have started the coffee brewing and I can distribute it when he arrives.’

Dillan grinned at the virtual kitsune. ‘I like you. You know how to speak to a cop’s soul.’

Kit smiled back. ‘I am afraid I did not know to have doughnuts available due to the short notice.’

‘You’re a class four.’ Dillan’s eyebrows went up as she spoke. ‘That’s… wow. I make do with a standard VA.’

‘So do I,’ Fox told her. ‘Kit’s more like a backup. Sit down, we’ll get started when Sandoval–’

The apartment’s outer door slid open and the big, blonde detective stepped through. ‘Hi. Not late, am I?’

‘I did say “as soon as you could get here,”’ Fox told him. ‘Park your ass and we’ll get going. Kit, set the window back to screen mode. Sandoval, that’s Kit, my agent. She can handle displaying anything you need to show us.’ Fox started for the sofa, noting that Dillan was already sitting and had positioned herself so that Fox would be sitting beside Sandoval, assuming she took the middle… But at least the spider-like house robot was handing out the coffee mugs, and Sandoval was attractive enough and had not, yet, given much indication of being an ass. ‘What did the neighbours have to say?’

Sandoval had developed the kind of expression that it sometimes took cops a decade to develop, a sort of resigned yet annoyed glower. ‘No one saw or heard anything.’