Red Shadows (19 page)

"It's not." Weller was brusque. After seeing the news crews waiting for them as they arrived at the Melanie Arnwold crime scene, he seemed to greet the words 'high profile' with particular disdain. "There's nothing to be alarmed about. We're simply following a line of inquiry in an entirely routine investigation."

"Alarmed?" Waving a hand, Mortimer batted the concept away, "Not at all." He indicated a pair of chairs in front of his desk. "Please, won't you both sit down?"

It had started with a call from Central Control regarding the details on each victim that Med-Judge Noland had been forwarding to MAC for analysis ever since the investigation had become a serial case. By comparing their names to every computer database in the city, MAC had discovered that the victims had all been covered by a private medical insurance policy with HelixHealth - a wholly-owned subdivision of a major pharmaceutical megacorp based in Mega-City One called HelixCorp.

Now, Anderson and Weller had journeyed to HelixCorp's corporate headquarters for more information. They might have expected their inquiries to be palmed off on some middle management functionary, but instead their request for information had been directed into the office of the top dog himself - Douglas Mortimer, the company CEO. Granted, this was Mega-City One, where you could achieve a lot more with a few kind words and a Judge's badge than you could with just a few kind words. All the same, the CEO's willingness to deal with such an apparently minor matter set alarm bells ringing distantly inside Anderson's head. The whole thing smacked of a guilty conscience.

"Can I ask Hilary to get you anything? Some synthi-caf, perhaps? Or some other beverage?" Seeing both Judges shake their heads, Mortimer dismissed the secretary before taking a seat once more. "Thank you, Hilary. Hold my calls, will you. If we need anything else, I'll let you know."

"I must admit, I'm surprised that you agreed to see us," Anderson said as the secretary left the office and closed the door. She wanted to test Mortimer's reactions, to ascertain whether he gave any indication of guilt or evasion. "As Judge Weller said, this is an entirely routine inquiry."

"Yes. Well, frankly, we do a lot of work for the Justice Department here at HelixCorp." Mortimer gave her another smile. "Particularly with your Med Division. That being the case, I wanted to ensure you had every help in your investigation." The smile grew broader, as though he was delivering the end of year results at some shareholders' meeting. "Now, please, how can I help?"

"We're following a lead on a series of killings that have all involved people who had insurance with HelixHealth," Weller told him.

"Killings? You mean murders? Why, that's just terrible," Mortimer shook his head sadly. "But I can't see how their membership of HelixHealth could have any bearing. It's strictly a medical insurance program run for the benefit of HelixCorp employees and their families. I have a policy myself. It's one of the perks that comes with working for the company." His brow furrowing in thought, he paused for a moment. "Of course, if you could give me the names of the people concerned, I can compare them with the records in our database."

Pulling a data-crystal from his belt, Weller handed it to Mortimer. Then, while the Judges waited, Mortimer slotted the crystal into his comp-terminal and used the keyboard to scroll through the information as it appeared on-screen.

"Hmm-hmm." Typing something into the keyboard, Mortimer waited as the screen changed, and then turned to the Judges once more. "Yes, I've checked the database. According to our records, all the names you've given me are people who qualified for discount rates on a HelixHealth policy by having a parent who once worked for HelixCorp. At first glance, I can't see anything else here that might help you. Their policies were all up-to-date. If you wish, I can print you out a copy of their medical records."

"We'll need that," Weller said to him. "Along with everything you've got on HelixHealth, its policy holders, budgets, and anything else you may have in your records. A Tek-Judge will also be arriving in the next few minutes to analyse your computer system at source. This is an open Justice Department investigation. Until it is closed, we expect every assistance."

"Of course, you do realise, that's potentially a
lot
of information." His hands returning to the keyboard, Mortimer pressed a button and checked something on the screen. "The latest figures at my disposal indicate HelixHealth has over forty-five thousand policy holders."

"You said the victims all qualified for medical insurance because their parents worked for HelixCorp?" Anderson asked him. "But we know they were all forty years of age. Surely it's unusual to continue offering discount rates to employees' children long after they've grown up and become adults?"

"Unusual?" Mortimer smiled broadly at her once more. Again, she had the sense that it was a smooth and polished façade. "At other companies perhaps, but not here at HelixCorp. Every time a new employee starts, we tell them that once they join HelixCorp they and their children are covered by our medical insurance for life. As I say, it's an additional perk that comes with the job. In the end, it's all about recruitment. Now most jobs are done by robots, recruiting the right calibre of people for the few human jobs that are left has become all the more vital. Schemes like HelixHealth help make us seem a more attractive employment prospect than our competitors. That in turn allows us to recruit only the most top-notch candidates to work for the company. Believe me, over the years it's been a policy that has paid more than its share of dividends. 'HelixCorp: recruiting the right people, with the right outlook.' It's one of our slogans."

"Uh-huh." Rising from her chair, Anderson indicated to Weller that they should leave, and turned to head towards the door. "Okay. I'd say that about covers everything. Don't worry about those printouts, the Tek can access the data direct from your mainframe once he arrives. Thank you for your time. You've been a great deal of help."

"Don't mention it," Mortimer called after them as they left the office. "To use another one of our slogans: 'Here at HelixCorp we like to make life easy'."

"Are you out of your drokking mind?" Weller said to her a few minutes later, once they were out of earshot of Mortimer's office and moving towards the exit from the building. "What the hell were you doing ending the interview so early? There was no way that creep was on the up-and-up. Did you see the way he reacted when he saw you were a Psi-Judge? The drokker almost wet his pants."

"I saw it," Anderson replied. "That's why I read his mind while we were talking. I couldn't do a deep probe without making him suspicious, so I just read his surface thoughts. He's nervous, all right, but it has nothing to do with our investigation. It seems Mortimer neglected to report some minor share dealings on his most recent income tax assessment. That's why he was so keen to see us personally when he heard two Judges had arrived on the scene, he was afraid we were here to investigate him for tax evasion. From what I could read in his thoughts, he needn't have worried. I'll forward what I've learnt to the Accounts Division, but given the sums involved I'm not even sure failing to report the share dealings was actually a crime. It looks like Mortimer is just another citizen who gets overly nervous around Judges. It's the uniform, I guess. It may be designed to put the fear of Grud into perps, but it does the same for innocent citizens as well."

"What about the HelixHealth angle?" Weller asked her. They had reached the parking lot and were heading for their Lawmasters. "It's the first solid evidence we've come across of any kind of connection between the victims."

"Yeah, I was wondering about that myself." Climbing onto her Lawmaster, Anderson hit the ignition switch. "Maybe the killer has hacked into the HelixHealth database and he's using it to choose his victims? I figure we contact Tek Division and ask them to make sure the Tek they send checks the HelixCorp security logs to see if anybody has tried to break into their system recently. On top of that, I'd say they should compile a list of all the people who had access to the HelixHealth database and see if any of them have previous criminal convictions or a history of mental health problems. It's a job for the Teks now. Rather than shuffling through paperwork or databases, I'd say you and me would be better off following other lines of investigation while the Tek Division sees what it can come up with."

"Other lines?" Mounting his own Lawmaster, Weller turned on the engine. "Right now we seem drokk out of leads. You've got any new ideas, Anderson, I'm open to suggestions."

"We could go back to the crime scene blocks," Anderson said to him. "You could re-canvass the neighbours while I perform a deep telepathic probe on the minds of the block supers. You remember I was saying maybe the killer had used his powers to influence the supers into taking the surveillance cameras off-line for maintenance? Maybe if we're lucky he hasn't covered his tracks as well as he thinks. Maybe, if I scan them, I'll be able to find some kind of remaining memory of the killer in one of the block supers' heads. You never know what we might be able to shake loose, either of us. Either way, it's got to be better than sitting around hoping that the Tek Division will do our job for us." She checked her watch. "I make it nearly midday. If our perp stays true to form, sometime after twenty-one hundred hours tonight he's going to kill a new victim. "That gives us about nine hours to find him and stop him before another innocent person dies."

A Psi-Judge! They sent a Psi-Judge. Sitting alone in his office once the Judges had left, Douglas Mortimer felt an icy hand of dread clutching at his heart. By now, they must know everything! Any minute, they'll come back in through that door and tell me I'm under arrest.

"So that's the famous Psi-Judge Anderson? I'd heard she was attractive, but, really, the holo-pictures I've seen hardly do her justice."

Turning at the sound of an arrogant and sardonic voice behind him, Mortimer saw a thin, blond-haired man in an immaculately tailored grey suit emerge through a side door connecting to an ante-room adjoining his office.

"Carlyle?" There was an edge of panic in Mortimer's voice. "You heard them? They wanted to know about HelixHealth. You said this wouldn't happen. You said-"

"Of course I heard it." Turning away, Carlyle moved to a drinks cabinet lifted out a bottle of synthi-whiskey and filled two glasses. "If you remember, I did warn you that the Judges might well come to see you, and I told you that if it happened I would deal with it, which is exactly what I have done."

"But they sent a Psi-Judge. They were here at least ten minutes. She could have-"

"Read your mind?" Smiling, Carlyle took one of the drinks, brought it over to Mortimer and laid it on the desk before him. "Naturally, she tried it, but you needn't worry. I diverted the probe and made her think you were worried about some trivial and entirely fictitious misdemeanour." His lips rising in urbane amusement, the smile on Carlyle's face grew wider. Mortimer could not help noticing that the smile never seemed to reach his eyes. "Really, you should try to stay calm about these things, Douglas. You remember when we first met you asked me if I was good at dealing with problems? Well, I am. It's what you pay me for. Now, have a drink and stop worrying. Right now, everything is under control.

"I promise you, the Judges don't have any idea what is going on."

TWELVE

NIGHTFALLS & SILENCE

Nightfall: William Ganz's favourite part of the day.

The colours of the city seemed more vivid, revealed in all their true glories after the light of the dreadful and deceitful sun had passed around the Earth. Awakening refreshed from sleep and with a renewed sense of purpose, William dressed and went about his business. There were fourteen more names on the list in his head. Fourteen names, fourteen reds. Fourteen more killings and his deal with the Grey Man would be done. Walking the streets of the city and seeing the colours of the myriad soulshadows of the people all around him, William felt a familiar sense of excitement. Granted, the sleepwalking souls around him might not know it yet, but their city and their lives were his to do with as he willed. He was invisible. A ghost, he could come and go as he pleased. He would kill all the reds in Mega-City One, and then he would kill the reds in every other city of the world. And there was nothing the Judges could do to stop him.

Nightfall. He loved the night. It made him feel more virile, more vital, more manly. It quickened his pulse, the sights and sounds of the city around him carrying with them the promise of many more nights in his future. He knew he would experience a thousand more nights like this: hunting reds. It hardly seemed enough, but it was a start. With that happy thought in mind, he checked the details of the next name on the list inside his head.

Marjorie Kulack: Apartment 26-A, fifteenth floor, Sissy Spacek Block.

"Marjorie Kulack," he said the name aloud, whispering it to himself, savouring the way it sounded on his tongue. He felt the anticipation rise within him. Soon, he told it. Soon
.
He picked up his pace, walking more swiftly towards his destination as he saw Sissy Spacek Block in the distance.

A monster, eager to do his work.

Nightfall. For Marjorie Kulack, it had all just become too much.

It had started when the voices inside her head had suddenly grown louder. In place of a hundred voices, it now felt like she had a thousand or more people babbling in her mind at once. Her head was throbbing, pounding out a ruthless staccato beat of relentless torment. It was agony. She felt like her skull was about to split open, spilling her brains out onto the lime green carpet covering her apartment floor. The pain was unbearable. Pulling herself to her feet, she rose from the sofa and stumbled towards her door. If she could make it to the pharmacy in the block plaza, she could buy some painkillers to mix with the antidepressants the doctor had given her. Opening the door, she staggered outside and saw her neighbour Mitzi Coltrane walk past her in the hallway.