Chapter 4 #4
He gave them to me, then headed out. I leaned a hip against the side of the leather sofa and watched the ambulance officers do their thing.
While Tane bore their examinations with obvious impatience, his gaze kept slipping to me, and I couldn’t help but notice that the odd evasiveness—or was it more remoteness? —was back in his eyes.
The medics eventually finished their examinations and found nothing of concern, but still suggested he go to the hospital for a more thorough check, given the possibility he might be concussed after his fall. Unsurprisingly, Tane refused.
He waited while they packed up and left, then said, “I have something for you, young woman.”
His voice, like his gaze, held an odd distance, and his speech seemed... rote? Like he was reading from a script. Somewhat warily, I said, “And what might that be?”
“This.” He drew a micro-USB from his pocket and held it out.
I didn’t take it. “What’s on that?”
“A record of a conversation.”
“Who with?”
“Two people.”
“What two people?”
“Unknown, but I believe they might be behind my daughter’s disappearance.”
“Believe?” I said, a little confused. “You’ve not listened to it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I was told the information on it is for your ears only.”
The confusion swirled into suspicion. “Who told you that? Who gave you the USB?”
Just for a moment, his gaze went blank. It really, really looked like he was searching for the appropriate answer. “You’re the lead investigator, and you’re the one who will most benefit from the information that lies on this.”
Which answered one question and not the other. “Who gave the USB to you, Mr. Ashworth?”
He hesitated, his gaze briefly going blank again. “That is not important.”
It wasn’t important because he didn’t know. Or rather, the answer hadn’t been supplied. That pressure he’d felt earlier had indeed been a telepath, and she hadn’t just knocked him out and searched his apartment. She’d given him the USB to pass on to me and provided a script for him to follow.
Which led me to a vital question—why had she gone to so much trouble to get the USB to me when it would have been far simpler to mail it?
Going to the extreme of knocking Tane out, rewiring his memories, and implanting orders seemed a rather convoluted path to take.
Unless, of course, she’d also rummaged through his mind to grab information.
I warily accepted the USB with my gloved hand, tugged the wrist end of the glove up and over the USB to encase it, then shoved it into my handbag. I doubted our telepath would have been foolish enough to leave a print, but just in case...
“You need to keep that USB to yourself. Do not share it with the Society. Do not tell anyone else about it.”
I frowned. “If this holds vital evidence—”
“What it holds is dangerous. I want your word on this.”
As he said that, his magic rose. He was going to enforce it if I didn’t agree. I held up a hand. “Fine. I’ll keep it to myself for the time being. But be warned, if this leads to an arrest, I will submit it as evidence.”
“That is agreeable, because by then, it will not matter.”
And with that statement, the odd remoteness left his eyes. The telepath had obviously set certain trigger words to begin and end the compliance she’d enforced. And, looking back, it was only after Viceroy had said my name aloud that the remoteness had returned to his gaze.
I hesitated, then said somewhat warily, “Mr. Ashworth, I have reason to believe your memories have been tampered with, and I think the services of an auditor—”
“Don’t be damn ridiculous,” he snapped. “There is nothing wrong with my memory, and I will not allow you people to willy-nilly sweep through my mind.”
“And if detangling any false memories from real might be the difference between finding Monica alive and dead?” It was said a little more harshly than necessary, but damn, the man was tiresome.
Which was another reason I hadn’t followed Samuel into service for the council. I’d be dealing with similar pricks day in and day out, and it would just get the better of me. I did not have—and never had—his patience.
Tane glowered at me for several seconds, then gave me one short, sharp nod. “Fine. But it will happen here, not in your office. I will not risk gossipmongers spreading misinformation or lies about me or my family.”
“I can assure you, Mr. Ashworth, the Society is the soul of discretion.”
He snorted. “The Black Lantern is no freer from gossipers than the government or indeed society as a whole.”
“If you have such a low opinion of us, why ask us to protect your daughter in the first place?”
“Because I trust the High Council even less.”
Maybe that was why he was working as a personal advisor to the prime minister, though if you asked me, just as many snakes slithered through the offices of the parliament as the halls of the High Council. Parliament was filled with politicians who lied and schemed for a living, after all.
“I’m sure the Society will have absolutely no problem with doing an audit wherever you are most comfortable. I’ll arrange it immediately.”
He grunted and pushed up off the floor. “I have calls to make, so if you can give me some privacy, that would be appreciated.”
“Before you make said calls, will you please go check your safe, because if a telepath was here, then they may well have forced you to open it without you remembering it.”
He gave me the sort of look that suggested I was a fool to believe that. “Stay here while I check.”
I raised my hands. “Sure.”
He strode around the sofa and disappeared around the corner, the sharp tattoo of his footsteps telling me he was moving into the bathroom. Folks up here in Brisbane obviously had a thing for locating safes in bathrooms.
A few minutes later, I heard a soft curse. “Mr. Ashworth?”
“The safe has been opened. Documents untouched, but several valuable pieces of my wife’s jewelry are missing.”
“Then I’ll need to call in forensics to investigate.” Not just to grab any prints—though I personally doubted we’d find any—but also to check what documents he was keeping. Just because they remained didn’t mean they hadn’t been scanned.
“Yes.” The fact that he’d agreed without protest did suggest the documents weren’t too confidential, even if they were in the safe.
“I’ll contact forensics now. Please leave the safe open until they arrive.”
“Fine. Now, will you please leave so that I may make my calls?”
I made a mental note to check whether head office was monitoring his calls. “I will, on the proviso that you remain here until forensics arrive. Otherwise, they will break in.”
“I have no intention of going anywhere until my daughter has been found.”
Which meant I would probably have more of these delightful tête-à-têtes with him.
Great. Just great. I tapped the earwig and made the call for forensics, then left, as requested.
I didn’t go far, however, waiting in the stairwell with the lobby door open to ensure Tane kept his word and didn’t leave.
Ten minutes later, Betty informed me that forensics had just arrived at the building. I leaned over the railing, heard the distant sound of the front door being buzzed open, then quick footsteps.
“Up here on the second floor,” I called out. “Use the stairs.”
“Oh, let joy run free” came Sienna’s dark response. “I take it the lifts aren’t working?”
“Key coded.” I grinned. “I take it the lack of sleep is playing havoc with your usually sunny disposition?”
“You,” she said, appearing first on the second level, “can go get fucked.”
I laughed and, once Janice had appeared, gave them a quick rundown of events.
“No dead bodies this time?” Sienna asked, the slightest spark of amusement in her voice despite her continuing scowl. “That is at least an improvement.”
“Maybe we don’t need the second team Canberra is sending up,” Janice said. “Maybe you’ve hit your quota for dead bodies this week.”
“That comment is one you shouldn’t have put out in the ether,” I said wryly. “There’s still a long day ahead of us.”
Sienna sniffed. “I take it Ashworth is waiting for us?”
I gave her the apartment number, then added, “Do you want me to hang around? I believe his memories have been tampered with, so you both need to be wary.”
“Do you think he’s dangerous?” Janice asked sharply.
“No, but caution is nevertheless advised.”
“Warning heeded,” Sienna said. “Thanks. And no, we have no need for you to be under our feet any longer than necessary. Witch or no, his spelling will never be faster than a werewolf in attack.”
I wouldn’t have put my money on that fact. I clattered down to the basement and followed Viceroy’s directions to his office, doing my best to ignore the noise, the smells, and the possibility of rats hiding in the distant shadows.
He glanced up as I appeared in his doorway. “You found me easily enough then?”
I nodded. “You were able to transfer the files?”
“Indeed, though I did a quick scan through the master file after I’d copied the timestamped section over, and the only person who showed up before you was a man who didn’t enter, although the door did appear to open. Which is strange.”
Very strange. And hopefully that “man” was René, because I really didn’t want to believe he could lie so convincingly to me.
“A lack of apparent movement through any given area doesn’t necessarily mean no one passed through.
There are spells that can fool an electronic eye, but they do leave traces of air distortion that are pretty easy to spot once you know what you’re looking for. ”
“I had no idea something like that was even possible.” He paused. “Are there electronic means of combating such invisibility spells?”
“There’s an infrared system designed for that specific purpose, though I’m not sure how widely available it is or how expensive it might be.”