The Iron Swamp (8 page)

"That might explain how he was able to out maneuver the guards so easily," Rake said. "There is probably a burrow somewhere in the compound he used to tunnel in and out."

It added credence to my theory that the guards had injured each other, as they claimed the attacker was human. Vos Peti's profile fit entirely. He was a hardened revolutionary, strong enough to kill Kenrey and the guard, and I even recognized the name from the news. He had killed people like this before, not quite at the level of Kenrey, but close. The one inconsistency was the use of a knife. Quilla didn't need to use weapons to kill unarmed humans. The dexterous fronds hanging in front of his mouth, with which he would have held the blade, concealed two rows of natural knives that could rip Kenrey to shreds like bread in a mincing machine. Considering his time constraints, it made no sense to use a weapon he would find more difficult to use. He could have been trying to implicate a human, but even the briefest net searches while I was still sitting in the office, revealed that wasn't Peti's style. He claimed his victims to increase his profile. Potentially, there might be a reason for the knife in this individual circumstance, but that would require further investigation.

"Sounds like this is our guy," Rake said.

Dollews smiled like a clown.

"Can you tell us what cells the DNA came from?" I said.

Dollews looked over at the other screen, scrolling down to the less important information. "Quilla don't actually have DNA."

I didn't care.

"Neither really do they have cells in the strictest sense of the word."

Still not what I asked.

"Although their organs are broken up into smaller units, the barriers between these units are not strict enough to call them cells. They are more like syncytia."

"Can you or can't you?" Rake said.

Dollews stared at the screen, unphased by Rake's rudeness. "The genetic material from the crime scene is mainly from the blood."

That was interesting. There was no sign that either suspect fought back, and quilla skin was tough, like bone lattice. "And how much of it was there?"

Dollews went back to his network screen for a few clicks. "It was our clearest signal."

"So how much blood would be needed to produce that much quilla...genetic material, at a crime scene?"

Dollews smiled. "Not too much."

I trusted Dollews less than a gree mercenary. "Even factoring in how much you would expect to degrade on account of the hole?"

Dollews bobbed his head sideways. "I suppose we should increase it for that, so it would be a reasonable sized wound."

Unfortunately, quilla blood looked exactly the same as human blood to the eye, so the trails and puddles could have been from Peti or Kenrey. I looked to Rake. "If Peti was bleeding that badly, then why was there no trail outside the room?"

"Perhaps he patched himself up," said Dollews. "It is much easier for a quilla to patch a wound than a human. Their scales keep the blood in naturally." He grinned at me as if he was winning a game of chess. "You don't look convinced, Mr. Nidess. I'll get the blood expert."

Moments after Dollews tapped his screen, a scientist pushed through the door without knocking. He was a short blond man whose face was swamped by beard.

"Did you test the blood around the room? Dollews asked.

"Yessir."

"And what did you find?"

"Quite interesting actually. Most of the small spots dotted around the room belonged to Kenrey, and the puddle under the guard was all him, but the main big puddle next to the bed also contained Vos Peti's FSA. My thinking is that Kenrey managed to wound him before he died."

"With what? His finger nails?" I said. "Kenrey didn't have a weapon."

"Maybe Peti took it with him," suggested Dollews.

"Could be," the blood guy agreed. "If it was the same knife Peti brought with him, then it would make sense he took it away again."

"What about cellular analysis of the blood?" I said, "Did you find any quilla body material?"

The blood guy looked at Dollews for help. "We don't normally check for that–"

"But we will," Dollews said, "if that's something you feel would be useful. My team are at your service."

"Thank you," I said. "I have my suspicions it might be important."

Dollews waved the man away, but I remembered another question as he reached the door. "And in your professional opinion, the blood spatter is entirely consistent with a fight between Peti and Kenrey, and then another between Peti and the guard?"

"Yessir, entirely consistent."

I nodded. The science division had made up its mind. Peti was the only suspect, and any evidence to the contrary was being dismissed or removed. Peti was Dollews' wet dream. He was high profile, scary looking, and most importantly, implicated by the science division.

Rake had said next to nothing since we entered the office. If he didn't believe Dollews, he didn't care. To him Peti was an equally perfect scapegoat. If the SP ever caught him, his other crimes would merit his execution even without Kenrey's murder.

"Thank you very much doctor," I said. "I think we have our chief suspect. Could you transfer all the evidence to my tablet?"

Dollews was out of his seat, for the first time regarding my presence as if I were not simply Rake's pet. "If you need anything from my department then please don't hesitate to ask."

I nodded. "Please let me know the minute you find out how much quilla body material you can find in that blood sample."

"I will." He was on his way to the door to show us back to reception, but I couldn't tolerate the mindless inquiries into Rake's personal life that would come with it.

"Don't trouble yourself," I said, making as much of a barrier between him and the door as my frame would allow. "We can see ourselves out. You have already been most helpful."

Dollews looked unsure of this development, but smiled nonetheless. "Feel free to contact me any time," he said, taking his seat again.

"We will," said Rake.

In the corridor, I asked him his opinion.

"Sounds like we have our man. We should start scouring the gardens for a burrow he might have used to get in and out."

"And blood," I added. "If he was wounded then there should be some trace of his blood outside the room. In earnest, Philip–"

"Look, call me Phil. If we are going to be partners, don't refer to me like my parents do."

I nodded, wondering if he was still going to call me Nidess. "I have my doubts that Peti was responsible. I want us to go back with the sweepers and try some things out based on the notes I made last night."

"What sort of things?"

"I don't think that explosion could have preceded the deaths of Kenrey and the guard and given the killer time to escape."

Rake shrugged. "You still think someone was inside the room when the bomb went off?"

I ignored his skepticism. "The instant that bomb went off, half the guards in the complex were heading for that bedroom, and the other half were blocking off his escape routes. Not even if he moved like a water walker would he have time to kill two men, take a wound, sit a man mountain on a chair, pin a note to his chest, and then escape."

In the lobby, Rake didn't notice a man walking the other way, and the two of them collided. The other man had the build of a famine victim and lost his balance as Rake walked through him. He turned and shouted, but Rake was oblivious. "Quilla can move a lot faster than humans," he said.

I would have apologized for Rake, but in my experience, whenever I became involved in a physical dispute it was more likely to escalate. There was something very punchable about my face. Instead, I ignored the man as Rake did. "True, but this isn't a race. Most of it has little to do with the killer's speed."

As we reached the reception, Vins turned to meet us, his graying fringe falling far enough left that one eye was to be partially obstructed. He was taller even than Rake, his eyes full of menace. "I hear the case is pretty much solved. The President will be pleased. "

"Nidess has some doubts," Rake said, using the words that Vins would carve into the plaque above my grave.

Vins frowned, assessing the vigor of the obstacle in front of him. "The blood of a known revolutionary at the scene of the crime not enough for you?" He grinned at Rake, perhaps expecting comradeship, but if he did he was disappointed. Rake glowered at him as he did with everyone.

"I wasn't saying that, sir." I fumbled each word over the last. "We were just about to order the sweeps to go over the garden looking for quilla blood and burrows which might indicate how he escaped."

"Good." Vins nodded. "I want this written up by tomorrow boys, and you'll both be out of that basement back in
Cosse facto
. Who knows, we might even get the report in before the SP." He passed between us pushing us both aside.

Vins wouldn't take a piss to find Kenrey's killer if he could frame someone else. All they cared about was closing the case quickly and keeping Clazran happy. It was why I cared that was vexing me. Peti would be pleased to add Kenrey to his profile, and I didn't care dis about Kenrey. I wanted to catch the killer but not enough to go up against Vins.

"Sorry about that," Rake said, as we waited for the lady at reception to order the search. "I didn't think–"

"No, you fracking didn't. Cythuria Phil!"

"I didn't get much sleep last night."

I didn't either, but I guessed that Rake at least intended to. "Because of the girl?"

He nodded. "All I can think about is bashing Welker's head in."

"Let's go for a drink tonight. We can talk about it," I suggested

But Rake shook his head, aggression creeping into his voice. "I can't talk about it."

"Well we could talk about something else then?"

He looked away from me as if the conversation was over, but then he swung back like a batsman connecting with a ball. "Why are you pretending to be my friend? You can't like me, not after everything I've done to you."

For a moment I didn't know what to say. "I'm not pretending, I'm trying. You're not the same man who ripped that card."

Rake's laugh cut deep. "That was yesterday! Even if I'm sorry for it now, it doesn't change anything. I'm still the guy who bullied you for nearly a cycle, so let's not pretend otherwise." He started walking away. "I'll meet you at the crime scene."

I winced. Nothing would seal me in the role of victim faster than an emotional response. He was wrong though. I'd come a long way since Fader and Colcheck used to steal my lunch and stick bits of it up my nose. This was real life now, and I had resources that Rake didn't.

Chapter 6

Outside, Rake was already gone so I got in the front of the bus alone while the sweeps piled into the back ready to look for quilla burrows and blood throughout the grounds. The sweeps were mostly city-folk interested in earning a bit of extra money by helping the police, but sometimes off duty officers were called in if they couldn't find a good enough excuse to get out of it.

I expected to find Rake already in Kenrey's bedroom, but a call to the policeman at the gate confirmed that he was not on the premises. I called, but got no answer. My first instinct was that he was bashing Welker's head in, but I dissuaded myself of this. He was probably sulking in some bar. As he had so little interest in exonerating Peti, his absence was not amiss.

My tablet bleeped with a message from Benrick. It was the list of bishons who might have wanted Kenrey dead. Rake wanted it to be some sort of anti-rape crusader, but it wasn't. If Benrick could be trusted, then the killer was most likely paid by someone on this list. None of them cared about Kathryn's rape. They either wanted something Kenrey had or feared something he would do. I just had to find out what it was. There was a good chance that the next person to inhabit Kenrey's compound, wear his robes, and use his title was the one responsible for his passing. Not if it was Peti though. The quilla wouldn't work for people like that. His acts of terrorism were motivated by causes much closer to vigilantism.

CKN still hadn't announced Kenrey's replacement, so I returned to my experiment. I grabbed two of the sweeps to help. The lady was attractive, with dark hair, and explosions of freckles below her eyes. She rose only a head's length above my height, while the man looked tall enough to climb trees the way most people climbed steps. I wasn't enthusiastic about choosing a man that comparatively reduced me to a shih tzu running around his feet, but he was standing next to her, and my finger just drifted over.

It could have been worse. There wasn't a molecule of fat on him, and his ears elongated to alien proportions as if someone had carved an ugly face into a fence post. Rarely did I consider myself the most attractive man in the room, but here I felt pretty sure of it.

"Pyke," she said as she shook my hand in a way I chose to interpret as flirtatious. The other guy was Lemus, and his shake was as limp as his voice. I decided Pyke was going to do the running.

"I've called you both away from the sweep because I want to do a little experiment. I want to prove that a quilla can get in, kill two people, and get out in roughly 35 clicks."

I could have just measured the distance and used the average sprint speed to work out the times, but when I saw Pyke a physical demonstration seemed like a good way to interact with her. I knew that women were basically the same as men, but that never made it any easier to talk to them. Possibly because I wasn't great at talking to men either, but there was something about women that erased my ability to reason. I became foolish and nervous, stumbling over words and saying stupid things. Worse, I became a toy for them to play with. Right from my early cycles, I let them own me.

I used to carry Taena Richard's purse for her like a servant until someone taught her what a dwarf was, and suddenly I wasn't fit for the job anymore.

I cried for weeks over that purse.

As an adult, there was Holly Balastair, the only person I would ever say the word to. Two months we were together, but she was my first relationship and that was all it took. I spent everything I had on her, on us, and when I said the word she smiled. Her eyes burned green, her thin lips mischievous in a way I'd never noticed before.
Not that emotionally involved
was how she put it. She was seeing another guy and saw no reason to stop doing so.