Inspector Rames

Chapter 4

I stalked back through the city of cubes until I reached my office. It was a large glass container divided into two: Alex and I would be working in the smaller section while the rest of our team would work in the bigger one. The whole space was uncomfortably cool, and most officers next door kept their coats on.

Through the walls, I could see that Alex was sitting at Nina's old desk. It had been cleared of all her things now, and he obviously wasn't going to personalise it himself when he'd brought so little luggage.

I entered and crossed to my own space: the bigger desk that faced the rest of my team and had a tablet hovering in the air over it -- which I hadn't switched on for months. A couple of old paper coffee cups were sitting beneath it, daring it to fall and send them flying. I sat down and rested my elbows on the glass. "Found anything yet?"

"Ryker's robot alibi checks out. He left before the murder."

"Which means he doesn't really have an alibi. He could have returned later and killed Zoe in the alley."

"Yes." Alex scrutinised me in the same manner he'd scrutinised our suspects. "What did the chief super want to talk to you about?"

"Nothing to do with the investigation."

He took the hint and looked back at his tabphone, hovering at eye-level over his desk. "I'll check Zoe's Xplora page for anything useful."

Xplora was a social network. In fact, it was the social network. Run by the government, it was the only one in existence and the only way we could make phone calls or send messages. It was also where news stories were published, books were read, films were watched, and music was played. It was everything.

"Good idea," I said. "I'll start looking at Maxx's profiles."

His national profile turned up the basics. Maxx Ackerman. Twenty-four. Worked at Ackerman Electronics. Married to Zoe Ackerman. Daughter was Harley Ackerman. Mother was Elena Ackerman. His biological father had been a man named Philip Ackerman, but he'd died two decades ago.

I scanned through pages and pages of information, then spent a while looking for anything of interest on his Xplora page. There was nothing.

Alex broke the silence. "I've just pulled up Ryker James' national profile. He was charged with ABH in 2180 for a fight outside Victory Casino. His opponent shot him in the arm for his trouble."

ABH stood for actual bodily harm, the lowest statutory offence of assault. Perhaps that was how Ryker had come to have his cybernetic implant. "So, he has violent tendencies. Who was the arresting officer?"

"DI Flynn."

I was a little surprised, but that was something, at least. "Sebastian Flynn's a friend, so I'll ask if he can remember anything about Ryker when I next see him. And add looking through the report of the incident to my to-do list."

There was a knock on the door, and a plainclothes officer pushed it open: Detective Constable Emily Laney. She was carrying a small box which she brought straight to me. "Zoe Ackerman's possessions, ma'am, from the hospital."

"Thank you."

She left, and I tore the box open to examine the items Zoe had been carrying when she'd died. Compact mirror, electrode earphones, mints, tabphone. I pounced on the electronic device.

It was locked. I groaned.

"I can crack that." Alex appeared at my side and took the tabphone off me. I watched him without much hope, but a minute later it was back on my desk. He smiled at my bemused expression.

"Even Nina couldn't do that!" I said. "I thought I'd have to brave talking to the PRBs. How did you do it?"

He went back to his desk, a spark of mischief in his eyes. "It's an old skill. When I was at school, I thought it was funny to crack people's passwords and mess around with their tabphones."