Enlightened Ignorance Read online

  Jia shook her head and sighed. “Aline Bisset. You know, the Angel of Marseille? She had that song Hyperspace Love? I mean, she’s retired now, but she’s not that old. Her career was starting around the time you joined the Army.”

  “I didn’t pay a lot of attention to music on the frontier, and not much even before.” Erik gestured at the window. “But that doesn’t matter. I get the point. This Chau Nguyen was a personal assistant to some big music star, and she started acting sketchy and ended up dead under suspicious circumstances. This smells like maybe this Rena Winston has something to hide, something that might hurt her career.” He looked at the captain. “Is Euterpe cooperating, or are we getting a standard-issue corporate see/hear/speak no evil?”

  Captain Ragnar chuckled. “Kind of. They’re not happy to have cops sniffing around, but they’ve agreed to let you two come in and talk to people without a warrant. In exchange, we’ve agreed to keep this low key.”

  “We’re letting them dictate things?” Erik asked.

  “If this is a homicide, time is of the essence. We don’t have enough evidence to kick down their doors, and they can make life tough for us. If this is nothing more than an unfortunate suicide, there’s no reason to mess with Rena’s career.”

  Jia folded her arms. “At least they aren’t blocking us from the beginning. That might mean they care a little.”

  Erik nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure they’re torn up.”

  Captain Ragnar managed a sheepish smile. “My daughter would never forgive me if she found out I messed with her favorite singer’s tour without a good reason, but for now,” he pointed to them, “I want you two to proceed on the assumption we have a crime to uncover. First step, go check with the coroner. She did a full workup last night.”

  “Don’t worry, Captain.” Jia spun on her heel. “If there’s nothing there, we’ll clear this right up. If there’s more, we’ll find whoever is responsible.”

  The door clicked behind them. “I don’t doubt it for a second,” he replied to his now-empty office.

  The detectives stepped into the medical examination room.

  A tall, pale woman in a white uniform sat at a desk, her long dark hair up and a bored expression on her face. Several data windows floated in front of her. Some contained pictures from different angles of Chau Nguyen on an examination table. Dense text and numbers packed the others. The woman muttered under her breath and shook her head.

  Erik hadn’t talked to the woman other than briefly in a call, but he recognized her—Camila Serrano, the new head coroner at the 1-2-2. She’d only been working there for a couple of weeks, and Erik and Jia hadn’t encountered any cases that needed her help. He’d had no problems with the man she replaced, but there had been a lot of turnover in Forensics following the arrest of Head Coroner Hannigan. Several people worried that he’d tainted them professionally, and they needed a new start.

  Camila tilted her head and frowned. A few quick swipes brought up new data windows.

  “Can I help you?” she asked, not turning away from the windows. “I’m in the middle of something. I don’t have time for chitchat.”

  “We’ve been assigned the Chau Nguyen case,” Erik explained. “Not exactly chitchat. The captain said to stop by, and from the looks of things, you’ve already examined the body.”

  “Oh. That. That makes sense. Sorry.” Camila turned in her chair. “Sure. I examined the body last night. I was just going over the results from some of the tests. I was going to send the information in a report later, but this works, too.”

  “Can you confirm the cause of death?” Jia asked.

  “Definitely Dragon Tear overdose.” Camila returned her attention to her data windows. “Very high levels in her system. Even Detective Big Guy over there would have died. At least she didn’t suffer.” She sighed. “But there are some irregularities.”

  Jia nodded. “Our working theory is a murder made to look like suicide.”

  Erik frowned. He walked toward the data windows, but he couldn’t make any sense of the dense information from a quick skim. “What kind of irregularities?”

  Camila inclined her head toward a data window showing Chau’s body on an examination table. “I checked her from all angles. No bruising, no abrasions, no signs of a struggle. Almost perfect health from an external perspective.”

  “Like my partner said, working theory. We don’t know she was murdered. Right now, all we have to go off is a note and her family’s suspicions.”

  Camila shrugged. “When you spend your life processing dead bodies, you get used to things. Even though Dragon Tear ODs are more of a stop-breathing-and-die situation than thrashing, it’s weird not to find any sign of injury, even just from her hitting her head or something in the car. But that’s not the really strange thing.” She pointed at a data window filled with several rows of numbers.

  Jia leaned forward to read the window, her eyes following the numbers. “Nanite concentrations in blood and lymph?”

  Camila nodded. “Exactly. Notice anything about them?”

  “I’m not sure.” Jia shrugged. “I have to admit I don’t know what I’m looking for.”

  “After they do their thing, medical nanites should diffuse into the bloodstream and leave the body via urinary excretion. It takes a while, depending on the initial concentration and that kind of thing.” Camila jabbed at the data window. “I also examined some of the nanite samples with help from Digital Forensics. I’ll give you the short version, Detectives.” She turned around in her chair to better see them both. “The concentration, type, and condition of the nanites in Miss Nguyen’s blood and lymph indicate she likely received extensive nanite-based treatment on the day of her death. There are some other things off as well, such as her cytokine counts and other results that support that interpretation.”

  Erik frowned as evidence crystallized a mere possibility into something solid. “You’re saying someone could have beat the crap out of her and covered it up? Injected her with a bunch of medical nanites, or slapped a bunch of med patches on her?”

  Camila shook her finger at him once. “Exactly. I’m the coroner, not a detective, but who plans to kill themselves then goes through the trouble of healing, only to OD later? It seems like a lot of work.”

  Jia nodded. “Who, indeed? Thank you. If you find anything else, let us know.”

  Camila gave a little salute. “Will do, Detectives.”

  Erik looked at the image of the body for a few more seconds before turning to leave. The detectives stepped into the hallway, and he closed the door behind them. Malcolm stood a few meters away from the door in that day’s fashion atrocity, a bright pink Hawaiian shirt covered with giraffes.

  The technician blinked a few times and licked his lips. “Oh, hey, Detectives. You were talking to Camila about the Nguyen case?”

  “Yeah,” Erik replied. “You the one who helped her do the nanite analysis?”

  “Yes. That’s pretty messed up if you ask me, but I’m sure you two will track things down.” Malcolm stepped toward the door. “Say, um, this might be a weird question, but when you were in there, did Camila only talk about the case?”

  Jia nodded. “What else would she talk about?”

  “Oh, I was just curious. She’s new, and you know, we have to work together on occasion, so it’s better to learn more about her.” Malcolm averted his eyes. Scarlet touched his cheeks.

  “Learn what?” Erik asked, trying not to grin.

  “You know, what kinds of snacks she likes, that kind of thing.”

  “If she has someone?” Erik suggested.

  Malcolm turned into a statue for a few seconds. “It’s good to know about people’s backgrounds. Don’t you think?” He ran his tongue inside his cheek. “Oh, I just remembered I have to go check on something.”

  Erik cleared his throat. “Mind if we go with you? We’ve got a few things we need you to do.”

  “Oh, yeah. The case?” He waved for them to follow. “Totally. Let’
s go chat in my office.”

  Chapter Six

  Malcolm settled into a chair behind his desk, his face back to normal and an easy smile on his lips. “You already know the nanite news, so what else can I do for you, Detectives? Before you ask, the medical nanites used are standard and mass-produced. Unless you think the factory or the retailer were involved, that’s not going to help.”

  “We’ve got something else in mind.” Jia patted her PNIU. “The company is only cooperating grudgingly, but the family’s already signed everything we need to access Nguyen’s personal files. It’d be great if we can find her PNIU, too, but from what Captain Ragnar said, that’s not going to happen.”

  Malcolm sighed. “Yeah, we’ve tried tracking and pinging it, and we’re getting absolutely nothing, which means it’s either destroyed or so damaged, it might as well be destroyed.”

  “Convenient,” Jia muttered.

  “More than you might think, Detective.” Malcolm pointed at his PNIU. “This isn’t the first time I’ve had to track a missing PNIU. These things are designed to take a lot of damage. Detective Blackwell could blast a hole in one with his TR-7, and the tracking beacon would probably still work. They’re supposed to be able to survive flitter crashes to get certified.”

  “Where was the PNIU when it went offline?” Jia asked, not surprised by Malcolm’s information.

  “Outside her apartment.” Malcolm shrugged. “Sorry. I know that’s not very helpful.”

  Erik shook his head, his brows knitting. “We might get lucky and Forensics or some of the on-scene officers might find something in her residential tower, but I doubt it. That means it’s going to come down to if you can find anything in her files, or if we can find anything useful from a witness. If all cases just required tracking, they wouldn’t need us.”

  Malcolm’s expression brightened. “Sure thing, Detective Blackwell. I’ll dig deep, and we’ll find ourselves a killer.”

  “Thanks, Malcolm. You’re always helpful.”

  Jia smiled. “And good luck with the other matter, by the way.”

  Malcolm gave her a quizzical look. “What are you talking about, Detective?”

  “I’m just saying, I hope Camila doesn’t have someone.”

  Just because she couldn’t pull the trigger on an intraoffice romance didn’t mean Malcolm couldn’t.

  Malcolm turned back toward his desk. “Uh, thanks, but do me a favor?”

  “What?”

  “Don’t mention anything to her yet.” Malcolm rubbed the back of his neck.

  Erik chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Sure thing, but don’t wait too long. If you’re interested in someone, someone else might be, too.”

  Don’t wait too long, Jia thought. Was Erik also talking to her? It didn’t matter. They had other things to worry about at the moment.

  “We should interview the sister right away,” Jia suggested. “Malcolm’s going to need time to go through the files.”

  He nodded. “Let’s give her a call and see if she’s ready.”

  Jia took a seat on a blue couch next to the victim’s sister, Binh. “Miss Nguyen, we’re sorry for your loss, and we want to assure you that the department is taking your concerns seriously. At this moment, we’re exploring all possible explanations for your sister’s death.”

  Binh sighed. Her cheeks were puffy and her eyes red. “Since it’s you two, I believe that. Thank you.”

  Erik sat in a chair kitty-corner from the couch. The small piece of furniture could barely handle his large frame. It was like every piece of furniture in the apartment—twenty percent too small for him.

  That wasn’t a shock, given Binh’s slight frame.

  “Any information you provide might be helpful,” Jia continued. “We’ve read some of the statements you gave the uniformed officers, but we wanted to hear everything in your own words, just in case they missed something, or if you remembered anything else. The first forty-eight hours after an incident like this are often crucial in tracking down the truth.”

  Binh nodded slowly. She looked at a holographic image projected from a frame on her wall. It was a short scene of her laughing with her sister.

  “It was subtle at first,” she began. “The fear. I could tell something was worrying her. I asked her about it a few times. First, she tried to deny anything was going on and insisted she was just overworked, but later, she admitted she was scared and worried that she was being watched.”

  “Why didn’t she contact the police?” Erik asked.

  Binh shook her head and looked down. “I told her to do just that, but she said she didn’t have enough evidence, and she’d look like a crazy person. The last few weeks, she’d even gotten so worried that she would only talk about things in person and without our PNIUs. She said she was worried about them spying on her.”

  Jia nodded slowly. That might explain why the victim didn’t have the PNIU on her, but it didn’t explain where it had gone or why the tracking beacon had failed. If Chau had been murdered, the killer might have panicked and disposed of the PNIU unnecessarily, fueling suspicion rather than dampening it.

  That suggested a non-professional.

  “Who was she worried about?” Jia asked. “You said she was worried about being watched. Who was watching her? Someone at Euterpe?”

  Binh shrugged. “I don’t know. She would never answer that question, but she did get tenser when I asked if it had anything to do with her job. She denied it when I asked her directly. I think…I think she was trying to protect me.” She sniffled and wiped away a stray tear. “I’m sorry. It’s still a lot to process. I wish she’d worried less about protecting me and more about herself. Maybe if she had, she would still be here.”

  Erik waited for a few seconds before nodding toward the holographic image. “We understand how rough this is. We’ll try to get it over with as quickly as possible.”

  “Thank you, Detective.”

  “What about her employers? I know you said she didn’t blame them directly, but did she ever mention any problems with Euterpe or Rena Winston before all of this?” Jia noticed that Erik’s tone was softer than normal.

  Binh looked to the side for a moment in deep thought. “I keep asking myself that but coming up with the same answer—none. She loved her job. She said it was stressful, but it was everything she’d always wanted. Everything she told me about Rena suggested she was a nice girl and her image reflected the real person.”

  Erik glanced at Jia. She understood what he needed. They both had their specialties. Erik was good at kicking ass, but not always at being restrained in his questioning.

  “And you’re sure she didn’t have any suicidal tendencies or substance abuse problems?” Jia asked quietly. “We need to know just to rule out possibilities. The more we can eliminate in the beginning, the quicker the rest of the investigation can go.”

  Binh took a deep breath. “The other cops told me about that. You know, that my sister died of a Dragon Tear overdose. It’s ridiculous. She didn’t like to drink, and now she’s doing Dragon Tear? She wouldn’t even know where to get it.” She dropped her face into her hands and shook her head. “Chau had an artistic soul. That was why she got a job at Euterpe. She knew she didn’t have the talent to make it, but she wanted to help someone else. She might have been a little too empathetic and could get depressed, but she’s never, ever been suicidal.” She lifted her face and gripped the arm of the couch tightly, her nails digging into the fabric. “Someone killed her because she found out something she shouldn’t have. Detectives, please find her killer. They need to pay.”

  Jia placed a hand on the woman’s arm and offered a comforting smile. “Miss Nguyen, I can assure you that the NSCPD will do everything we can to put this incident to rest.”

  Binh nodded. “Thank you, Detective Lin. Thank you.”

  Neither said much as they headed toward the vehicle, both processing all the evidence they’d gathered that day. Jia was more convinced the suicide had been u
sed to cover up a homicide. A few minutes later, Jia and Erik zoomed away from the residential tower in the MX 60.

  Erik pulled up on the control yoke to bring the flitter into a new vertical lane. “We can’t come to a conclusion until we have solid evidence. Once we do, we can do what we need to.”

  Jia kept looking forward. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Increasing paranoia could mean that someone was out to get her, but it also might mean she just snapped. Given what her sister said, the missing PNIU might have been Chau’s doing. We can’t ignore the possibility.”

  “And she also hurt herself and used nanites to fix things?” Jia shook her head. “It’s like Camila said. Who would do that? Even if she snapped and wanted to kill herself, her actions would still have been purposeful.”

  “Maybe she tried and then changed her mind,” Erik suggested. “She worked in a stressful industry, and not everyone gets the help they need. She sounds like she has a family who cared for her, but that might not have been enough. The entertainment industry isn’t like being a cop or a soldier. Sure, there are plenty of nice people, but there are plenty of assholes who only look out for themselves.”

  “You’re saying that not everyone has a good partner looking out for them,” Jia murmured.

  Erik nodded slowly. “Something like that. I’m not saying there’s no evidence suggesting foul play, but there’s also evidence that this might have just been a suicide. We need some sort of plausible motive to focus this crap. If this was a murder, whoever did it had to know it’d be investigated and tried to cover it up, but it’s a big risk. That means whatever the motive is had to be something important enough to risk police attention on Euterpe. Given the reputation of the police right now, that’s an even bigger deal.”

  Jia frowned. “Euterpe’s a company so important it’s in the Hexagon, but we’ve already worked plenty of cases where big companies were willing to murder people to keep secrets.” Jia thought for a moment, then finished, “I don’t see why this one is any different.”