Rogue(87)

“That’s interesting,” Marquardt said. He turned to the staff working over the debris crumb by crumb and said, “Vitkin, you heard. Interview the witnesses.”

He didn’t question how Silver had that information. It was obvious to all, but would remain unsaid, that we were probably military, and why we were after this particular suspect.

We went through the entire scene, escorted by the locals. I couldn’t fault their willingness to share information. I think the high-profile and exotic nature of the assassinations had made them eager to put aside any jurisdictional or other issues and get what they could. Silver had already given them a nice lead.

Vitkin came back with Meyerson, who looked a bit less green, though she made a point of looking at us and not the scene. It was hard not to. The walls, floor and ceiling were the scene, and it had been so efficient a blast nothing dripped from overhead. It was just paint.

He said, “I think we have a match. Three witnesses saw a caretaker come down the hall with a cleaning buggy. Two say they remember him wearing a protective hood. It could have been reinforced with flex armor.”

“It would be,” Silver said.

“Two box trucks left the area right after that. Janus Janitorial and Leonov Electrical.”

Marquardt said, “So we’re looking for two vehicles.”

I said, “Double check witness locations. I expect it was one truck with a different logo on each side. They’ll both be real companies, the logos will match, and he’s already scrubbed them off. You’ll waste time and manpower investigating each while he goes a third way.”

“I’ll pull traffic records then.”

“You’re looking for an anomaly. Either it was reported as a fault, or it was reported as on zone control but actually wasn’t.”

“I certainly hope information like this will keep coming.”

I said, “Whatever we can, though I’m an investigator, and not up to date on a lot of this. Ms. Wickell has more recent information, but is only a technical specialist.” Once again, everything I said was true. It’s an important skill.

Marquardt said, “I get the impression this suspect is a former member of your Blazer units?”

“That’s what I’m told, yes.”

“This also reminds me of a recent incident on Caledonia. There were a lot of bodies involved, all good officers I’m told.”

They might not all have been good, but I wasn’t going to speak ill of the dead and none of them had deserved that ending.

“Yes, we suspect the same perpetrator. My goal is to try to locate and cordon him. Then I’m going to try to negotiate a peaceful ending. Otherwise there will be diplomatic requests over status of forces.”

He raised his eyebrows as he understood that, sighed and shook his head.

“This is not a good thing, you understand. Especially as our nation was actively neutral during the War, unofficially supportive, and helped with a lot of rebuilding.”

“I know, and I appreciate it. That helped my family. That’s also part of why I’m here now.”

“Well, let’s get this resolved. I also want to know about that incident in the park last week. Him?”

“I’m pretty sure he was involved.”

“Were you on scene?”

That made me a bit nervous. I had to offer something, but didn’t want to incriminate myself.

“I didn’t see him. I did see some of the aftermath.”

“I expect that you will consult with me on these matters, not intrude on my crime scenes, and inform me of any such incidents at once. Otherwise, I will see about having you removed from the system. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir. I respect that. I’m shackled by my own orders and need to keep it discreet.”

“I understand. I hope you understand I can’t care about that.”

“Yes, sir.” He was quite reasonable, really.

It was an hour later before we left. Marquardt seemed somewhat mollified due to our information. He agreed to keep providing data as they sifted it.

We still didn’t have much, though. Randall’s techniques were a mix of mostly old with some new from Cobra Joe and study.

As we drove, Silver said, “That was pretty revolting.”

“Yes. Are you okay?”

“Mostly. I almost leaned against the wall once. I need to shower for my mental health. I want to just run hot water over me until I feel clean.”

I wanted her not to put those images in my head.

So I asked, “Why the hell go to so much trouble? Any bullet would do. Or a bomb. Why this?” It was rhetorical. He liked the show. Still, this was outré even by his standards.

“To send a message,” she said.