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One of the uniformed officers raised her hand.
«Yes, Nyberg.»
If she was embarrassed that I remembered her name, she didn't show it. «Pe
«Good point.» I'd wondered if they'd mention that. Once you can get them questioning together, working as a team in your presence, you've won half the battle for acceptance. «Sha
I let them see my own amusement, then signalled Sha
She agreed with a degree of eagerness, and hurried back to her desk.
I would have liked to hang around, but harassing the team as they got to work wasn't good policy. At this stage the investigation was the pure drudgery of data acquisition. To assemble a jigsaw, you first have to have the pieces—old Parfitt proverb.
I went upstairs to my office, and started in on routine administration datawork. What joy.
The hospital was a third of the way round the town from the police station, a broad three-storey ring with a central courtyard. With its copper-mirror glass and mock-marble façade it looked the most substantial building in the habitat.
I was ushered into Corrine Arburry's office just after two o'clock. It was nothing like as stark as mine, with big potted ferns and a colony of large purple-coloured lizards romping round inside a glass case in the corner. According to her file, Corrine had been in Eden for six years, almost since the habitat was opened for residency.
«And how are you settling in?» she asked wryly.
«Well, they haven't gone on strike yet.»
«That's something.»
«What were they saying about me out at the lake?»
«No chance.» She wagged a finger. «Doctor/patient confidentiality.»
«OK, what were the pathology findings?»
«Pe
«Thanks. Now what can you tell me about Pe
Corrine's face puckered up. «True enough; basically, Pe
«You didn't like her?»
«I didn't say that. And you should be nicer to someone who's scheduled to cut your skull open in an hour. Pe
«But not you?»
«Doctors are used to the whole spectrum of human behaviour. We see it all. I was quite firm with her, she respected that. She did argue about aspects of her treatment. But radiation sickness is my field. And a lot of what she said was due to fear.»
«You're talking about her cancer treatment?»
«That's right.»
«How bad was it?»
Corrine dropped her gaze. «Terminal. Pe
«Christ.»
«Are you sure it wasn't a suicide?» she asked kindly. «I know what it looked like, but—«
«We did consider that, but the circumstances weigh against it.» I thought of the chimp, the bag, putting the pistol together in stealthy increments, the sheer amount of effort involved. «No, it was too elaborate. That was a murder. Besides, surely Pe
«I would have thought so, yes. She had a whole laboratory full of methods to choose from. Although a bullet through the brain is one of the quickest methods I know. Pe
«Had she talked about suicide?»
«No, not to me; and normally I'd say she wasn't the suicide type. But she would know exactly what that last month was going to be like. You know, I've found myself thinking about it quite a lot recently; if I knew that was going to happen to me, I'd probably do something about it before I lost my faculties. Wouldn't you?»
It wasn't something I liked to think about. Christ. Even death from old age is something we manage to deny for most of our lives. Always, you'll be the marvel who lives to a hundred and fifty, the new Methuselah. «Probably,» I grunted sourly. «Who knew about her illness?»
«I'd say just about everyone. The whole habitat had heard about her accident.»
I sighed. «Everyone but me.»
«Oh, dear.» Corrine gri
«Three months at the most,» I said numbly.
«Yes.»
«And knowing that, somebody still went ahead and murdered her. It makes no sense at all.»
«It made a lot of sense to somebody.» The voice was challenging.
I fixed Corrine with a level gaze. «I didn't think you'd give me a hard time over being a company man.»
«I won't. But I know people who will.»
«Who?»
Her grin had returned. «Don't tell me Zimmels didn't leave you a bubble cube full of names.»
My turn to grin. «He did. What nobody has told me is how widespread Boston's support is.»