Inspector Rames

Chapter 8

I was woken up by three things at five o'clock the next morning. The first was my earpiece buzzing on the bedside table. The second was my tabphone buzzing beside it. The third was Mitzy yowling along, standing on my feet like they were craggy rocks and she was howling to the moon.

"Shut up!" I groaned.

Flexing bruised knuckles, I stretched out a hand to grab my earpiece. When I'd put it on, the racket stopped. "Rames speaking. Who the fuck is this?"

"Alex." His tone was grave. "I'm sorry this is late, but the PRBs couldn't contact you again. We've been called out to a murder on Kings Road."

My stomach sank. "I'm on my way."

I threw on some clothes, fed Mitzy, and bolted out the door.

Kings Road was a backstreet just a minute's walk from Terra Road, lined by more grubby fire escapes than neon signs. Only street lamps pierced the darkness. At least it wasn't raining.

The crime scene was halfway down the street, marked by electro-tape. Alex and Cassia were already with the body. Cassia was issuing orders to her robot assistant, her examination finished. Alex was looking the other way, in the direction of the PRBs who were walking the scene.

I didn't need any gadgets to identify the victim. She was sprawled on her back against the wet concrete, rosy curls fanned around her face. Bryony Gold.

"Good morning," Cassia said. "It's nice of you to join us."

"Morning." I ignored her sarcasm and glanced at Alex. He was still miles away, so I cleared my throat.

His gaze swung to mine, his eyes haunted. I felt as if I was staring into something private, and we both looked away.

Bryony's throat had been slit, and the concrete glistened with her blood. Two PRBs approached with a trolley. Cassia's robot helped them put the girl in a body bag.

Cassia turned to me. "Both carotid arteries were cut again. I can tell you it was less than an hour ago, but I'm sure you'll get a better idea when you look at the time it was called in."

"Any clues about what she was doing down here?" I asked.

"I found a packet of crimson in her pockets."

That was a Class A drug. I sighed. "So she could have been buying it here. A drug deal gone wrong, maybe?"

"I thought you hated coincidences."

"Yes." I looked at Alex, realising that should probably be his line. He was still staring down the road. "Sergeant."

His gaze swung back to mine. "I asked Laney to call Jason Castle-Ackerman and break the news, but he's not picking up. Bryony's parents have been woken and informed."

"Good. Check in with Laney again in case she's had any luck now. I'll follow Cassia to the mortuary. We're not going to get a lot else done until the city wakes up."

Alex took himself off.

Cassia followed him with her gaze. "It's harder to look at a murder victim when they're so young. Bryony's, what, eighteen? Her life hadn't even started going anywhere."

Alex ducked under the electro-tape at the edge of the crime scene, and I released a long breath. "Yeah. Maybe that's what the matter is."

***

A few hours later, it was still dark, and I was standing in the mortuary with Cassia. While my sister had been performing the post-mortem, I'd discovered the exact time of the 999 Xplora call. Bryony had died a few minutes before half four. It gave me a much narrower timeframe for the alibis I'd need to gather.