Inspector Rames

Chapter 21

"You were good in there," Alex said softly. "Really good."

I kept my eyes fixed on the door to Mary's office.

"Amber, no bystander could have done better than that. You knew exactly what you were doing. It was amazing."

I glanced at him, standing there calmly, not a speck on his suit. My jumper was unwearable, so I was left with my tank top and leather jacket. I was going to freeze once we were outside, and I kept thinking about that. Absently.

The door to the office flew open, and Cassia emerged. Strands of platinum hair had come loose from her ponytail and were falling into her eyes. Behind her, someone caught the door before it could shut again. I saw PRBs putting Zed in a body bag.

"Well?" I asked as my sister stopped in front of us.

"There's not a lot I can tell you right now that you don't already know. He was shot in the chest with a pistol and it killed him."

"Did I miss anything? Was I too slow?"

"You did everything right, Ambie." She squeezed my shoulder. "I think he was a goner the moment he was hit. I'll try to call you after the post-mortem."

The PRBs wheeled the body bag out of the office on a trolley. Cassia followed it.

I took a deep breath and turned away to survey the rest of the scene. Mary was sitting on the steps in front of the desk, crying while a paramedic checked her over. A blanket was around her shoulders, and DC Laney was consoling her.

"Interview time," I said. "I want to know what the hell we just walked into."

We crossed the lobby to the steps. A stern glance at Laney and the paramedic sent them away, and I sat down on one side of Mary. Alex sat down on the other. She pulled the blanket tight and shivered, watching the doors close behind the body bag.

"Mary," I said gently. "We need to know what happened."

She sat still for a long moment. Then she whispered, "It was them."

"Who?" Alex asked.

"The same person who killed Kristina. The robot shot him."

"What robot? One of yours?"

"Yes, but it's gone now. Mr Croft..." She swallowed hard and closed her eyes. "He'd come into my office, and it saw him through the glass... It came in and shot him. It kept saying his name. And then it said that h-he'd been bad?"

Alex and I exchanged a grim look.

"What was Zed doing in your office?" I asked.

"He came to check I'd sent those emails I told you I was doing earlier. At least, that's as far as he got. I don't know if he came in for anything else..." Her eyes filled as she opened them.

"What did you think of him?"

She stared at me. "Think of him?"

"Did you think he was a nice man?" I watched her closely. "Or maybe the kind to make enemies?"

"Oh," she whispered. "I don't -- I didn't like him much, but I would never h-have wished t-that..." She covered her face and sobbed.

Alex dug around in his pockets and offered her a packet of tissues. We stayed on the steps for a few minutes, silent, until she'd calmed down again. Then I stood up. "We'll catch this bastard, Mary. I promise."

We crossed to the desk, where the robot receptionist was on duty again. I didn't even have to ask Alex to do the talking for me.

"Show us your CCTV footage," he said.