Conversation · Titus Hardie

"The coast is a dangerous place -- for police-men."

It's not a threat -- it's a warning.

"You said it would be nice to have a ballistics lab. You could use ours."

"Nah. We're good." He lets go of your hand.

"Why not? You could turn this thing into an actual police force." He extends his hand. "Afraid you would actually have to follow the law?"

"Rich-boy law is a sham." He shakes his hand. "It only works for the Wild Pines lady. So keep your lab -- and watch your ass out there."

"The coast is a dangerous place."

Walk away.

"Asshole till the end, huh. Well, fuck you too, then!" He doesn't sound angry, despite shouting.

"He's right, you know?" The lieutenant notes dryly. "Great work, but the not shaking people's hands thing -- is a little odd."

"Have you looked for her?"

"A little -- on the coast."

"Where have you looked for her, more precisely?"

"More precisely? On the coast. Past the water lock." He nods southwest. "She's not here, so I'm thinking she's there."

Who's doing this looking? They're all here.

"You're all here. Who's out looking?"

He shrugs. "Lizzie needed some air."

"So she didn't go to tell Evrart."

"No one goes to tell Evrart anything. He knows what he has to know -- fast."

It's called a... radio, you believe. The gardener may have played you again when she stormed out. She has her own plan.

"The gardener? But she went to tell Evrart."

"You're a smart cop, but you're a stupid person -- no one goes to tell Evrart anything. If he has to know, he has to know fast."

No.

Sure. It was someone else. It appears we have a ninth Hardie boy.

"Where have you looked for her?"

"Thanks for the review, Titus." (Conclude.)

He sighs heavily. "Anything else you want, cop?"

"What else did Ruby tell you -- about me?"

"She said you have a funny taste in clothes." He scoffs. "And that you won't stop."

Never -- not until the case is solved. And then the next case. And the next...

"She's right. I won't."

"Not until you have something on her. She said she's heard of you from Jamrock. That you're a human can-opener. That you play suspects against each other. Open them up, like cans."

And then when they're all empty, just move on. Unto the next can. Don't look back -- unless there was something you missed.

"Fucking hell..." The tattooed man shakes his head. "Titus, did he just..."

"...open Angus up like a can? Yes, he did." He nods. "Now, we can whine about it, whack him, or we can go on with our lives. I'm having a 'go on with our lives' kind of day, Al. How about you?"

It's not an actual question.

Silence. He nods.

"Is that true Kim? Am I a can-opener?"

"You are... insistent." He nods.

"Anything else? Anything?"

"Yeah, there was something else. She wouldn't tell me though. I could see she wanted to. It was burning on her lips: 'This cop, Titus, this cop, he...' But she was too scared."

Scared? You should be too. A strange fear creeps over you, a metallic taste in your mouth. Change the subject.

Evrart has a file on you, but that's bogus. What she knows comes from somewhere else -- from Jamrock. It must be real stuff.

Evrart's file on you seemed thin on info. She must know from somewhere else. From Jamrock. Something more.

That will only piss him off. He's not going to yap about Evrart.

Of course. I should have known. Concentrate on tracking down Ruby.

"Could she have gotten this info from... Evrart?"

"No. Her and Evrart -- they don't talk. They've never met. They have no relations. They live in different galaxies. Get that through your head."

"Won't stop?"

"Until you have something on her. She said she's heard of you from Jamrock. That you're a human can-opener. That you play suspects against each other. Open them up, like cans."

A sudden flash of lightning in your neocortex -- the hostel-cafeteria is lit by its eerie blaze. Floor plans, bullet trajectories, webs of human emotion all channelled into a single thought...

A massive activity spike in the amygdala copicum -- the part cops use to pin murders on people.

"Why are you so sure Ruby didn't off him?"

"So that's what you were squinting at." He looks at you. "You were trying to come up a theory, weren't you? That she did it."

"Yeah, he was cobbling together shit. So he could put her away -- it's RCM 101."

"Well, let old Titus set your mind at ease then -- she didn't do it. She was here all night."

The lieutenant opens his notes. "Sunday night 11:30 to 12:15 -- she was here all that time?"

"Yeah, with us, drinking. Near the stage there." He points to the karaoke stage.

"She didn't go out for fresh air -- for one smoke?"

"No..."