Dangerously Placed (6 page)

I nodded.

‘The Virk offices have an emergency protocol where specially trained police officers can log in from an extra-large Virk Room that's part of AU-1, the CEO's building. Actually, it was almost funny seeing them come in with their generic uniform projections on – kind of like they were wearing police-uniform body paint!' I tried a smile, but to be honest, I was still pretty shaken. Sky put her arm around me.

‘I assume they came to see you in realspace too?' asked Nix, peering at the clothes in my wardrobe. I'd been surprised when he and Joel turned up at my place along with Sky and Kiyoko, especially so late at night, but I guess this was pretty exciting stuff from an outsider's point of view. From mine, it was more nightmarish than exciting.

‘Yeah,' I said. ‘The officers who'd come in virtually just made us all stay where we were and checked out Grody's office while some other officers went round to his actual Virk Room to see what had happened.'

‘And?'

‘He was dead. Murdered.' I swallowed.

‘Whoa.' Joel was perched on the windowsill. He shook his dreads. ‘Intense.'

‘Yeah. I mean, I knew he probably was from the way he was lying there with his eyes open and everything, but it was still pretty creepy. Anyway, not long after that they told us they'd been in touch with authorities in all the different countries the staff live in, and once cops started arriving at people's Virk Rooms they let us log out one by one. I had to wait till my parents got there, though, so they could come with me to the police station. They questioned me for ages after that.'

‘You poor thing,' said Sky, and Ki came over to pat my hand. I smiled at them. After the horror of finding Grody and then being interrogated for most of the evening, it felt so good to be reminded that there were people who cared about me. Even Joel looked worried about me. And Nix …

‘Nix, what the hell are you doing?' He'd disappeared inside the wardrobe.

‘Cheering you up!' Nix emerged wearing nothing but my short black PE skirt and a black bra. All four of us stared at him in utter disbelief.

‘Guess who I am,' he demanded.

‘Pardon?' said Ki. The rest of us were still speechless.

‘Oh, c'mon, it's obvious!' He grinned, spreading his arms wide. ‘Sky at a funeral!'

For a moment there was nothing but frozen silence. Then Joel burst out laughing, Sky launched herself at
her cousin and Nix began shouting, ‘Ow! Argh! Not in the face!'

‘Alex? Are you all right? What's going on in there?' came my mum's voice through the commotion. I went to the door.

‘Yeah, Mum, we're fine. Shut up, you guys!'

The others quietened down, although Joel couldn't seem to stop giggling quietly to himself. Sky levelled a kick at him, which just made him laugh harder.

‘That was in incredibly poor taste,' she hissed, jabbing Nix in the chest with one finger. ‘I don't want to hear another word from you unless it's sensible – Alex has been through enough today. Now take off that ridiculous outfit.'

‘Not out here!' I exclaimed, as Nix began to undo the skirt. ‘Go change in the wardrobe!' Nix obediently disappeared. ‘Please tell me he's got undies on under that,' I muttered as Joel went into fresh fits of laughter. I exchanged a glance with Ki, feeling a smile threaten to break out on my face in spite of myself. I had to admit, Nix's little stunt
had
cheered me up. Even if it was about the most juvenile way of lightening the mood he could possibly have thought of.

Nix bounced out of the wardrobe, back in his own clothes.

‘I can't believe Sky hasn't disowned you,' I told him.

‘But then who would she have to beat up? Everyone else in our family's a strict pacifist,' said Nix, eyes twinkling. ‘All right, I'm sorry! I promise I'll only say
sensible things, Sky.' He laid a hand on my shoulder, older-brother style. ‘Don't worry, Alex. The worst is behind you now – soon you'll have forgotten all about this.'

Nix had managed to lift my mood, but now it sank again.

‘Actually, I'm not sure about that,' I said. ‘I haven't told you the rest of it.'

‘The rest of what?' asked Sky.

I sat back down on the bed.

‘The police say I'll probably have to go back in for questioning. Maybe several times.'

‘You mean because you found the body?' Ki took out her phone and began taking notes.

‘Partly that …' I said slowly. ‘And partly because, technically, I'm the only person who could have committed the murder.'

Sky gasped, Ki's hand tightened around her phone and Joel fell off the windowsill. Nix just stood there like a statue.

‘What do you mean, you're the only one?' he demanded. ‘How the hell do they figure that? It could have been any random psycho!'

‘No, actually, it couldn't,' I told him. ‘The thing about Virk Rooms and Virk is that they have a lot of security checks. They run a retina scan on you before you can even enter a building where a Virk Room is located. And then there's a scanner that checks that only one person goes through the door after each retina scan,
plus a code that you have to say to get the Virk entry doors to open once you're in the suit. The only people who have access to our office's codes and have their retinas on file are Simulcorp Marketing employees. One of the detectives told me that the Virk Room at Grody's house showed no sign of a security breach. If it had been some random psycho, Nix, alarms would have gone off, the building would have locked down – all kinds of stuff would have happened so that Grody and our office would have been alerted. But it didn't. Only someone in Simulcorp Marketing Division could have got in to murder Grody. And since I was the only person who was close enough to his Virk Room in realspace to have killed him and got back to my own room between the time he was last seen alive and when I found him dead, that makes me the prime suspect.'

There was a pause while my friends stared at me. Then Ki said, ‘So why aren't you locked up?'

I wrapped my arms around my knees.

‘I guess because there's also evidence that it's pretty unlikely I did it. For one thing, people in the office can confirm that I was logged in and present for most of the time after we last saw Grody. And compared to most people, I have very little motive for killing the guy.'

‘You mean most people
do
have a motive?' Nix's eyes were wide. ‘Who was this guy, the office pervert or something?'

‘Not as far as I know, but I'm pretty sure no one liked him. He was rude to everyone, always threatening
to have people fired … it wouldn't surprise me if he did have some serious enemies in the office. But at the moment, it doesn't look like any of them could have murdered him, no matter how strong their motives were.'

‘That really is a problem.' Ki frowned, her face pale against her long dark hair and black velvet dress. She looked like I felt: grim. In twelve hours I'd gone from hoping I'd win an internship at a globally acclaimed company, to hoping I wouldn't have to stand trial for murder.

‘Well, there's only one thing to do,' said Nix.

I looked up. ‘What's that?'

‘Find out who really did it.'

‘
What?
'

‘We have to find out who the murderer was,' said Nix. A grin began to spread across his face. ‘Think how awesome that would be! We could do some surveillance, follow some leads …'

‘Oh man, yeah!' agreed Joel.

‘What do you guys think this is – a kids' cartoon?' I got up off the bed, glaring at Nix. ‘God, Nix, can't you take anything seriously? This is my
life
, not one of your virtuadventures!'

‘I know that!' Nix looked offended. ‘I wasn't joking – I'm trying to help you, here!'

‘Alex, I think he has a point,' said Ki softly. I looked at her. ‘While there is evidence that you're not the murderer, the only way to be sure that you are fully
cleared of suspicion is to discover the truth of the case. It's a logical solution.'

‘Don't you think the police might be putting just a
little
effort into that themselves?' I demanded.

Ki shrugged.

‘One would certainly hope so, but I personally feel that only a fool entrusts her fate to strangers. I suggest that while we should continue to trust the police to do their job, we should also leave no stone unturned ourselves.'

‘We'll help you,' said Sky enthusiastically. ‘We can be, like, your deputies or whatever.'

‘Totally,' agreed Joel. ‘And if you need a bodyguard, I'm your man!'

‘C'mon, Alex,' said Nix. ‘Okay, I'm sorry for mentioning that it might be fun – I know you don't like that sort of thing …'

‘Phoenix!' Sky threatened him with a fist.

‘But I really think it's worth trying. Anyway, you're the one who wants to make a good impression at Simulcorp, and what better way to impress those guys than to find out who killed their boss?'

I rubbed my eyes.

‘Okay,' I said. ‘Okay. I've no idea what we could do that the police couldn't, but I'll try.' I turned to Nix. ‘So how exactly do you think we're going to investigate Grody's murder, Mr Smart Guy?'

‘I'd say step one is to find out if anyone else at your work could have been in one of the Virk Rooms around
the city at any time today. Just because someone's supposed to always use their own room, doesn't mean they didn't use a different one today, just so they could be close enough to Grody. At Virtuadventures, we have a login system so we can track anyone using any of the gaming rooms illegally – they've got to have something similar at Simulcorp.'

‘I'm sure the police have thought of that,' I said.

‘I hope they have! But if you can get the login info for all the Virk Rooms in the city from someone, we'll have some names to work with – and maybe we'll find out something that'll help the police catch whoever did this.'

I sighed, looking around at my friends.

‘I still say you're completely mad,' I told them. ‘But obviously I'm crazy too, because it kind of does make me feel better, thinking I can actually do something about this whole being-a-murder-suspect thing.' I smiled. ‘Thanks, you guys.'

‘Hey, no need to thank
me
,' said Nix, heading for the door. Joel got up and followed him. ‘I'm just in it for the adventure – and the fabulous outfits.'

And with a wink, he took my black bra out of his pocket, tossed it to me and left the room.

‘This is so demeaning.'

I looked up from the pile of papers I was holding. Dale had just walked into the Mainframe Room.

‘She sent you to do copying too?'

Dale nodded.

‘I know everyone's upset about Grody's death and all that,' he said, ‘but this is ridiculous! We're
photocopying
. We're doing something a trained monkey could do – or a bot, even. Why can't they just do everything on computers, like any other business?'

‘It may be boring, but this is important work,' I said virtuously, although secretly I agreed about the trained monkeys. ‘And Budi says they use the virtual paper as a secure backup system and an employee health initiative. It stops you sitting at your computer all day long.'

‘If I wanted to get fit, I'd go to the gym,' said Dale,
but he smiled. ‘It's not so bad if you're going to be here with me, though.'

I felt a rush of heat to my face as I realised what he might mean. Here we were, alone in the Mainframe Room together! The place had such a reputation, the sign on the door might as well have read ‘Make-out Central'.

‘I'm sure we'll get to do normal work again soon,' I said, hoping I sounded normal myself. ‘It's just hard for Inge and Budi to supervise us while they're sorting everything out now that Mr Grody's gone.' I picked up a sheet of paper and put it on one of the scanners. It wasn't
actually
photocopying – basically we were entering temporary documents into the computer system for backing up – but it did feel just as lame.

‘What's with this decor?' asked Dale, coming further into the room. He gazed around at the banks of monitors on metal benches, the warehouse-style ceiling with fluorescent tubes hanging from it and the line of scanners glowing eerily under their covers.

‘I know – when you think how spectacular the rest of the office is, it's kind of hard to imagine why they've gone all factory-settings-only in here, isn't it? Although I guess it gives it a more authentic feel for …' I stopped.

‘For what?' Dale looked at me quizzically.

‘For … you know, general … authenticity,' I mumbled, horrified at how close I'd come to saying, ‘For a make-out room.'

Dale looked like he wanted to say something, but
instead he turned to the scanner next to mine and began laying sheets of paper on it.

‘So, are you doing okay? After yesterday, I mean? It must have been a pretty big shock, finding Grody like that.'

‘Yeah, it was. But I'm fine.' I pulled a sheet out of the scanner and fed it into the shredder underneath, which made a crisp shredding noise just like the real thing. The only difference was that no shreds came out – the paper had just been erased from its virtual existence.

‘What did he … do you mind if I ask what he looked like?'

‘He … was just lying there.' What kind of question was that? I couldn't help feeling it was a creepy thing to ask. Or was this just some kind of guy thing, like the way Nix and Joel were fascinated by zombie masks? ‘I only saw him for a moment. But I don't really want to talk about it right now, if it's okay with you.'

Dale was instantly a picture of concern.

‘Oh, hey, I'm sorry. It was a stupid thing to ask. I don't know what I was thinking!'

‘No, that's okay.' I smiled at him, feeling my heart leap at the answering smile in his blue eyes.
Whoa – get a hold of yourself!
said my inner professional.

‘So, how about that Budi, huh?' Dale started scanning his own pile of papers.

‘He's great, isn't he? I like the little suns he's got on his sarong today. It's like he's trying to cheer everyone up.'

‘Maybe he's just trying to cheer
you
up. I think he's got a soft spot for you.' Dale grinned. ‘What's with the whole “Peaches” thing, anyway? A lot of girls would probably call that harassment.'

I dropped the sheet of paper I was holding, startled.

‘Harassment?' I shook my head. ‘Budi's not like that, Dale! He's a kind mentor, that's all. And even if he was that kind of guy, as if he would choose
me
to harass!' I laughed.

‘Why not you?'

‘Well, you know …' I paused. ‘It's not like I'm …'

Dale's blue, blue eyes gazed steadily into mine.

‘… hot or anything,' I concluded awkwardly.

Dale reached out. The tips of his fingers brushed against my cheek, slowly, softly.

‘Oh, I beg to differ,' he said, and leant towards me, his hands tilting my face up to his …

And that's when the door opened.

‘There you are!' said Budi. If he'd noticed the way Dale and I had sprung apart, he gave no sign of it. ‘Do you mind helping me with something, Alex? I need another perspective on some visuals for a hosiery campaign, and you're right in the target demographic.'

‘Sounds fun,' I managed, though my heart was still pounding so hard I could barely breathe. I couldn't look at Dale as I went past him.

‘Keep up the good work, Dale,' said Budi as he closed the door.

‘Something wrong, Peaches?' Budi asked as we made our way down the corridor.

‘N-no,' I stammered. ‘I mean, I'm still a bit shaken up over Mr Grody's death, but I'm okay.'

‘Well, you'll be glad to know you can have this afternoon off to relax and take your mind off it,' said Budi.

‘Off?' I stared up at him. ‘I didn't mean that I was too shaken up to work! I mean, it's very kind of you and everything, but honestly, I'm fine! I really want to make the most of my time here –'

‘Alex.' Budi cut me off, amusement on his face. ‘I'm not trying to send you home because I think you can't cope or anything. We all have to leave the office this afternoon so the police techies can go through the system and check for security breaches.'

‘Oh.' I blinked. ‘Sorry.'

‘I know you're made of tough stuff,' Budi told me, leading the way into his cubicle. ‘It'd take more than a murder investigation to keep you down!'

A murder investigation … I suddenly remembered the previous night's conversation. I was supposed to be finding out if anyone else could have been in one of the other local Virk Rooms.

‘Have you heard whether the police have discovered anything?' I asked.

‘They haven't found out much, as far as I know,' said Budi. ‘Inge did say they were still checking people's alibis, though obviously most of us were way too far
away to be considered suspicious. Not that you should be worried, though, Alex,' he added, wagging a finger at me. ‘I'm sure there'll be no problem establishing that you were here the whole time.'

This was my chance.

‘I guess there'd be login records to show that, wouldn't there? I mean, I assume Simulcorp keeps a close eye on who's using which Virk Room and when.'

Budi looked at me, surprised.

‘It's funny you should mention that,' he said. ‘Normally you'd be right. But apparently someone's been messing with the login record system, and all those files are missing. And not just for yesterday – it's the last two or three months that are blank.' He leant in, eyes gleaming with the joy of gossip. ‘Someone in CGI told me the police think the record-keeping function was disabled back then, and no one has noticed in all that time! I'd hate to be the guys responsible for our regular system checks right now.'

‘Yeah, pretty bad news for them,' I murmured.

Budi turned to his computer, bringing up a photo of a group of girls wearing primary-coloured pantihose with what appeared to be garbage bags for dresses. I was supposed to be deciding if the picture was any good for a hosiery campaign, but what I was actually thinking was:
So much for getting leads on where the other Simulcorp employees were when Grody was killed.
From what Budi had said, the police must have ruled out all the people who'd been accounted for at their
Virk Rooms overseas and in other cities, but I didn't even know who those people were. With the afternoon off, my ‘investigation' was being put on hold before I'd really discovered anything. And besides all that, there was still the burning question of what exactly would have happened between me and Dale if Budi hadn't interrupted us …

‘So, what do you think?' asked Budi.

‘I think I'm getting nowhere,' I sighed, only to realise a moment later that, of course, he meant the bright tights pic. And for the second time that day, my face went as red as a pair of fashionable 80-deniers.

As it turned out, I was wrong about my investigation being at a standstill.

When I left AU-3 at lunchtime I texted Sky and Kiyoko to let them know I was out of work already. I was still waiting at the train station when, to my surprise, Ki called me back.

‘I'm about to have my lunch break, but I've just spoken with Evan and arranged a visitor pass for you for the afternoon. Can you make it down here by 1.30?'

‘Make it down where? What are you talking about?'

‘I'm talking about you visiting me at the path lab today,' said Ki in the extra-slow voice she reserved for addressing the terminally thick.

‘I gathered that part,' I told her, ‘but you didn't say
why
.'

‘Because I have something to show you. Besides, you're my best friend – I thought you might find my workplace of some interest.'

‘Of course I'm interested! It's just surprising, that's all. For one thing, how many work experience students would be able to persuade their mentor to let their friends visit them at work, especially in a secure place like a path lab?'

‘I do seem to have gained a certain trust here,' said Ki, sounding smug. ‘But it helped that I was able to tell Evan you had Simulcorp security clearance: apparently the lab is owned by another Simulcorp division. So, will you be here?'

‘Of course.' If nothing else, I was curious to find out what Kiyoko could possibly have found at the lab that she thought I'd want to see.

I followed her directions carefully and arrived a few minutes early. It was a friendly looking place – at least compared to AU-3 – with a big, airy reception area and bright prints on the walls. While I waited for Ki, I took a closer look at a picture that looked like pink butterflies on a black background. ‘
Tetrahymena thermophila
cells mating', read the label underneath.
Riiiight
. I glanced around and saw a red-haired guy staring at one of the other prints, a startled expression on his face. I knew just how he felt.

‘Alex!'

I turned around. It was kind of weird seeing Ki in a white coat, especially since she always wore black when she wasn't in uniform.

‘Give it to me straight, doctor – am I going to die?' I asked.

‘Very amusing,' said Ki dryly, straightening the coat. I could tell she was kind of pleased to be addressed as ‘doctor', though. ‘Here's your pass. Shall we go in?'

Inside, the lab was like some kind of anti-Kiyoko dimension: white walls, white floor, white-coated people staring into white microscopes.

‘Doesn't all this whiteness get to you?' I whispered.

Ki smiled, walking confidently down the middle of the room.

‘A contrasting background makes any object easier to see. I think this environment is allowing me to discover new aspects of myself.'

I raised my eyebrows, but Ki looked totally serious. Before I could ask her what she meant, a tall man with grey hair and a pointy grey beard came striding up to us.

‘Aha, you must be Alexandra!' He held out his hand for me to shake. ‘Excellent! Splendid!'

‘Alex, this is my mentor, Dr Evan Fairfield.'

‘Kiyoko tells me you're quite the science student,' said Dr Fairfield.

‘Uh, well, I guess …' I mumbled. Obviously Ki had severely exaggerated my achievements in Science to justify getting me into the lab. I could tell from her face
that she wanted me to back her statement up.
Well, I did get an A minus on that test about cell structure last year
, I thought. ‘Yeah, I'm really into, um … biology, Dr Fairfield.'

‘Call me Evan!' he beamed. ‘Biology, eh? Wonderful! I can see why you'd be interested in our work, then. Biology's a wide field, though – do you have a particular area of interest?'

‘Uh …' My mind went blank. What on Earth were the different branches of biology? ‘Well, I haven't, um …'

‘Anatomy,' said Kiyoko. ‘Human anatomy.' Her face was completely expressionless, but somehow I just knew she was referring to the recent conversation in which I'd described Dale's butt.

‘Excellent choice!' cried Evan, oblivious to my embarrassed expression. ‘Well, if you're anything like as dedicated and quick to learn as your friend, you'll make a fine pathologist. Quite the best student we've had here in years!' He clapped Ki on the shoulder.