The Immorality Clause (19 page)

“Yes, it has. Here, watch the robot’s focus just before the numbers jump.”

The view fixated on a single point along the wall beside the bathroom, away from any shadows that Barilla may have cast as he cleaned himself up. Then the numbers jumped while the view remained the same.

“The robot was able to do something to the marijuana and then return to the exact same position it had been in before moving,” Ladeaux stated.

“So, when the video was spliced, there was no jumping of image or change of lighting angles. It’s imperceptible as long as the timestamp is changed.”

“Exactly.”

“Is there a way to recover that lost video?” I asked.

“I’m afraid not,” Tommy Voodoo replied. “The programmers at Cybertronic Solutions have looked for it. It’s simply gone.”

“I need to have the other videos analyzed. Can you do that?”

“I can ask,” he answered. “Since those aren’t my clubs, I’d have to have you send me the video feeds. As long as they’re running Cybertronic Solutions droids, their programmers should be able to see that quickly. I know the droids at Madame LaLaurie’s come from Cooper-Smith Personal Services, so I’d be unable to assist with that camera footage. Possibly a meeting with their company reps could open some doors for you.”

My phone beeped again. “Excuse me; this is the third time that my phone’s emergency number has alerted. I need to check it.”

“Of course,” he replied, opening his mail screen and doing his best to appear as if he weren’t eavesdropping.

I looked at the messages. There were two from Andi and one from Amir. Both of them had tried to contact me at my emergency number, which was out of the ordinary, so I stood and walked over to the corner.

“Andi, what is it?” I asked quietly.

“You need to contact Amir Khalil immediately. There’s been an incident; your assistance is desperately needed. Chief Brubaker is trying to reach you as well about a separate matter.”

“Any idea what the chief wants?”

“No. He wanted you to call him as soon as possible.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

I hung up and Ladeaux waved at me. “If you don’t have any further questions for me, Anastasia can show you out.”

The feeling that someone had walked up behind me caused me to whirl around. The receptionist, beautiful in all her petri dish glory, stood less than a foot away. “This way, Detective,” she said.

I glanced back at Tommy Voodoo. “Thanks. I’ll send you the video from the other two clubs. What did the recording from the droid at The Digital Diva show?”

“The same loss of footage and evidence of tampering as in the video you’ve seen. However, more than three minutes is unaccounted for between the gaps in the two times.”

“If there’s any way you could provide a recording of those Cybertronic numbers displayed side by side with the timestamp, it would help further the investigation.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he answered. “Oh, and if you get the opportunity to find my stolen droid, I’d like him back.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I mimicked his response.

He nodded and turned back to the monitor. I took it to mean he was finished talking to me for the moment. He was potentially going to do me a favor without requiring a court order to check out the videos, so I let his dismissal slide.

I followed the clone to the lobby and called the BMW while I put my coat on. Andi’s messages bothered me. Why was Amir calling? And what about the chief?

The car pulled up and I got in, choosing to dial my lifelong friend’s number first.

Amir answered on the first ring. “Oh, thank goodness, Zach. You’ve got to come to my house.” There were several background voices, making it sound like he was downtown.

“What’s wrong?” I asked in alarm.

“Someone shot up my house. They drove by, shooting all of my windows out.”

“Is everyone okay?”

“Thank the Lord, yes. No one was hurt. Amanda and Amir Jr. were home when it happened. The girls were at school.”

“Are you— Hold on. I’m on my way.” I tapped his address into the nav system and the car pulled slowly into traffic. I willed it to go faster, missing my Jeep’s ability to bypass the speed regulator for a police override.

I expected a certain amount of personal hardship as a homicide detective. Murderers could try to come after me all day long, that didn’t bother me. Now this fucker was messing with my friends, and I was pissed.

TWELVE: TUESDAY

I dialed Chief Brubaker’s office number on the way to Amir’s house. “Brubaker,” he stated when he picked up the phone.

“Chief, it’s Forrest.”

“Where have you been?”

“I was meeting with Thomas Ladeaux, like you’d—”

“Can it. What’s this I hear about you going on a date with that witness from Friday night’s murder?”

“I, uh—” I paused.
How does the chief know about that?

“What are you doing, Forrest? I understand that you’re a young guy, but there are tens of thousands of women in New Orleans. Don’t make a mistake you’re going to regret.”

“Chief, I gotta talk to you about this.”

“Shit. Did you fuck her? Are you fucking one of your witnesses, Detective?”

I told Chief Brubaker about the drugs, the sex and Ladeaux’s revelation that Paxton Himura was a robot, not a human being. I even told him about the breakthrough with the proprietary timestamp that proved at least two of the videos had been altered. By the time I was finished, the BMW was in Amir’s neighborhood.

“I need your AI to send that urine analysis directly to me as an official lab report from the Louisiana Department of Health,” the chief ordered. “Legally, I can only sit on this thing for twenty-four hours before I have to let Internal Affairs know about it. We’ll get ahead of this thing before it breaks wide open and get the investigators on our side. You’re a moron, but you’re also the best homicide detective I have.”

Saying I was better than Alfonso wasn’t really a compliment. “Thanks, Chief. I appreciate it.”

“Listen, Forrest. I’m glad that you came clean with me. I know that wasn’t easy. You could have lied to me about it, but you didn’t. I’m gonna fight for you, but no guarantees.”

“I know. Once IA gets it, it’s out of your hands.”

“Yeah. For now, keep on the investigation. That was good work with the timestamp thing. Dig up whatever else you can find.”

“Got it, Chief. I’ll be going out to talk to Wolfe’s widow again tonight.”

“Okay, just put it in your report in the morning. After that, I may have to pull you off the case. I don’t know what they’ll do yet.”

“Understood,” I replied, staring out the window at several black and whites, lights flashing, in front of Amir’s house.

“See you tomorrow morning.” He hung up before I got the opportunity to reply. I knew my actions had hurt the man. I kept trying to tell myself that it was the drugs she’d slipped me, but I should have been able to resist the temptations. Was I really so lonely as to jump into bed with the first woman who came along? What about the mess with Teagan? I needed to reevaluate some things in my life, but that would have to wait.

I stepped out of the car and flashed my badge to one of the Read Boulevard East cops who stood on the curb. While I walked up the sidewalk, I appraised the damage. Amir hadn’t been lying, every window was broken, some with tiny holes visible, others completely shattered. Whoever had done this was precise; making sure every possible non-brick surface was covered in the hopes of hitting one of the occupants. Seeing the damage made my blood boil.

I edged past an officer digging in the wall for projectile fragments. Amir and Amanda stood at their kitchen counter, both drinking from mugs.

“You two know it’s too late to be drinking coffee,” I chastised.

“Oh, Zach, it was awful!” Amanda sobbed and rushed around the counter to wrap me in a hug.

“Were you home?”

“Yes, Amir Jr and I were in the living room folding laundry. I’m lucky that they started from that side and worked their way across the house,” she said, pointing toward the girls’ end of the house. “It gave me enough of a warning to dive onto the floor and pull Amir down with me. We crawled into the kitchen and hid behind the refrigerator.”

Amir came around and shook my hand. “Thank you for coming, Zach. I don’t know why this happened.”

I took a deep breath. “I think I do. The killer I’m investigating used Paxton’s video to determine where you lived. He’s trying to get to me.”

“What video?” Amir asked.

“It turns out that she’s a robot—the latest model, designed to imitate a human.”

“You brought a
robot
into our house?” Amanda asked.

“I didn’t know it until today. I was fooled by her too.” Technically I’d found out the night before, but that wasn’t the point.

“By her? You mean by it, don’t you? Oh God, she helped me in the kitchen, she went to the bathroom like a person. Why would it do that?”

“The company wants them to be unrecognizable,” I replied. “They’re creating a companion droid instead of a sex bot.”

Amir cleared his throat. “Maybe it has to do with the social stigma associated with the type of person who requires the services of a robot instead of having a relationship with a human.”

The three of us had discussed the robot issue on several occasions over the years. Amanda was absolutely opposed to them, whereas Amir and I felt like they had their place in modern society. Neither side was right, of course, but we knew where each other stood.

“This guy’s already tried to kill me once,” I muttered, bringing the two of them back to the fact that their house was a mess. “He probably saw the news conference—no, that’s not right,” I amended. “If he used Paxton to get to me, then he already knew I was alive…”

It was puzzling. Why had he waited to attack until today? He could have come on Sunday when we were all here. Hell, he could have had Paxton strangle me in my sleep… “Wait a minute.”

Amir dropped the piece of tile he’d picked up. “What is it, Zach?”

“It
is
the robots.”

“My friend, I am confused. What are the robots?”

“The robots are the last ones to see the victims alive. They’re in the rooms with them, then they leave and the victims die. Someone else discovers the body…”

The image of the robot at The Stud Farm purposely focusing on the wall and then the video footage being edited out ran through my mind. The robot either added the oleander to the bag of weed or put it in the bong, where Barilla couldn’t see when he went to the bathroom. I didn’t see the other videos yet, but it was likely the same with them. I’d be willing to bet that the robots focused on a point in the room where blood wouldn’t splatter when they killed their victims so the video could be spliced by the hacker.

It was a simple, yet effective technique. I’d taken the timestamp for face value and focused my attention on who could have entered the room after the robots left. But, they didn’t leave, they were programmed to appear like they left and they killed during the missing video segment. How could I have missed that?

Because it hasn’t been done before
, I answered my own question. A serial killer, obviously a computer hacker or programmer, had taken over four different robots and murdered people along a timeline of his choosing—five, if you counted Paxton. I wasn’t sold that the killer had used her, though, because I couldn’t quite figure out where she fit into things.

If the killer controlled her, why go to the elaborate effort, he could have killed me at any point along the way—like the tea for example. He could have poisoned me outright. Was Paxton a part of this, or was she acting on her own to fulfill Cybertronic’s mandate that she live and work as a human?

“Zach. Zach, are you okay?” I became aware of Amir snapping his fingers in front of my face.

“Uh, yeah. I’m sorry, Amir. Several parts of the case just fell into place in my mind. The robots are the ones killing the victims in the sex clubs.”

“I knew it!” Amanda hissed. “Those things are Satan’s spawn, sent here to destroy marriages and destabilize the family.”

Amir sighed. “They’re not. A lonely man designed them for other lonely men and the industry has grown since then. If used properly, they have a role to fill, just like any other appliance in the house has its place.”

“We are never getting one of those things in
this
house…”

She trailed off and looked around her broken home. Then she began to cry. Amir comforted her so I made my way over to one of the guys in a suit and introduced myself.

“Nice to meet you, Forrest. I’m Van MacGee,” the detective replied.

“The Khalils are friends of mine, Amir and I go back to junior high. If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

“Okay, will do. To be honest with you, this is the first drive-by we’ve had in Read East in three years. Do you know why this family would be targeted?”

“I’m almost positive it’s because of me,” I replied quietly so Amir and Amanda wouldn’t hear me.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m in the middle of a homicide case right now. The story hasn’t broke widely yet, but we may have a serial killer on our hands in Easytown. He’s tried to kill me once already… I think he’s going after my support base now.”

Van harrumphed. “Easytown. Makes sense. We clean up the city; they just move over there.”

“The rent’s lower,” I deadpanned. “I don’t think the Khalils are safe here. We need to get them moved before he comes back to finish the job.”

“You’re right. This house was specifically targeted. Do they have someplace to go?”

“I’ll have to ask. Amir’s the only one left in his family that emigrated from Egypt, but Amanda may have family in the area where they could stay and not disrupt the children’s school.”

The detective nodded. “Okay, thanks. I’ll keep you in mind if I need any assistance.”

He went back to his work and I returned to my friends. “Do you guys have a place to stay for a few days?”

“Why? Do you think we’re in danger here?” Amanda asked.

“No,” I lied. “It’s a standard police precaution in situations like this. Don’t worry.”

“My… My parents live in Slidell. We could stay there and still get the kids back and forth to school for a few days.”

“Okay. Good idea,” I replied. “It’s probably for the best.”

“What are we going to do with all of our belongings?” Amir asked. “The windows are broken; thieves can come in and take everything.”

I held up my hands to calm him. “Amir, who gives a shit about your stuff? Somebody tried to
kill
you. Possessions can be replaced. Lives can’t.”

“I don’t want my possessions to be replaced, I want—”

“Dammit, Amir,” I whispered angrily. “What if you stayed here and whoever did this comes back to finish the job?”

I could tell that I still wasn’t getting through to him. “What if they murder Amir Jr.? Slit his throat from ear to ear with a dull knife. Or rape your little girls while you’re forced to watch? Would your stuff be worth it then?”

That worked. I saw the fire leave his eyes and he deflated. “You’re right, my friend. We cannot stay here.”

I placed a comforting hand on Amir’s shoulder. “I’m sorry this happened, buddy. I’m gonna get this guy. I promise.”

He grasped my upper arm and said, “I know you will, Zach.”

Once I was positive that Amir and Amanda were ready to go, I left them in the hands of Detective MacGee. The chief’s warning that he could only sit on my admission of violating department regulations for twenty-four hours pounded into my brain, making every moment that much more important. I needed to bust this guy quickly.

The BMW turned off of the 90 into the Leonidas neighborhood. I was curious about the money in Jacqueline Wolfe’s bank account. Andi said it was an electronic transfer into the account, with nothing but numbers identifying where it had come from. It didn’t appear to be an insurance payment, but it could have been—although I hadn’t ever heard of an insurance company that paid prior to the death certificate issuance. There was no way to really know until I started digging.

It was dark by the time I got to Wolfe’s World of Gaming and Miniature Figures. The place looked the same as it did a few days ago. As I stepped out, my phone rang. It was from a blocked number.

“Hello?”

“I’m sorry,” a distressed female voice stated on the other end.

“Paxton?”

“I’m sorry, Zach. I don’t know why I did those things to you. I think I might have been drugged.”