Page 31 of Crocodile Tears

“Yup. I held it up to his face and scanned his retina – as I’m fairly sure the killer did when erasing the security footage from the house.”

“And? What’s on it?” Josiah frowned, still skimming through the files on his own holopad.

Reed grinned. “A possible motive,” he said, flicking a document from the holopad up into the air.

Josiah glanced at the holodoc, then did a double take as he realised what he was looking at.

“Look at the date and time – it arrived first thing this morning, and was the only document open when I logged in. Looks like this is an open-and-shut case, sir. I saw your file note, and between the bruising and this…” Reed gestured at the holodoc still hanging in the air. “I’d say we have enough to bring charges.”

Josiah gave a little grunt as he finished reading. “Still circumstantial,” he said, feeling oddly disappointed. Was it really going to be this easy? Surely this was too commonplace and obvious for such an enigmatic suspect? He glanced through the mirror at where Alexander was sitting, with his now familiar blank expression.

“Not if you get a confession out of him,” Reed insisted. “Should be enough leverage for that, surely?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Reed looked surprised. “Come on, sir – this is dynamite. The bastard must be guilty.”

“Maybe,” Josiah repeated stubbornly. “We don’t know if Lytton even saw it.”

“But if he did, then we have motive and opportunity.”

“But not means – unless you’ve found the murder weapon?”

“Not yet, but he could have easily disposed of it.”

“We’ll see.”

“What’s the problem?” Reed demanded.

Josiah frowned, wondering that himself. “Something doesn’t feel right,” he said uncertainly.

“Feel?” Reed laughed. “No offence, sir, but since when do you ‘feel’ a case? You’ve always mocked me for talking about hunches andfeelings. ‘Feelings don’t win cases, Reed – facts do’ – that’s what you always say.”

“I know.” Josiah tucked Dacre’s holopad into his jacket pocket. “But the facts here don’t add up. It’s all too easy, too convenient.”

“Sir, the media are outside baying for blood, and the boss wants quick results. Don’t overthink it. Just take the facts and run with them.”

“Oh, I will.” Josiah stood up. “Just as soon as I’m sure what they are.”

Alexander smiled at him when he entered the interview room.

“I thought you’d leave me for longer,” he said. “To… I don’t know – sweat, or stew, or something.”

“I don’t play games, and you would be wise to adopt the same approach,” Josiah said, sitting down. Placing his own holopad on the table between them, he began recording.

“This is Investigator Josiah Raine from Inquisitus, interviewing Alexander Lytton, Indentured Servant of the late Elliot Dacre. Date: Tuesday, October twenty-fifth, 2095. Time: five-fifteen p.m. Do you confirm that you have refused legal assistance?”

“I do.” Alexander nodded.

“You might want to rethink that. You see, we found this.” He pinged Dacre’s holodoc into the air in front of his suspect. Alexander glanced at it, but he didn’t look surprised.

“Do you know what this is?” Josiah asked.

“Yes – it’s Elliot’s will.”

“That’s right – and it’s dated yesterday. Were you aware that Dacre changed his will?”

“Yes, he told me.”

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