laboratory. Pale filaments of nebulae, perhaps only a few light-years away, rose above the horizon.
A flier dropped silently down onto a broad concrete apron close to the greenhouse. Luc glanced back and saw tall, sand-coloured towers surrounding the circular building he had just emerged from, side by side with a tile-roofed mansion. Beyond the buildings, cultivated gardens segmented by gravel paths had been planted with gently rustling trees of the same species as those in the greenhouse.
‘If you really want me to find out who killed Vasili,’ he said as they approached the flier, ‘I’m going to need to talk to people. And you need to show me just what went wrong with your security systems.’
‘Nothing went wrong with them.’
Luc frowned. ‘I don’t understand. Cheng said that someone must have compromised—’
She regarded him with wide, angry eyes. ‘Unfortunately, Bailey Cripps was quite correct in his assessment when he said there was nothing whatsoever wrong with Vanaheim’s security systems. I spent the last few days taking them apart in order to come to that conclusion.’
‘But in that case—’
‘Whoever did this, Mr Gabion, wants to make me appear to be the guilty party.’
‘You think someone’s trying to frame you?’
She nodded.
‘That could make your case very difficult.’
‘That goes without saying. Who exactly do you need to talk to?’
‘Everyone.’ He shrugged. ‘Anyone. Councillors, certainly.’
She sighed. ‘I thought you might say something like that. But it could prove difficult.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you’re not a Councillor yourself. None of them
‘But Cheng agreed to your running this investigation, didn’t he? Surely they have to obey him.’
‘You’d think so, but to be frank, it took a lot of persuasion to get Father Cheng to agree to letting you come to Vanaheim. None of them really care about Vasili, they only care whether their neck’s next on the block. And what Cheng wants most of all is for all of this to go away before the Reunification ceremonies begin.’
Luc reached out, putting one hand on the side of the flier’s open hatch. ‘I’d like to take another look at Vasili’s body.’
She frowned. ‘You’ve already seen it.’
‘That was more of a quick glance. Plus, I need to interrogate Vasili’s home security system. And take a second look around that island.’
She nodded tiredly and gestured to the flier. ‘I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime . . .’
Luc nodded and climbed on board.
‘One last thing,’ he said, turning to look down at her. ‘Were you aware that Bailey Cripps came to visit me at my home before I was even brought to Vanaheim?’
Her eyes widened in shock. ‘What?’
‘He had,’ said Luc, ‘concerns about my loyalties.’
‘What did he say?’
‘He said I was just as much a suspect, though he didn’t specify what I was a suspect
De Almeida stared off to one side, her nostrils flaring in the same way they had on Vasili’s island. Then she turned back to him. ‘Thank you for sharing that with me, Mr Gabion.’
‘I think,’ he said, ‘that you need my help just as much as I need yours.’
Fire flashed in her eyes. ‘And how do you figure that?’
‘You brought me into this because you thought I was good at my job. In that case, I can tell you I’m pretty sure the rest of the Council, or at least those I met today, are getting ready to hang you out to dry.’ He felt the conviction of his own words as he spoke. ‘That’s assuming you’re telling me the truth, and you really
‘You’re speaking out of turn, Mr Gabion,’ she said, her voice low and dangerous.
‘I told you I need to be able to speak candidly. I can’t be afraid of speaking to you, and those are the facts as I see them.’
‘Any other nuggets of wisdom you’d care to share with me?’
‘I think your bringing me to Vanaheim was a move of desperation on your part. You thought if I could work out who really killed Vasili, it would keep the rest of them from turning you into a scapegoat.’
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. ‘I may have underestimated you, Mr Gabion. I see
