Dream Park

were Gamers; the others were the Rescued Maiden and the actors who played Maibang and Kagoiano. Unobserved, he faded back into the trees until the campfire was barely visible.

The transceiver in his wallet hummed as he punched it on.

'Griffin here. Marty? You there?'

'Right on it, Chief. We've already interviewed the three Garners who got killed out. We've even voice- stressed the first one

what was his-oh, yeah, Garret. The other two have agreed to do it tomorrow. And they're all staying on as guests of Dream Park.'

'Your sunny personality, no doubt.'

'Oh, no doubt. The unlimited Experience pass might have had something to do with it. I mean, not only go to the head of the line every time, but free too? Garret says he's going for the Guinness record on the Gravity Whip.'

The laughter felt good, a release after the day's tension. 'I've picked up some interesting things myself. I think we can clear Alan Leigh. He was busy last night trying to seduce Eames, one of the warriors.'

Alex wasn't particularly surprised at the short pause, and then the discomfort in Marty's voice. Bobbick, like Melissa and much of California, was a product of the post-quake religious revival. Sexual conservatism still was less the exception than the rule. Though Garners made their own rules.

But Marty was a professional, and he asked a professional's question. 'Can we scratch Eames too?'

'No. He hasn't done much Gaming, so he's not high on the list but he turned Leigh down. He could have been alone at least

part of the night. If Leigh came after him, he could find that Eames had moved his bedroll to avoid a sticky situation. But Leigh wouldn't have started a seduction if he wasn't planning to

stick around and enjoy it. I suspect that we can rule out Hender­son too.'

'Why?'

'Think about it. We never took the Garners seriously as a threat because they're so into make-believe. Henderson lives and breathes for the Game. It's his whole ego, and it pays off well in terms of power and fame. He strikes me as the kind of person who wouldn't risk that for money. This is mostly hunch, but as long as I'm out in left field, we might as well exclude Gina too, because they spent last night together. I'm inclined to think of this as a solo job for now. Of course it could have been a team effort, one partner supplying an alibi for the other. Hmm...'

'What is it, Grill?'

'More grief. Check the Alternate waiting area. It's as close to the edge of Gaming Area A as R&D is. Could one of the Alter­nates have gotten into ‘A', then doubled back through the service duct? It does seem we've got a blind spot for Garners. Psycho­logically, we just never considered them to be any kind of threat.'

'I'll cover it.'

'Good. Now let's give me something more to look for. Have you got a map of Gaming A?'

'I've got a dozen. We've been marking them up.'

'You're ahead of me, then. Okay, mark out the killer's easiest routes to Gaming Area A service shaft 18 -'

'He only had one good path. He had to go around a piece of papier-mache mountain. Grill, we should put TV screens on these transceivers. I could show you.'

'One path: good. Now get Lopez or somebody to tell you what the killer had to see on his way to G. A. 18. Something he knows about that the rest of us don't.'

'Lopez may not be happy about giving forewarning to a Gamer.'

'Dammit, we've got a murd. ...eah. Be as persuasive as you can.'

Marty sounded skeptical. 'Sure.'

Millie's voice came on line. 'Chief, I've got some information for you.'

'Anything earthshattering?'

'Shattering, no. Interesting, yes. Rice apparently died of suffocation some time after he was tied up. We think he regained consciousness before dying.'

'Why?'

'The bandages on Rice's thumbs and wrists were heavily abraded. He must have been rubbing them against the concrete floor, trying to get loose. The gag blocked his mouth, and evi­dently his nose was stopped up.'

'Whew.' Griffin shook his head in the dark, feeling a tremor run the length of his body. 'That's a hell of a note. Killed by a cold. That's really crazy.' He ran his hand through his hair, trying to focus. Fighting dragons was exhausting. 'What else?'

'Well, that missing statue was either stolen, or is in the hands of someone outside of Dream Park. No one knows anything about it. Rice made it in his second year at the University of Oklahoma. One more thing. Kokobun, the lady who tried to buy it from him, said that it felt hollow.'

'Hollow. All right.'

'This gets even trickier, Chief. Skip O'Brien did a check on Rice's psych profile, and the computer record has definitely been tampered with.'

'In what way?'

'O'Brien says that the original report he filed when Rice first came to work here indicated that Rice was too much of a loner for office work. He just didn't fit into a team effort. Now the file shows him as having highly developed communication skills, a higher frustration tolerance, and his military IQ has been upped ten points.'

'Well well. This is definitely getting strange. Somebody was grooming Rice for a desk job. Maybe an important one. Millie, find out if Rice put in for a transfer to another department, will you? Or if anyone requested his transfer. Keep working on any leads you can, and thanks, good work, people. I'll be back in touch. Beep me if anything urgent comes up, but remember, I might not be in a position to answer.'

Bobbick's voice came back on the line. 'By the way, Gruff. We've all been following the adventures of the infamous Griffin, and I must say that you looked great out there against them sav­ages.'

He laughed, and Millie joined in. She said, 'When you chucked the spear at that monster, you looked so serious, Chief. Have you been leading a double life, maybe? By day a meek, mild- mannered security honcho, by night an avenger of evil-'

'Let's not go overboard, gang. I'm glad you're enjoying your­selves, but we've got business. I'll ring you tomorrow.'

The transceiver blipped as Griffin closed and pocketed it. Griffin steepled his hands over his nose and breathed deeply. From where he stood with his back against a vine-shrouded tree, he could hear sounds of merriment from the campfire. The voices were tired but happy, and as he listened, Mary-em began to croak out a song.

'It was good enough for Odin, Though that croakin' was forebodin', Till at last the Giants rode in; Still it's good enough for me!'

He wanted to smile but couldn't. Business first, Alex. Business. There's a killer and thief to find before you can relax- 'Gimme that old time religion,

Gimme that old time religion,

Gimme that old time religion,

It's good enough for me!

Montezuma liked to start out

Rites by carrying a part out

That would really tear your heart out,

And it's good enough for me.'

No, he couldn't relax then, either. There would be paperwork and conferences. Then court appearances and