“His skill has no bearing on what is mechanically and physically possible, Detective. The time frame does not support his machine being one of the Red-eye perpetrators.”
I had to let on what I knew, or we’d just keep spinning our wheels. “Capek, listen to me! There was no Neural-Interface! It didn’t get Red-eyed — it simply was!”
Both the German and the machine were silent for a moment. Jaeger spoke first. “You must be mistaken, Detective. No Neural-Interface? A machine cannot operate without one. Perhaps someone allocated it to somewhere else in the machine.”
“I ain’t stupid, Karl. Automatics are too crammed full of wiring to fit a Neural-Interface anywhere but inside their noggin. There’s barely enough room in the new models for the Tesla Battery. I assure you, this thing was as empty as a poor man’s pocket.”
“No, I do not believe it. Impossible …” Jaeger seemed shaken. I gestured for the machine to bring him a chair.
“Let’s move on to an easier question: Any reason you know of that your Automatic was used in a shooting?”
“I am lost on all fronts, Detective. I work for myself repairing Automatics for people who cannot afford the legitimate mechanics. I will never work for the Mob again. Back when I was captured, Murder, Inc. found out, but because the police couldn’t track them through me, I was left alone. No one came after me in prison or after I got out. I was a tied-up end, an issue fixed before it even began. Even if I had told anyone that I’d worked for the Mafia, they never would have believed me. My identity was erased, most of my money liquidated — I had nothing left. Why would I risk a cop killing when I could get thrown back inside for jaywalking?”
Jaeger had a decent alibi and enough fear for me to believe him. The Automatic had brought over a small chair and placed it behind him, so I forced the old German to take a seat.
“Metal man, you bring anything from the office?”
“I have the relevant information and pictures of the victims.”
I snapped my fingers, and it pulled out the light-brown folder from the confines of its suit and handed it to me. Inside were the crude photographs Sinclair had taken at the scene. I tore them from the folder, crouched down in front of Jaeger, and showed him the faces of the dead cops. “Do you at least recognize any of them? Maybe you know why someone would gun them down and supposedly frame you?”
“Mein Gott … I know them.” He grabbed the pictures from me and stared at them. “These two put me away eleven years ago, in ’22,” he said, indicating the cops from the 5th. “And three others, they were at my hearing. They arrested me and seized my assets. When I got out in ’26, it took forever to get this shop up and running.”
I ran my hands through my hair. Fuck, too perfect a crime to be a revenge killing. There ain’t no freebies in this business. The situation lined up so perfectly that it was right out of a movie plot. I’d dealt with enough crimes to know that if the facts fit too well, you were missing something. Jaeger’s Automatic being on the scene would be enough to make him a prime suspect, and I knew for a fact that the FBI agents wouldn’t give two shits about what was or was not inside the Automatic’s head.
I stood up and backed away, looking at the robot and jerking my head toward Jaeger. Seconds later, the old man was standing next to me, uncuffed and far less likely to run. I slid my gun back into its holster to make him more comfortable.
“So, if you didn’t cook your Auto’s NI and send it out to shoot up a speakeasy, who did?”
He shook his head. “Rudi went to meet one of my suppliers to retrieve cheap parts. Perhaps it was them. He was an easy target to kidnap and plant as evidence. Arschgeige.”
“What they did to your machine was more than just plant evidence. Who is this supplier?”
“I have never dealt with them directly. I would send Rudi to a specific address in the city for the pickups and exchanges.”
“Poor business practice on your part, huh, Karl?”
“When you’re avoiding the Iron Hands, you’ll do anything to get cheap parts,” he said, looking at me like I knew what he meant. I did, of course, but wouldn’t admit it in front of the robot. “Rudi learned of them through some other Automatics he was close with. He only ever went to one meeting place, but there was a list of several backup locations, in case they were compromised. I’ll show it to you.”
Most of the places on the list were high-traffic parts of the Lower City. Perfect for an exchange. It would be impossible to identify any specific suspicious person, seeing as everyone in the Lower City was suspicious. One noteworthy fact was that three of the locations were a stone’s throw from one another in Times Square. Those involved in smuggling and Mob activity loved Times Square — human cover was the best cover — so this wasn’t a substantial lead. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to check the area out.
I put the list in my pocket. “Can you give me the names of the other three cops who put you away? We need to start somewhere.”
“Cory Belik, Davin Morris, and Andrew Stern.” He recited the names as if he had been waiting all these years to tell someone. “I wish for this to be cleared up as fast as possible, Detective. And so, I offer you whatever services I can provide, on the condition I remain anonymous to anyone else you may encounter.”
“Can do. Robot, go spin up the car. I’ll be there in a minute.” I threw the machine my keys
