“My name is Inspector Eugene Demetrius,” the older man noted. “You, Mr. Hennig, are being charged with the following counts: manslaughter in the first, sedition, conspiracy to subvert a government organization, conspiracy to murder, and treason against the Throne.”
Hennig paled.
“T-treason… ag-against the, the Throne?” he echoed, his voice barely audible. “Like, against the Emperor that done bombed th’ Headquarters building, an’ blew up th’ Council?”
“The same.”
“Is… is he gonna kill me, too?”
“That remains to be seen.”
“What, um, what ‘f I, um, turn state’s evidence?”
“Hush, Joe,” Chase said. “Were you read your rights?”
“Um, uh-huh.”
“Good. Inspector Demetrius,” Chase directed his statement to the other man, “we have nothing to say to you at this time.”
“Very well,” Demetrius said. “Perhaps you’d like to see the evidence?”
“Please.”
“Good. Mr. Hennig, you will see one VR channel has been opened to you. Mr. Chase, that channel is 258.”
“I see it,” Chase said.
“Please watch the videos in that channel. It will take some time, though I will try to expedite matters for you by scrolling it at an advanced rate.”
Chase and Hennig fell silent, their gazes taking on the vacant look of someone in VR, and Demetrius waited patiently.
It did take a while – for the first video was that taken from Winston Peabody’s VR nanites as he sat in the first meeting of the ‘oldies,’ complete with the discussion of how to assassinate Carter and Ashton. The second video was that of Hennig and Brandt entering the Carter estate and placing the sabotage packages, complete with audio of their discussion. And there were others, including the second meeting, where Hennig and Brandt reported back that they had set the sabotage packages. But finally Chase and Hennig came back to reality. Hennig was very pale, almost green around the mouth, but Chase was red-faced.
“You complete and utter idiot,” he muttered to his client, very nearly clocking Hennig upside the back of the head before controlling himself. “Inspector Demetrius, may I speak with my client for a moment?”
“Certainly, Mr. Chase.” Demetrius rose, gestured to the blankness of the one-way window, then stepped out.
“They have you dead to rights, Joe,” an angry Chase said then. “There’s no way I can save your neck from this one. The best we can hope for is to plea-bargain. But if the Emperor is involved, even that may be off the table.”
“But, but,” Hennig tried. “The cops hired me.”
“The same cops that are likely being arrested as we speak, or close to it?”
“What?”
“The old Imperial Police on Sintar is gone, you imbecile. Anyone left who figures on trying to run things the way they used to be has dreams of grandeur that have no basis in reality. This Emperor simply won’t allow it. The absolute best you can hope for at this point is life in prison at hard labor. If the Emperor decides to eliminate you all, once and for all, there’s nothing I can do to even protest it. You’re a dead man, and that’s that.”
Chase hadn’t thought it was possible for Hennig to pale any further, but he managed it, his entire face taking on a distinct greenish hue.
“Maybe that bit about turning state’s evidence wasn’t such a bad notion, after all,” Chase decided, then walked over and tapped on the window glass. “When that inspector comes back in here, let me do the talking. Only talk when I tell you to answer his questions. Is that understood?”
“Ye-yes,” Hennig stammered, as Demetrius came back into the room.
Once bargaining was complete, and a certain level of immunity promised to Hennig in exchange for information, Chase gave his client permission to talk.
“Who hired you?” Demetrius began the interrogation.
“Um,” Hennig murmured, still pale.
“Stay calm, Mr. Hennig,” Demetrius said in a quiet tone. “Mr. Chase has secured your life. Only the Emperor can overrule that, and while I do not communicate with him directly myself, I have been given to understand from someone who does, and does so fairly regularly, that he has already agreed to honor the plea-bargain, even should this case be bumped up to the High Court.”
“Oh. Um, uh, that, that’s a relief, sir.”
“Good. Now let’s try again, shall we?”
“Uh, okay.”
“Who hired you?”
“Um. Captain Ted Bradly.”
“Is he the one who found you and brought you to the meetings?”
“No, sir.”
“Who did?”
“Officer Hunter Williams, sir.”
“How do you know Officer Williams?”
“He was the guy what the old Headquarters staff sent when they wanted to hire one of us. ‘Enforcers,’ they called us.”
“How did he find you?”
“Oh, he knew me an’ Pete – uh, Mr. Brandt – from previous hires, sir. We got a private VR channel that he pings us on, an’ we answer. An’ he told us where an’ when to meet him.”
“What is that VR channel?”
“Channel 999, sir.”
“Was Williams part of the conspiracy meetings?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Was Bradly part of the conspiracy meetings?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Who else was there?”
“Um, Inspector Winston Peabody, Lieutenant Bill Carr, Officer George Holland, Officer Dave Seeger, and a couple-three other officers I can’t remember names of.”
“Would you remember their names if I went over them?”
“Maybe.”
“Officer Dominick Ashton.”
“Um, no, sir. He any relation to that detective what hangs out with Carter?”
Chase bapped Hennig lightly on the back of the head, and Hennig quieted. Demetrius continued.
“Officer Noah Warner.”
“Yeah! He was there.”
“Officer Callista Ames.”
“Uhhh… No, sir.”
“Officer Matt Lowe.”
“Oh! Yes, sir. He was one of ‘em.”
“Officer Maia Peterson.”
“Mmm. No, sir.”
“Officer Theodore Wang.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Officer Timothy Jones.”
“…No, sir. I think that done got all of ‘em, sir.”
“Very well. So we have a list of conspirators as follows: Officer Theodore Wang, Officer Matt Lowe, Officer
