A three dimensional holograph materialised in the space between Ethan’s bench and the one where his brother was perched on the stool. Helix leaned in, his elbows on his knees. ‘Three identical towers: the MoHD, Justice and Bank of England.’ He pinched his bottom lip between his fingers. ‘Can you get the video feeds from Justice and the bank? The exterior ones.’
Twin jets of smoke issued from Ethan’s nostrils. ‘Sofi?’
‘On it,’ the AI replied.
‘Christ.’ Helix laughed. ‘She even sounds like you.’
‘I think you’re warming to her,’ Ethan said, flicking ash from his joint.
‘I wouldn’t go that far.’
‘You’ve assigned her a gender pronoun.’
‘And you’ve given her a woman’s voice. Is it always listening?’
‘Most of the time. I’ve told her to be more discreet when you’re around. She thinks you don’t like her.’
‘It’s an impressive piece of programming, I’ll grant you that.’
‘Generous of you.’ Ethan nodded. ‘Ask her how it’s coming along.’
Helix raised his eyebrows, but played along. ‘Sofi, how’s it coming along?’
‘You talkin’ to me?’ The voice of Robert De Niro replied. ‘You talkin’ to me?’
‘OK, OK.’ Helix laughed, slapping his hands on his thighs. ‘Can we turn down the sense of humour?’
‘Sorry,’ the default Mexican accent replied. ‘Only Ethan is allowed to tweak my parameters, but I do have the video feeds requested.’
The holograph adjusted its point of view, showing the feed from the 55th floor of The Bank of England looking towards the MoHD. ‘This is from 30 seconds before the window of General Yawlander’s apartment was broken,’ the AI continued. ‘And 120 seconds after.’
Helix slipped from the stool and folded his arms as the video played. The central portion of the panoramic window shattered and collapsed revealing the interior of the apartment. ‘Pause.’ He leaned closer ‘Enhance light levels.’
Framed by the remains of the window, Yawlander could be seen with his Mameluke-hilted sword brandished above his head about to strike forward at his tall black-clad assailant.
‘Play forward two frames per second.’
The General struck down in slow-motion connecting with the raised forearm of the attacker. The sword rebounded carrying him towards his opponent.
‘Smart-fabric,’ Ethan suggested.
Helix nodded, his eyes fixed on the unfolding confrontation. ‘Pause.’
The image froze. General Yawlander was on the precipice edge of the window held on the brink by the masked attacker grasping his tie just below his throat.
Helix folded his hands in front of his face and turned away. He’d seen enough. Peeling his glove from his right hand, he flexed the fingers and joints of his prosthesis. ‘Fast forward to after the fall and pause.’ He waited.
‘Jesus Christ,’ Ethan exclaimed.
Helix sighed and turned back. ‘Centre on the window, zoom in and enhance.’
The face of the assassin was invisible behind a full face mask that carried a reflection of the building opposite. ‘It could be anyone.’
‘Full face tactical helmet with integrated comms and respirator. Whoever it is they came prepared,’ Ethan said.
Helix pulled another beer from the fridge and screwed off the cap. Ethan declined. ‘But we still don’t know how they got there or how they got out.’
‘There are 60 seconds remaining of this recording,’ the AI announced.
Helix sipped his beer. ‘Let it play.’
The masked intruder turned away from the window. Two pairs of rapid flashes illuminated the room. Helix glanced at Ethan. ‘The security detail.’
Ethan nodded. ‘Whoa! He dived out the window.’
‘Pause.’ Helix stood his beer on the bench. ‘That answers that one then. Is that a wing suit?’
The video advanced showing the now skydiving intruder flying between the Justice Ministry and Bank of England in a north-westerly direction.
Helix raised his eyebrows as the segment ended. ‘Go back 60 seconds. Freeze. Estimate height and weight of the individual.’
Ethan read the data from the screen. ‘Six two and 210 pounds. Not quite as big and ugly as you.’
‘OK. Summary,’ Helix said, helping himself to a slice of Ethan’s pizza. ‘It was murder. Highly trained male assailant judging by build, weight and method of exfiltration. Standard issue tactical kit.’
Ethan returned to his bench and brushed a space on his holo-screen. ‘Sofi. List and sort all serving officers by approximate height, weight and whether they’re qualified in airborne assault.’
‘Wait. Include location of all individuals meeting those criteria between the times of 18:22 and 18:42 today within a three-mile radius,’ Helix added.
Data streamed across the screen. The initial list shortened as each filter was applied until there was only one name left. Ethan scraped the data from the screen and tossed it over his shoulder. It landed in the space between him and Helix. Ethan reached forward with his holo-mit, twisting and turning the 3D rendering. ‘Blackburn? What the fu…’
‘Play the timeline forward,’ Helix said.
Ethan centred the rendering on the avatar of Raymond Blackburn. The timeline tracked his exit from the 55th floor window to a point close to Blackfriars Bridge. ‘He touched down in the memorial gardens before heading for the hyperloop at Blackfriars.’
Helix pulled on his shoulder holsters and jacket. ‘What’s Blackburn’s current position?’
‘What are you doing? You’re suspended. Remember?’
‘As if that makes any difference.’ Helix said, rolling up his right trouser leg. He poked his fingers beneath the flap of prosthetic skin on the back of his calf and removed the tracker unit. ‘I want to get to him before Ormandy. Keep me in the loop. If anyone asks or thinks to look, I was here the whole time.’
8
Eleven minutes after leaving the Meridian, Helix waited in the shadow of a beech tree in the park opposite the ground floor apartment that Raymond Blackburn shared with his wife and their one-year-old daughter. The rain had abated. A cloak of dampness hung in the frigid air and dripped from the leafless trees. Blackburn’s AV was parked in front of the tall metal gates that divided the driveway from the rear yard and garden where his two Doberman Pinschers normally patrolled.
Helix hadn’t been able to find a rational explanation for what
