CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Karsh was standing just outside Mike and Joe’s cubicle. They did not greet each other. They stood in the hall to talk.
Joe said, “We were told you were one of the last people to see Bir alive.”
Karsh stood silent and sullen in the middle of the hall.
“Is that accurate or not?” Joe demanded.
Karsh remained defiant, lips shut tight.
Joe gazed at him. “This could get exceptionally dull and boring if we’re the only ones talking.”
Karsh tone was frosty. “As you pointed out in your message, I have to be here. You can make that happen, but you cannot make me speak. You can harass me, pick at me, make fun of me, do what you want, but I will remain silent.”
“Don’t you see, Karsh,” Mike tried to sound reasonable. “Keeping silent serves no good purpose. I know you don’t like us. Okay, fine. I’m sure the feeling is mutual, but there’s a murder to solve here. It doesn’t pay for any of us to be stubborn.”
“I’m not stubborn.”
Mike realized what he said and how he said it was a mistake. “I only meant,” he began.
Karsh exploded. “What you meant! Ha! I doubt if you know what you mean or what you’re doing in this investigation. You’re not a lawyer. You’re just a waiter. You don’t understand.” He waved a dismissive hand at Joe. “And you! You’re a joke. An ex-cop without an implant. How does it feel to be incompetent? Oh, wait that’s what you always were. Yes, we all know the story of why you were sent after Vov. It was just luck that you beat him. It’ll be the last…”
Karsh reached out a hand as if to strike Mike whose blue aura flashed.
Karsh screamed, “It hurts, please stop. It hurts.”
Mike took out his communicator and lessened his aura.
In a few moments, Karsh stood up very straight. “You’re a fucking bully. You’re worse than straight people, worse than the people who put us here. No wonder nobody here likes you.”
Mike said, “Save your personal social commentary for someone who cares to listen.”
Karsh’s face twisted in anger. “I’ll get you for this.”
“I’m sure you’ll try,” Mike said. “Now answer. Were you with Bir last night?”
“Yes.”
“What did you talk about?”
“Nothing.”
“Look,” Mike said, “if I have to do this like pulling teeth, it will take us all night. The sooner you give all your answers the sooner you can leave. Look at it that way. Now just tell me what went on.”
“We met in my room about 10:15 or 10:30. We met on the average of once a week. We didn’t talk much. We seldom did.”
“Why’d you meet?”
“What do you think? Are you that naïve?” Karsh shot him a dirty look, turned away.
“It was a regularly scheduled meeting?”
“Like clockwork every week.”
“That’s odd.” Mike spoke his thought aloud.
“Why odd?” Karsh asked.
“He was watching porn tapes earlier.”
Karsh looked bemused. “That’s news to me. Like I said, he came every week. I did him favors for him to do me favors. It was the only sexual outlet I had besides my own right hand.”
Karsh was far from a beauty. Maybe Bir had watched porn tapes to get himself in the mood for having sex with an unpleasant client.
Karsh said, “No one would go with me. It’s never been easy for me to get partners. It’s always been that way.”
“You’ve always paid for it?” Joe asked.
“Yes. Does knowing that make you happy?” Karsh sounded at the angry edge of bitter. “You good-looking people, you don’t know what it’s like. The rest of us try to relate to someone and we get nothing. We’re not pretty enough, or we get rejected. And spare me your pity. I know my personality has a lot to do with my lack of relationships, maybe everything to do with it. Well, maybe I’ve tried to change. It’s too hard for me. I can’t. So I pay for it. It’s a way not to feel lonely. A way to feel connected to another human being, even if it was only for a few minutes. Besides,” Karsh finished, “the kid was great at it.”
“Oh,” Mike said.
“You didn’t know?”
“I never had sex with him.”
“I thought you were friends.”
“We were, but we weren’t fuck buddies.”
“Oh. Everyone thought you were.”
“Mike has me,” Joe said.
“People have open relationships.”
Joe said, “We don’t. I didn’t know there was hustling going on in the colony until today.”
“And I suppose you’ve never paid for it, have you?”
Both Mike and Joe shook their heads.
Karsh said, “So we had sex. It took about fifteen minutes, maybe ten, maybe twenty, around that.”
“Did you do anything to him?”
“What do you need to ask that for? You get your jollies hearing about it?”
Mike kicked himself mentally. “Sorry. We found cum that wasn’t his on the front of his pants and in his rectum. Plus he’d had an orgasm in the few minutes before he died.”
“That wasn’t me. I’m a bottom. Bir and I didn’t even kiss. We barely touched. He came in. I got fucked. We coordinated swapping time in his schedule. He left. We said about six words to each other. Mostly consisting of, ‘I’m coming – thanks – goodbye’.”
Joe asked, “You didn’t know where he was going?”
“No.”
“Or who any of his other clients were?”
“He was known generally as hot sex in the colony, but I can’t tell you who he went with. He never told me. Try checking who worked his times.”
Joe continued the questioning. “Did he seem nervous, upset? Did he do or say anything unusual?”
“I didn’t notice. I was horny. I was only interested in having an orgasm. I did. He left. That was it.”
“What’d you do after he left?”
“I read from when he left until I heard the alarm go off.”
Joe said, “No one saw him leave your room.”
“You mean he died in a cave-in in my room? Did I miss something? Are you that stupid?”
Joe kept his voice even. “He was seen entering, so we can confirm that. I’d like to be able to confirm the end time as well.”
“I’m surprised anyone saw him entering. In that new section I’m in, there are only one or two inhabited cubicles. The men don’t like to live there because the computers aren’t hooked up yet.”
Karsh stared at them, arms folded, exuding defiance. Could Karsh have followed the kid and killed him? What reason would he have? Would Bir have told him about the wood? Mike doubted that. And why kill the kid over that even if Karsh knew?
Joe asked the central question. “Did you kill him?”
Karsh surprised Mike by remaining calm and saying, “No. What reason would I have?”
“Okay,” Joe said, “that’s all for now.”
Mike thought of saying ‘don’t leave town’ but under the circumstances he decided against it. Karsh would not be amused.
Karsh said, “I have a question for you.”
“What?” Mike asked.
“Did either of you kill him?”
Mike stared at Karsh who continued. “You were both close to the kid. Maybe one of you did it. Maybe you were jealous. Maybe he wouldn’t put out for you. Or maybe one of you was cheating on the other.”
“Leave,” Mike ordered.
Karsh didn’t move. “I have as much right to question your actions and your motivations as you have to question mine.”
Mike pointed down the corridor. “Get out of my sight.”
Karsh said, “You don’t like it when you’re the one being fucked over. Isn’t that too bad.” Karsh gathered his dignity and swung away from them. He stopped and walked a few steps then turned back. He wagged a finger towards Mike. “You’ll be sorry for the way you’ve treated me. You won’t be head of this colony forever. Even now if your little band of yes men didn’t always stick up for you like little puppets, things would be very different, and they will be. I can promise you that.” He left.
Mike sighed. More trouble in all probability is what that meant. He put it in the back of his mind. There was nothing to be done about it right now. He turned to Joe who looked as frustrated as Mike felt.