“It helps that the perp is so damnably memorable,” Eveth said, turning away from the foot traffic on the street to study the scowl on Grodray’s face.
“I agree,” her partner conceded. “But now things will get interesting.”
Jackeith began to walk, so Eveth fell into stride beside him.
They were at the star ferry office downtown. Had just left, headed back to their own precinct building. The sun was clouded over, giving the day a soft and uncertain taste.
“How so?” Eveth asked. “We know they made it off-planet using the ferry.”
“We suspect,” Grodray corrected her. “We’ve got a witness putting them in an auto-car in the right time window. Records show that car deposited them at a haberdashery nearby. You haven’t called the operator of the shop, because we don’t want to tip our hand, and to get a warrant would require that we tell someone important what we think is going on, but more of your witnesses confirm the car’s arrival.”
“I’ve got a gut feeling on this one, Grodray,” Eveth said.
“And I have learned to trust your intuition, Eve,” he replied. “But all a raid gets us at this point is confirmation of who was there, and maybe an actual picture of the…perp.”
They were on a public street. Not even her by-the-books partner would use the word human here, for fear of starting a riot.
“What’s next?” she asked, knowing his penchant for deduction.
“So the next step was tracking auto-cars from the haberdasher,” he said. “Once you had the building identified, I went off and tracked outbound cars, assuming that they think they are safe. Pretty sure I found a target. Certainly, the credit account they are using belongs to a Warreth insurance salesman living on the southern coast. He’ll be in for a surprise when he gets his monthly bill, unless we warn him ahead of time. That also gives too much away.”
“It does,” Eveth said. “I don’t want to share this one bit more than I have to. Any judge we tell is going to call a Senior Inspector in.”
“They will, at the very least. That’s wherein the problem lies,” Grodray said. “Based on what we’ve run down today, all the other cars that left that address over the next two hours are accounted for, except for three that went to the orbital boost for the ferry, first stop: Hurquar. We have to presume they caught a ride up to space, and then left the system.”
“And walked right out of our jurisdiction,” Eveth grumbled.
“Perhaps,” Grodray countered. “Is it worth raising a fuss now?”
“Have you got the jets to lift this one, Grodray?” Eveth asked suddenly. “You’ve got a Level-7 Security Authorization.”
“And I am very careful about how I use it, Baker,” he replied. “I can go to a judge and fill out a probable cause request. That gets us a warrant to access the haberdasher’s records, but any judge we ask is likely to put in a call to a Senior Inspector, possibly the Command Inspector herself, and ask for clarification. That starts an avalanche of questions.”
“In for a penny, in for a pound,” she stated her position. “I want what you have. I want to be on the inside of some of those investigations you obviously can’t talk about around me because I’m only Level-3. And if we’ve got a human loose, maybe another human loose, then I absolutely want to be in on that takedown.”
“Even if it means being stuck running to get coffee for a Senior Inspector?” he asked. “Just being on the back of the stage while the big shots get all the credit for the work you did? The sweat you gave? The blood you shed?”
Something in his eyes told Eveth that Jackeith Grodray had been there. Had done exactly that. And let the politicians have all the credit.
But it also made him very quietly a Level-7. Almost the top of the ladder. Hunting renegade humans would be at that level.
“We are the law, Grodray,” she growled. “I would rather see justice done than worry about getting my face in the newspaper.”
“In that case, we need to split up,” he said in all seriousness. “I’ll go make a few personal calls and get things rolling. You go home and pack some clothes for a sudden, extended vacation.”
She stopped cold and grabbed his arm to halt him. One hand indicated her uniform, even minus the outer tunic he was wearing.
“This uniform, this badge, is all I need, Grodray,” she said.
“No, Eve,” he replied. “Where we might be going, that sort of thing will get you killed.”
Eveth studied the calm certainty in his eyes and let go of his arm. There was only one place that her uniform would be a hindrance. A liability.
If they were going undercover, into the very shadows where folks like Cinnra hid.