several states, with only Registration’s troubled hand-entered spreadsheet to identify them. And those who bought badges at the con itself, paying with cash, might have no record at all. And then Con Job would fail forever, and Dead-Laura’s murderer would probably escape for good.
Jacob stared at the gyro’s empty wrapping. This was going to be difficult.
He drew out his phone and typed a message to Lydia. Death last night turns out to be a poisoning homicide. Really freaky. Going to be an interesting investigation, and I’ll help where I can.
This was exactly what he’d wanted to do. He’d wanted to go into Homicide for years, since he’d started thinking a real career was a possibility. He would have to put in his time and earn his way to Detective, of course, but this was his chance to shine going into the Academy. Daniel trusted him to help; he had to use his con knowledge.
His phone buzzed. Coming. Don’t panic, I’ll be good.
“What exactly are we supposed to do?” asked Vince, gesturing in frustration. “We announce there’s a murder, people freak out. And not entirely without reason. We could tell them it was poison, so they should eat only from the food court or a reliable source — but she might have been poisoned at the food court, for all we know. So we don’t know if that will protect people or expose them to some sicko employee who’s poisoning random people for fun.” He shook his head. “Or we could tell everyone to go home, which pretty much kills Con Job forever, not to mention makes a clean getaway for any sicko who’s not a food court employee.”
The assembled department heads shook heads, bit lips, and generally looked bleak.
“We need to know who she was with,” Daniel said, “and where she went. We can open that up, ask people to step forward if they know anything. It’s easy enough to spread the word; we can use the con mobile app or Twitter.”
“Start with her screen name,” Jacob said. “Ask for friends of Cosbright to come forward. That will at least narrow the field to something manageable, and we can always widen it if we need more.”
Daniel nodded. “And a room where we can talk with people in private. Even one of the hotel rooms will—”
The staff suite door swung open. “I’m sorry,” said a short, prematurely-balding man. “I did see the sign about a private staff meeting, but no one in Ops wanted to make the decision.”
Vince sighed with frustration, but his voice remained civil. “What do you need, Mickey?”
“I’m slated to lead a game of Murder tonight. I kind of suspect it would be in bad taste now, you know? But I wanted to check with you guys before my panel in a half-hour, so I know what to tell people there about an official schedule change.”
Vince ran a hand through his hair. “Can you improv something? Stories from behind the scenes, trivia, question and answer?”
Mickey nodded. “I’ll tell Ops, and they can post the schedule change.”
Vince turned to Paul. “You can update the mobile app as soon as we’re done here, right?”
“That’s why we have it.”
“Thanks, Mickey. We’ll take care of it.”
The man closed the door, and Rita pointed a pencil at it. “Who’s that?”
“Mickey Groene, from Star Chase . Played Lieutenant Stafford. Does mostly voice work now.” Vince looked at him. “You don’t know the show?”
Rita shook her head. “Sorry.”
“Well, you can’t know everything at a con like this,” Vince conceded. “Con Job is pretty broad, lots of fandoms, and that’s one of the reasons people like us. Let’s keep it that way, and find out what happened to this poor young woman, and with any luck at all it’ll turn out to be nothing whatsoever to do with the con. But keep stuff calm. We’ve got to find out what happened without panicking anyone. We can’t afford to lose this weekend.”
They adjourned the meeting, and Jacob trailed the others back to Con Ops, testing announcement
Jacob stared at the gyro’s empty wrapping. This was going to be difficult.
He drew out his phone and typed a message to Lydia. Death last night turns out to be a poisoning homicide. Really freaky. Going to be an interesting investigation, and I’ll help where I can.
This was exactly what he’d wanted to do. He’d wanted to go into Homicide for years, since he’d started thinking a real career was a possibility. He would have to put in his time and earn his way to Detective, of course, but this was his chance to shine going into the Academy. Daniel trusted him to help; he had to use his con knowledge.
His phone buzzed. Coming. Don’t panic, I’ll be good.
“What exactly are we supposed to do?” asked Vince, gesturing in frustration. “We announce there’s a murder, people freak out. And not entirely without reason. We could tell them it was poison, so they should eat only from the food court or a reliable source — but she might have been poisoned at the food court, for all we know. So we don’t know if that will protect people or expose them to some sicko employee who’s poisoning random people for fun.” He shook his head. “Or we could tell everyone to go home, which pretty much kills Con Job forever, not to mention makes a clean getaway for any sicko who’s not a food court employee.”
The assembled department heads shook heads, bit lips, and generally looked bleak.
“We need to know who she was with,” Daniel said, “and where she went. We can open that up, ask people to step forward if they know anything. It’s easy enough to spread the word; we can use the con mobile app or Twitter.”
“Start with her screen name,” Jacob said. “Ask for friends of Cosbright to come forward. That will at least narrow the field to something manageable, and we can always widen it if we need more.”
Daniel nodded. “And a room where we can talk with people in private. Even one of the hotel rooms will—”
The staff suite door swung open. “I’m sorry,” said a short, prematurely-balding man. “I did see the sign about a private staff meeting, but no one in Ops wanted to make the decision.”
Vince sighed with frustration, but his voice remained civil. “What do you need, Mickey?”
“I’m slated to lead a game of Murder tonight. I kind of suspect it would be in bad taste now, you know? But I wanted to check with you guys before my panel in a half-hour, so I know what to tell people there about an official schedule change.”
Vince ran a hand through his hair. “Can you improv something? Stories from behind the scenes, trivia, question and answer?”
Mickey nodded. “I’ll tell Ops, and they can post the schedule change.”
Vince turned to Paul. “You can update the mobile app as soon as we’re done here, right?”
“That’s why we have it.”
“Thanks, Mickey. We’ll take care of it.”
The man closed the door, and Rita pointed a pencil at it. “Who’s that?”
“Mickey Groene, from Star Chase . Played Lieutenant Stafford. Does mostly voice work now.” Vince looked at him. “You don’t know the show?”
Rita shook her head. “Sorry.”
“Well, you can’t know everything at a con like this,” Vince conceded. “Con Job is pretty broad, lots of fandoms, and that’s one of the reasons people like us. Let’s keep it that way, and find out what happened to this poor young woman, and with any luck at all it’ll turn out to be nothing whatsoever to do with the con. But keep stuff calm. We’ve got to find out what happened without panicking anyone. We can’t afford to lose this weekend.”
They adjourned the meeting, and Jacob trailed the others back to Con Ops, testing announcement
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