we were talking about with Detective Holgersen? He was a resident of Hemlock Heights.”
Alecto nodded. “I remember. Mr. Fanatic was talking about him.”
“Right. Turns out he worked at the superhex lab, as a nurse. And left under mysterious circumstances that resulted in some gossip, although Flannery didn’t know any details.”
“So he orchestrated the attack for them,” said Lee. “Maybe he was still on Megaira’s payroll. An inside man.”
“Would you volunteer your own neighborhood for a thing like that?” Thea asked.
“Not everyone likes their neighbors,” Lee said.
Thea shook her head. “Boyd Lexington, his wife, and a young daughter were killed.” She glanced at Alecto. “The kid I saved from that house, Talbott, turns out to be the only surviving member of the family.”
Now Lee looked interested. A natural detective, he’d risen to head of Human Relations & Investigation through the Investigation arm, and he still couldn’t resist putting his oar in on cases from time to time. “If he was in on it, he’d at least have gotten his family out of there, if not himself. Unless he was double crossed.”
“Exactly,” said Thea. “And that’s not all.” She told them about Wanda Randall. “There’s something up in that neighborhood,” she said when she finished. “Something besides the demonstration, that they were using the demonstration to cover up.”
“Could be,” Alecto agreed. “Or Hemlock Heights could have been chosen out of simple spite against Lexington, if he was fired or left on bad terms. The rest could easily be a series of coincidences and misunderstandings.”
“Maybe,” Thea said. “But I think it’s worth finding out, don’t you? The humans think we did this. If I can find proof of whatever was really going on, maybe we can use it to point them at Megaira instead.” She saw from Alecto’s face that a promise of appeasing the humans was not the way to win her over, and added, “And whatever you’re doing, or considering doing, about Fury Unlimited, I may find something you can use against them.”
“I agree it’s worth pursuing,” added Lee. “Although I can’t say I’m thrilled at the idea of using my manpower and budget to do it.”
Alecto crossed her arms and bit her lip, a pose Thea knew better than to interrupt. Finally she said, “We’ll create a special project number for it, Lee, same as we did for the Fury Unlimited investigation, and it’ll come out of a separate budget. But you will be without Thea for a while, I’m afraid.”
“I doubt Victor and Miranda will consider me much of a loss,” said Thea.
“But that’s it,” Alecto added. “I’m not sparing any more employees on this. And keep your expenses to a minimum. I agree the circumstances are odd, but I think what you’re most likely to find at the bottom of it is a lot of personal nonsense that’s irrelevant to our problems.”
“We’ll see, I guess,” said Thea.
She repeated the same thing six hours later, when she was once again in the dining hall, this time for dinner with Cora, Elon, and Nero. “So I guess we’ll see. I’m going to start with Seth Bates.”
“He’s the car killer?” Cora asked.
“Yeah.”
“What about the kid?” Nero dragged the same tater tot through his ketchup for the third time. He was distracted by something. “Talbott, right?”
“Right,” said Thea. “I need to find out where he is now. I doubt anyone will let me near him no matter what kind of story I come up with, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“You could always try the truth,” said Cora. “Tell them you’re the one who saved him. Maybe he’ll want to see you.”
“Doesn’t mean they’d let him,” Thea said. “But I guess I could try that.”
“You know, I saw the picture of your grand rescue on the internet today,” said Elon. “A much less blurry version, but I still don’t think you can tell for sure it’s you. It’s gone pretty viral,
Alecto nodded. “I remember. Mr. Fanatic was talking about him.”
“Right. Turns out he worked at the superhex lab, as a nurse. And left under mysterious circumstances that resulted in some gossip, although Flannery didn’t know any details.”
“So he orchestrated the attack for them,” said Lee. “Maybe he was still on Megaira’s payroll. An inside man.”
“Would you volunteer your own neighborhood for a thing like that?” Thea asked.
“Not everyone likes their neighbors,” Lee said.
Thea shook her head. “Boyd Lexington, his wife, and a young daughter were killed.” She glanced at Alecto. “The kid I saved from that house, Talbott, turns out to be the only surviving member of the family.”
Now Lee looked interested. A natural detective, he’d risen to head of Human Relations & Investigation through the Investigation arm, and he still couldn’t resist putting his oar in on cases from time to time. “If he was in on it, he’d at least have gotten his family out of there, if not himself. Unless he was double crossed.”
“Exactly,” said Thea. “And that’s not all.” She told them about Wanda Randall. “There’s something up in that neighborhood,” she said when she finished. “Something besides the demonstration, that they were using the demonstration to cover up.”
“Could be,” Alecto agreed. “Or Hemlock Heights could have been chosen out of simple spite against Lexington, if he was fired or left on bad terms. The rest could easily be a series of coincidences and misunderstandings.”
“Maybe,” Thea said. “But I think it’s worth finding out, don’t you? The humans think we did this. If I can find proof of whatever was really going on, maybe we can use it to point them at Megaira instead.” She saw from Alecto’s face that a promise of appeasing the humans was not the way to win her over, and added, “And whatever you’re doing, or considering doing, about Fury Unlimited, I may find something you can use against them.”
“I agree it’s worth pursuing,” added Lee. “Although I can’t say I’m thrilled at the idea of using my manpower and budget to do it.”
Alecto crossed her arms and bit her lip, a pose Thea knew better than to interrupt. Finally she said, “We’ll create a special project number for it, Lee, same as we did for the Fury Unlimited investigation, and it’ll come out of a separate budget. But you will be without Thea for a while, I’m afraid.”
“I doubt Victor and Miranda will consider me much of a loss,” said Thea.
“But that’s it,” Alecto added. “I’m not sparing any more employees on this. And keep your expenses to a minimum. I agree the circumstances are odd, but I think what you’re most likely to find at the bottom of it is a lot of personal nonsense that’s irrelevant to our problems.”
“We’ll see, I guess,” said Thea.
She repeated the same thing six hours later, when she was once again in the dining hall, this time for dinner with Cora, Elon, and Nero. “So I guess we’ll see. I’m going to start with Seth Bates.”
“He’s the car killer?” Cora asked.
“Yeah.”
“What about the kid?” Nero dragged the same tater tot through his ketchup for the third time. He was distracted by something. “Talbott, right?”
“Right,” said Thea. “I need to find out where he is now. I doubt anyone will let me near him no matter what kind of story I come up with, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“You could always try the truth,” said Cora. “Tell them you’re the one who saved him. Maybe he’ll want to see you.”
“Doesn’t mean they’d let him,” Thea said. “But I guess I could try that.”
“You know, I saw the picture of your grand rescue on the internet today,” said Elon. “A much less blurry version, but I still don’t think you can tell for sure it’s you. It’s gone pretty viral,
Similar Books
