A Perfect Crime (TWS)

I couldn't think of anything else to go on with Wells, so I let der go and moved on.

The next witness went by the name Danger Ranger, and everything about rim screamed "Ranger". Unfortunately, re seemed to know even less than Wells and had a disturbing level of discomfort for ris job. There was also a lot about ris testimony form that smelled funny, so I made a note requesting the Satisfaction Division pay rim a visit.

Vicky Lautrec was more informative. A sanitation engineer with X-Ray vision, she had taken a look through some walls and insisted she had already reported everything she had seen - namely, that after the shooting, some employees of a criminal who goes by "the Crone" had left through the back door. She was rather frustrated at being questioned, insisting she had already explained it all, which didn't leave me anywhere in particular to go. Still, I noted down her clear disrespect for an investigator before moving on.

Pluppers Bingscotch was at least cooperative. They didn't have much information, but it easily fit with Vicky's story. I handed them a spare laundry token and noted them down as a model citizen.

That left Cleo View, window washer. Her testimony was less than solid, but definitely suggested that there might have been a gun in an apartment that might have been the victim's. She also asked about job applications for our department, which might be a sign of dissatisfaction. Another one for the Satisfaction Division to take a look at.

So right now, I had one name, except it wasn't really a name. I called in quick to check if this Crone was a Council-licensed criminal or a rebel, and then I went off to see how the kid was doing with the cameras.

"Well, sir, I was looking at all this footage, but while I was trying to make a copy of the part where these two suspicious citizens slip out the back door, I accidentally deleted everything else! So I'm filling out an Accidental Deletion form to confirm that this was a total accident caused by my incompetence, and not some sort of deliberate ploy to hinder the Council's glorious surveillance apparatus."

Ugh. Of course the kid would mess a simple thing like that up. Still, we had some footage, so I asked the kid to run it. I'd already heard about the thugs from Vicky, but that was different from seeing it for myself.

Sure enough, there were two goons, though their faces were inconveniently facing away from the camera. But there was no mistaking the symbol on the backs of their jackets, which was a fancy-looking skull with "CRONE" written under it.

Still, I had a hunch there was something more to the video. Something a less-trained eye than my own would have overlooked completely. So I watched through it again to try and figure out just what was nagging at me.

And then I realized exactly what it was.