After getting enough to wear, I went looking for shoes. Things had changed a little since the last time I'd gone shoe shopping. I bought plenty of socks and hosiery to go with serviceable flats and low-heeled boots. Some athletic shoes went into the mix as well. Now I needed bags to carry everything, and after I found three that would do, I skipped everything back to the hotel room, finding Ry still searching through the comp-vid and reading information Bel had transmitted on the killings before he'd gone missing.

"We still have time to go look at his hotel room this afternoon," Ry said, standing up and stretching. I figured a woman had delivered room service; the women always stared at Ry. Some even followed him around at times. Ry was quick to throw on a disguise if that happened. The remains of a nice lunch were scattered over a tray on the edge of the hotel desk where Ry worked. I remembered that I hadn't eaten while I'd been out shopping.

"Get what you needed?" Ry asked, eyeing my one and only farming outfit that I'd brought with me and had worn to go shopping.

"Yes. Now I just have to change. Is there anything left of your food?"

"Reah, it has gone cold. I'll order something else for you."

"No, I can grab something while we're out," I said, sorting through the clothing for something suitable to wear. Grabbing a blouse and slacks, plus new underwear, I walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

"Much better," Ry nodded when I came out, dressed in new clothing. Hastily I slipped into new shoes after donning socks—my stomach was telling me it wouldn't wait much longer to be fed.

"Someday,thauot;Som I'd like to eat another meal that you cooked," Ry said, grabbing his comp-vid and stuffing it in his pocket. I slipped my Ranos pistol into my new handbag and slung it over a shoulder. Normally I didn't carry a handbag, but I figured people would stare if I wore the pistol in a holster strapped to my thigh. I could still shoot; snakes lurked throughout the gishi fruit groves. If I found them, they didn't live over it; they were poisonous and threatened my workers. Well, Garde's workers, now. Briefly I hoped my daughters were all right and not in too much pain.

"Ry, I'd be happy to cook something for you. Find us a kitchen while we're out and you'll get whatever you want."

"I'll hold you to that." His smile was a blast of sunlight after a very dark night.

"Come on, handsome man, let's go see Bel's hotel room." Ry let me steer him out the door.

Bel's bags were still sitting on the rack, looking as if he'd sorted through them to find something to wear. He hadn't intended to leave anytime soon, I saw that right away. The ASD had sent a small team in to do perfunctory work, checking for blood, fingerprints and such. They'd found plenty of fingerprints, most Bel's, a few belonging to the cleaning crew. No blood. His comp-vid, weapons and a few other items were missing. They'd tried to triangulate on the comp-vid, but got nothing. That could mean it had been destroyed or reprogrammed, somehow. And since it was ASD issue, reprogramming would have been very tricky. They were designed to emit a locating beacon if someone tampered with it. Nothing had been sent.

Carefully, Ry and I went through all of Bel's belongings. I sorted through his shirts, pants and other clothing, feeling certain that if I held the shirts to my nose I still might catch a faint whiff of my old friend. I hoped he was alive somewhere, although my fears in that direction were rising. He would have sent mindspeech if he were able. Now, Ry and I were trailing down a path gone cold, with little hope of finding anything at the end of it.

"There's nothing here." Ry had used his warlock talent to search while I'd done the physical part of it. Bel had slept here and very little else. We had his records—what he'd turned in, anyway. We'd found a reprimand or two in his files that said he wasn't the most prompt person to file reports. I knew that; Bel hated what he termed paperwork. I'd done it for him long ago when I'd first met him on Mandil. Now, Mandil had buckled and joined the Campiaan Alliance.

"It's a little late in the day to show up at those two businesses," I said. "But we can make appointments for tomorrow." One was a legal firm, the other a small electronics manufacturing concern. Hauling out my comp-vid, I called the legal firm first.

"We've already spoken with someone from the ASD," the receptionist was bordering on rudeness.

"And we're still investigating. Do you want answers or not?"

"Yes. But we wanted them a month ago."

"I understand that, and we'll do our best for you now," I said.

"Be here at ten bells tomorrow morning," she tapped the appointment into her scheduling-comp.

"Thank you," I nodded and terminated the communication. "Now, for the electronics plant." I figured this one survived because they made small household appliances—nothing that Dantel Schuul wanted to dirty his fingers with. He'd bought most of the competition long ago. I was more than grateful that I didn't have to deald vhave to with him or any of his employees. It would just be too awkward.

"Pripps Electronics," the face appeared on my comp-vid, mouthing the words at me. I wondered how often the young man said the same words every day.

"Hello, I am Reah Nilvas with the ASD," I held up my badge so the red-haired and freckled youth could examine it. "I need to make an appointment to ask questions about the murders at your business."

"Sure. We were wondering if the ASD had forgotten us. That attack wiped out most of our day crew," he said. "My name is Nirif, and my father was killed on that crew."

"Nirif, I am very sorry for your loss. May I make an appointment to come in and talk with someone about it? We're still trying to determine a cause for this."

"Sure. I wouldn't have pegged Jaske as a murderer, but he was." Nirif sounded angry. I would be, too. "You can come in tomorrow afternoon if you'd like, around third bell, if that's acceptable."

"That's good," I agreed. "We'll see you then." I tapped the comp-vid to end the call.

"How do we hedge around asking them about the information Bel got, without saying he's missing?" Ry asked. We sat inside a restaurant near our hotel, having sandwiches made with shaved ox-roast.

"I think I'll ask if they recorded the questioning," I said. "Just as a review, so we won't go over too much of the same ground."

"Good idea. Let's hope they thought to do it."

"I want to go over the records of the pirating activity for the past six months or so," I said. "Tonight."

"Good luck with that. I thought I'd fold to Le-Ath Veronis and check on a few things." I knew right away that Ry was going to see Tory; he just didn't want to upset me with that news. That didn't bother me; Tory was his brother, after all, and I certainly wouldn't interfere with that. I just nodded at Ry's words and we walked to the hotel in silence. Ry left shortly after we arrived.

I thought about contacting Lendill to see if he had half a click to spend with me, but changed my mind. He was busy with pirates. I was about to do a little research on them. I settled back against the headboard and pulled up the information stored in the ASD's archives.

"Did you know that between the two mass murders, two of Schuul Enterprises' ships were captured by pirates?" I asked Ry the following day over breakfast. He'd been out late and gotten around six clicks of sleep before we rose. Somehow, it didn't even bother me that Ry paraded around the room half-naked, brushing his teeth or drying his hair with warlock ability, running his fingers through the thick blackness until it was styled just right.

"I hadn't heard that," he said, biting into a breakfast roll. "I guess the two mass murder incidents drowned it out on the local news-vids. Plus, I figure everybody thinks Schuul Enterprises is wealthy enough to take dozens of hits before they even feel it."

"Yeah. That's probably true. I wonder what those chips are selling for on the black market," I said. "I'll have to look into that."

"If they're selling them. They could be keeping them for their own use."

"There's that," I agreed. &quoo tagreed.t;I'll check on that later, after we do our interviews."

The receptionist at the legal firm was falling over herself to be nice to us the moment she saw Ry. "My name's Genita," she gushed, holding her hand out for Ry to take. He gave her a charming smile and squeezed her fingers. He wasn't the best diplomat in either Alliance for no particular reason.

Genita led us to the cubicle belonging to the secretary who'd killed six of her coworkers. All the dead worked in the spaces surrounding hers. After the killings, she'd turned the laser pistol on herself, blasting her head off. According to the records I'd read, an ASD cleanup crew had picked up as much of the tissue and bloody matter as they could, hauling it to one of their labs for examination. They hadn't found anything.

"Maris even killed her own sister," Genita sighed as we examined Maris' cubicle. Bloodstains were still on the carpet and chair upholstery. The ASD hadn't given the firm permission to clean it up, yet. I knew about Maris Krastel's sister, Lethia. I couldn't fathom how Maris, the older sister, had been able to shoot her younger sister in the head and throat, killing her instantly. According to other relatives, the two had been very close.

"Do you have vids of the interviews the other agent did with the employees?" Ry asked.

"Oh, yes. We record everything. We're a legal firm, you know," Genita was smiling and running a finger around the low-cut neckline of her dress.

"Would it be a bother to get a copy of that?" Ry leaned closer to Genita and smiled back.

"No bother. Follow me," Ry walked beside Genita; I trailed behind, happy to do so. Ry was getting everything we wanted with a smile and a leer. We did perfunctory interviews with witnesses inside the office, asking if they'd remembered any other information since Bel had spoken with them. Two had minor information and we dutifully recorded it on comp-vid before thanking them and leaving.