2020-05-12 - spike - Trapped again Part twenty-one

Author: spike
Title: Trapped again. Part twenty-one.
Date: 12 May 2020

Eric sat at his desk and sighed. “Cell, coffee, prepared as usual and bring up my home space.”

The screen lit up to reveal a new folder named “Crimes.”

He nodded. “Open crimes.”

The folder contained a host of other folders with name, location and date as part of their names.

“Cell, translate all dates in those files to Gregorian format. Do not alter any of the files, let the Gregorian translation just be an overlay for my benefit.”

“Affirmative.”

He nodded as all the dates changed. “Scroll to the bottom. Might as well start with the most recent. I bet a twenty-year-old one’s more difficult to solve.”

The folder opened to reveal a host of files and more folders. Some marked forensics, others marked testimony or history.

He opened the first.

“On the 27th of October, 2020, Pen Hennesy reported to the police that he believed he was being followed. Police dismissed the claim until, two days later, Hennesy’s mutilated corpse was found under Westminster bridge.

Police were unable to locate the victim’s left hand but the rest of him was sent to the Central London Hospital for a full autopsy. (autopsy results). After tracking the victim’s movements and interviewing his friends and family, it was determined that the case could not be solved and on the 3rd of November, 2020, the file was closed.”

Eric sighed. “A week? They only worked on it for a bloody week? They didn’t even try! Do they ever try? Right then… Cell, bring up a map of his movements on the day he complained he was being followed. Oh, and show me Hennesy’s background. Who he was, job, recreation, everything.”

A host of files opened, scattered around the screen.

“Bring the basic biography to the front. Might as well start at the beginning.”
* * *
Eric sipped his second cup of coffee and smiled. “I think that should be enough time. Cell, contact prisoner 50096402.”

He’d timed it just right. Anit was pulling on his tunic when he appeared on the screen. He pulled it down, his head appeared through the neck hole, bald as a coot and his eyes darted around the cell like a trapped deer.

“It’s comfortable enough, if that’s what you’re worried about. You have everything you need in there.”

Anit’s eyes shot over to the screen and he was soon to follow. He collapsed into the chair staring around him in shock. “What the shit was that?”

“What?” Eric asked with mock innocence. “Oh, of course. It was your first time. I admit, it was a bit of a surprise for me too. Didn’t take long to learn to enjoy it.”

“Enjoy it? How the pox can you enjoy”

“I’ve found it’s quite pleasant if you learn to relax into it. It doesn’t hurt goin’ in if you imagine yourself taking a dump. Your sphincters relax enough to allow it.”

“And the shower, if you can call it that? Torture booth more like!”

“It’s not like that every time. I suppose the first time, it just had more to shift so it was stronger. Normally, it’s just water. The gel just removed all your hair, that’s all. You’ll never have any body hair while you’re in here. In your case, you’ll never have any head hair either. It’s all done for hygiene’s sake.”

“And in your case…”

Eric shrugged. “I’ve not had any head hair, or eyebrows come to that, for over five years. Doesn’t bother me. Stroke your scalp.”

“What?”

“I said, stroke your scalp. Do it.”

“Fine, fine.” He raised his hand and froze halfway across his head. “It…”

“Feels good, doesn’t it? I’ve not missed hair since it was forcibly and permanently removed from me all that time ago. It’s just a hindrance. Something to get in the way. Even if it did start to grow back, I’d shave it off again at this point.”

“How… What the hell happened to you?”

“Before you tried to put me in a whole new hell, you mean?” Eric sighed. “I’ve told my story so many times it’s getting tedious. That can wait, you’ve got something more important to do, don’t you?”

“What?”

“Privileges? You have six. Choose wisely. Forget visits or outside contact. You can earn those later. Go for the important stuff you can actually use right now.”

“What do you mean, forget visits?”

“Remember what the governor said. This is protection. No outside contact until after they’ve been convicted. That could be months away. You’ll likely have all the privileges by then if you do what you’re told and do it well, so don’t choose things you can’t use.”

Anit took a juddering breath. “Everything was perfect this morning. Perfect weather. A beautiful night out with my girlfriend the night before. Not even the hint of a hangover. Now, everything’s gone! I’m…”

“Still coming to terms with it. I know. I’ve been through it more than once, believe me. You’ll get over it. The key to surviving this life is to keep yourself busy. Most of the blacks just prefer to sit and talk, intimidating all the greys. You’ll see what I mean when you get out of sickbay. In my opinion, they’re being idiots, but I’ve talked a few into taking classes.”

“You said.”

“Oh yeah, so I did. The point is, if you dump all your old preconceptions, all those expectations you had as a free man and just live this life one day at a time, it’s not only bearable, it’s enjoyable!”

“You… You enjoy being a prisoner?”

“Why not? Better than wallowing in self-pity, isn’t it? That’s what I’m going to teach you not to do. Why be miserable? It serves no purpose. It makes your life hell and it’s just a downward spiral from that point. Misery begets misery. The worse you feel, the harder it’ll be which will then make you feel worse again, etc etc.”

“I suppose that’s one way to look at it.”

“Trust me, it’s the only way if you want to survive it. The goal isn’t just to survive, it’s the thrive here. You can, with the right mindset.”

He nodded. “Cell, display the full list of privileges.” His eyes widened. “There are so many!”

“Yes, but they’re not all available to you at the start. Look closer. Many of them are dependent on having others first. You can’t just select choice of starter. You’ve got to select main course first. Dessert, you’ve got to have the previous two. Visits, you start at fifteen minutes, you build up from there. I suppose that’s the only time they actually mention the duration of anything.”

His eyes narrowed. “It says there, I can’t even select visits right away.”

“I’m black. My privileges are more limited than yours. What goes before visits?”

“First, outside text communication, then audio, then face time over the screens and for the last two, there’s four each of them with different times.”

“Ah… Yeah. Blacks don’t get them. Visits only for us and the highest visitation right isn’t there. I think there’s another one below that we don’t get either.”

“Conjugal and Extended Conjugal you mean?”

“Yes. Those. Any time we spend out of the cellblock, we spend in the restraints you experienced. It wouldn’t work even if we could claim them. So, we can’t.”

“So, what would you recommend?”

“As I said, forget communication outside. You can chat with any prisoner in your block over the screens after lockdown. The first one’s obvious. Self-improvement courses.”

“Cell, select self-improvement.”

“Selected. You have five more unset privileges.”

“Next?”

“Unless you like noodles and water, I’d choose main course and beverages next.”

“Oh shit, I’m sorry.”

“Yes, yes. I know, you nearly condemned me to almost block eight just by demerits for eleven years. Forget it. It’s done. It didn’t happen. We’re victims of Galloway together. When you get into your permanent cell, I’ll be outside to shake your hand. Friends. OK?”

“Thank you. I can’t believe you’re”

“It wasn’t you. It was him! God knows why he did it in the first place. Laziness, most likely. Too bone idle to solve a few crimes and saw me as a prime target to dump them on. Then he suddenly realises he’s screwed up, I’ve had my side listened to and he’s been arrested, so, they try to remove me permanently. Select your food, Anit.”

He nodded. “Cell, select main course and beverages.”

“Selected. You have three unset privileges.”

“What next?”

“That one’s obvious. You were so scared of being in your cell for a week… If you don’t select this one, that’ll be your fate until you earn more. Time out of it. Obviously, that won’t be today, but once you’ve undergone your transformation, it’ll be a godsend.”

“Oh bloody hell, yes! Cell, select time out of my cell.”

“Selected, you now have two unset privileges.”

Eric smiled. “Those are the important ones out of the way. For the next one… I want you to check something first.”

“What?”

“Ask your cell to open the menu and then books. The ones I’ll be using, the ones I’ve been using for the music lessons… They’ve all been public domain. I don’t know if those are available to all or if you need the book privilege to read them.”

“You… You don’t? Why?”

“I had full privileges before I even saw the inside of my cell. I told you the governor knew what the police did to me. One of the reasons I’m enjoying my time in here. I didn’t need to earn them from nothing.”

“Cell, menu, open books.”

“Permission denied. You do not have that privilege.”

“Select that one next. It’s more than just for the classes too. With that one, you’ll be free to play your flute in your cell without pretending to be bad at it and you can call up any free score available.”

He smiled. “Thanks for that. Cell, select books.”

“Selected, you now have one unset privilege.”

Eric smiled. “I’ll leave the last one to you. You’ve got the important ones, now. How you choose it’s a much more personal choice. Do you want to be one step away from dessert? You need a starter. Maybe a little entertainment? Telop? Music? Games? I’ve just started learning how to play Gravia. Quite popular in ‘ere.”

“I’d be surprised if you didn’t guess… I can’t live without it. Cell, select music.”

“Selected.”

“So, what now?”

“The governor’s kept his word, Anit. I’m working through the most recent crime now. A man called Hennesey complained to the police he thought he was being followed. They dismissed it as paranoia until he was found dead under Westminster bridge two days later. I’ve read his background. Fairly bland really. The only thing interesting about him was his love of extreme sports. Says he was into something called sky surfing, whatever that is.”

“Interesting… Sky surfing’s a bit risky. They jump out of a plane at high altitude with a board and ride it. Almost looks like flying when I’ve seen it on the telop, but that’s only from the perspective of someone else who’s doing it with a camera strapped to their head. They’re plummeting to the earth the whole time. Any idea why he was murdered?”

“That’s the thing, isn’t it? Motive. The police didn’t give a shit about him, for some reason. They didn’t even do anything beyond initial interviews. As far as they were concerned, file closed. One week, they worked on it. A bloody week!”

“Is… is that unusual?”

Eric shrugged. “No idea. If I was in control of the police I wouldn’t let a case drop until there were no more avenues to investigate. They barely scratched the surface. Looks like they didn’t even try.”

“Where are you up to now?”

“I’ve examined his movements. It looks like he was followed. I got the map to display every chip within a hundred meters of him. He ducked down alleyways and walked around the block a few times but I didn’t spot anything. Only good for detected chips and I know some don’t have them.”

“Who?”

“Retros? Only thing I can think of. There’s also a problem. The computer’s only letting me identify his chip. It’s showing the others as blank white dots, no identification. Probably don’t have access to that information, being in prison.”

“What about the day he died?”

“According to the autopsy, he’d been dead for a day when he was found… So… The day after he complained to the police must be when the murder occurred. Cell, skip forward one day and show Hennesey’s movements, show the same at the other end of this connection and copy the Hennesey folder to prisoner 50096402’s home space.”

The computer issued the usual “Transfer complete.” response and a map popped up.

“Computer, where is that?”

“Calligraphia design studio in Battersea.”

“Hennesey’s place of employment?”

“Affirmative.”

“Skip forward until he left, then follow his progress and show all chips within a one hundred meter radius of his location. Keep your eyes peeled, Anit.”

“Why would I want to peel my… Oh god that sounds painful, not to mention”

“It just means pay attention. Lock your eyes on those dots and try to see if any of them start following him. Might take a while if a lot go in the same direction. The one we want should match his movements precisely. He takes a turn, they do too, but if it gets crowded it might be difficult to keep track of. That’s assuming we get a chip detection in the first place.”

“I’ve never heard that expression before.”

“You’ll get used to it. I’ve got a hell of a lot of them.”

“Why?”

“That can wait. When you’re out of sickbay, I’ll explain. More important things to do now, though, wouldn’t you say?”

The journey from work to home was pretty short. Another fast forward before he left again. Another drive, this time a longer one. The speed decreased as he left the car behind and headed into what looked like an industrial district. The buildings were bigger, the roads wider and there seemed to be a lot of alleyways between the various units. By the time the dot came to a halt, the map indicated that the time was eleven at night.

Eric and Anit watched and waited, but the dot didn’t move. Just as Eric was about to issue another fast forward, it winked out of existence.

Eric jumped. “Cell… What… What just happened there?”

“The citizenship tag implanted into Pen Hennesey’s hand had ceased to function. No more location requests were acknowledged after that moment.”

Anit leaned forward. “What the… How can that happen?”

“His left hand was missing when they found the body. The chip must’ve been destroyed. Cell, display the locations of any cameras along with their arcs of coverage around the area Hennesey was last detected.”

Seven new dots appeared. While the dots indicating chips were white, the new ones displayed as blue. From each new dot, a triangle appeared indicating what was visible from each.

The section of the alleyway where he vanished wasn’t covered.

Eric sighed. “Damn. I’ve used that technique before now, myself.”

“What technique?”

“Find a blind spot where there’s no camera coverage.”

“Why would you want to… You are a criminal!”

“Of course I’m a criminal! I’m in here, aren’t I? I won’t deny stealing the odd thing from time to time when it was necessary, but that’s as far as it went and before you start criticising, you’re guilty of way worse than I am. That time though, I didn’t want to be seen for a different reason. I was meeting with three journalists. Didn’t want to be seen with them. It would’ve compromised their story. It might’ve even ended up getting them killed. Cell, label all the highlighted cameras.”

Text appeared above each. Three of them covered exits to the alleyway in question, so, he selected the first one.

“Cell, play the footage from that camera for ten minutes before the chip vanished from sensors.”

What appeared was a ramshackle, derelict factory complex with a narrow track between two buildings. They waited, they watched but nothing and nobody entered the field of the camera.

Eric sighed but before he could issue another command, Anit sat bolt upright.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“It… Computer, rewind one minute and replay. Increase volume.”

Eric chuckled. “You’re still new to this. Cell, rewind one minute and replay, increase volume. Say cell, not computer.”

This time, Eric held his breath, not wanting any other sound to get in the way and… There… A scream just on the edge of hearing. One of agony by the sound of it.

“Cell, pause. Bloody hell, Anit, you’ve got a good ear. I would’ve totally missed that.”

Anit grinned. “I’m a musician. Of course I’ve got a good ear.”

“Cell, how much more can be gained from the microphone in that camera?”

“The microphone’s recording cannot be amplified further without distortion.”

“Bring up the map again. Ignore visual for now and concentrate on the audio of all cameras highlighted. Use the speed of sound and the distance to the point Hennesey vanished to synchronise the sound from those microphones and combine.”

Anit’s eyes widened. “That’s bloody clever. Seems I’ve got the ears, you’ve got the brain. I would’ve never thought of that.”

“Cell, play, starting a minute before the disappearance.”

There were definitely voices. More, Eric couldn’t discern. They were still too jumbled.

“Cell… Using the strongest of the sounds, shift each of the others so their waveforms match as much as possible and using that extra data, triangulate the exact location of each of the voices.”

The babble stopped with a snap and at the same time, a red dot appeared in the alleyway but the voices were still too faint to understand.

Eric glanced at Anit. “Can you understand them?”

He shook his head.

“Cell, disregard distortion protection and amplify to within hearing range.”

The background was full of hiss, the voices sounded incredibly gravelly but, at least you could understand what was said.

“eyes! What have you done! Why can’t I see?”

“Well, I don’t want you running away, now, do I? This is an industrial laser cutter. At this distance, it’s too weak to cut but it’s strong enough to blind you. Permanently.”

“Permanently!? What the shit? Who are you?”

“You seriously don’t know? Well, let me give you a little hint before I kill you, you puss-filled pile of shit!”

“Why are you doing this? I haven’t done anything!”

“Oh, really? Cast your mind back, you cretin. Five years back.”

“Five years!? But that wasn’t my”

“Of course it was your fault! And now, you’re going to pay, and I’m going to make sure you suffer before you die!”

The red dot moved in as it spoke until they were right next to each other.

“Let go of… what are you…”

What followed was the scream that had alerted Anit in the first place. It was the most blood-curdling howl of agony Eric had ever heard.

The howl diminished to a mewling sob. “W… I… Please! Please, stop. Please. It was an accident! I didn’t… Ple…” The words degenerated back into sobs.

“Stop?” the white dot vanished. “I’ve only just started! First, your eyes, then, your hand and now…”

Another howl.

Eric gulped. “The poor bastard.”

The blood drained from Anit’s face. “What did he do?”

“Let’s just say, I would not advise reading the autopsy report. Cell, filter out the howls. I just want to hear what’s said.”

“Affirmative.”

Only one more sentence was spoken before the red dot winked out of existence as quickly as the white one had. “You killed her and now it’s your turn.”

“Well, we’ve got motive, means and opportunity. Now we just need to find out who.”

“Something happened five years ago that resulted in the death of a girl or woman.” Anit nodded. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this but”

“It’s got your attention? You’re glad to be involved?”

Anit nodded with a grin.

“That’s more like it. Yes, your life’s more regulated now. Yes, you’ve got a hell of a lot less freedom but there’s good in any situation. You just need to find it and hold onto it. Shove the bad stuff away. Learn to like it.”

“As long as I’ve got this to occupy my time, I might just do that. How many crimes have you got on your charge sheet? Unsolved ones, that is?”

“Well over seventy. I’m not going to bother with the first half though. Most of them disprove themselves just by being attached to me.”

“Because you’re too young… Might be fun to try, though.”

“It might, but I think cold cases are far harder to solve. Witnesses die, even the guilty party might be dead by now and the chances of those things happening increases the older the case gets. It’s incredibly difficult to get new forensic evidence when a body’s been in the ground for twenty years. All the scenes will be utterly contaminated by now if they even still exist. We’d only have the evidence they collected and even that might not be complete anymore.”

“Save those ‘til last then… Cell, bring up the surveillance from the three cameras covering the alley exit. Might as well see what he looks like.”

Eric nodded.

They waited. And waited. Nothing moved near those exits.

Eric sighed. “Cell, analyse the feeds from those cameras and tell me how long it was after the chip was destroyed before they detected any movement.”

“Request denied.”

“Why?”

“Disclosing periods of time to inmates is not permitted.”

Eric sighed. “That rule should only apply to in prison. We’re not talking about in prison, we’re examining a crime scene! Show me the next activity, then.”

It was a man in a skin-tight bodysuit and trainers. He jogged past the alley and was gone.

Anit shook his head. “But according to the map… There’s no way out of there. Only those two exits!”

“According to the map, yes. Whoever it was, he knew what he was doing. For all we know, he might’ve been planning this for the full five years. Cell. Show me the map again. Highlight all routes out of there without entering an area covered by a camera.”

“There are no known routes.”

“What? There have to be. How long was it before the police turned up after Hennesey’s chip died?”

“Request denied.”

“Grrr. Time again. I know. Are there any images of the crime scene?”

“Affirmative. Standard police procedure dictates that a full three-dimensional representation of any location involved in criminal activity be scanned and rendered.”

“Show me.”

The alley that appeared was piled high with rubbish in places. On both sides, factory units. No doors to the interior of the buildings were evident.

“Cell, if this is a full three-dimensional representation, can I move around in the area?”

“Affirmative.”

“How?”

“The use of the stylus can zoom, move and elevate the view.”

Anit looked down and around, obviously confused. “Stylus?”

“Swipe your hand over the left end of the desk, Anit. The pad on the desktop acts as a graphics tablet.” Eric did so and retrieved his. “Cell, copy the representation to the other end of this connection so he can move around independently to me.”

“Transfer complete.”

Anit looked down and to his left. “Ooh!” He held up the stylus with a grin. “This could be useful.”

“It is, believe me. Cell, how does the simulation distinguish between a zoom, move and elevate?”

“To move, place the stylus and move it. To zoom, tap once before placing and to elevate, tap twice.”

Eric nodded and started examining the scene. “Cell, what was Hennesey doing five years ago?”

“Request denied.”

Eric sagged in his chair. “Time again?”

“Affirmative.”

“Alright, then, Cell… What was Hennesey doing between the years twenty-fourteen and twenty-sixteen?”

“That information is not available.”

“What? Why? I thought we had everything relevant to the case.”

“The case file only contains what the police believed to be relevant at the time the file was closed.”

“The useless, incompetent piles of… actually, I like the insult the murderer made… Puss-filled piles of shit! They did no work on the bloody case at all, did they?”

Anit shrugged. “What about the news sources? A death, an accident, a female, that period of time? Should be something, don’t you think? Might lead us to the next clue.”

“Cell, scan the news sources. Period, twenty fourteen to sixteen, search for the terms death, woman or girl, accident and put any stories at the top of the list that contain the name Hennesey.”

“Request denied. Prisoners are not permitted news of outside events.”

“Looks like we’ve run into a brick wall, Anit. No handholds to scale it on this one, either.”

His head sagged. “I was enjoying little detective thing too… Hang on a second… Cell, is there any indication of recent disturbance on the rooftops?”

“Affirmative.”

“Highlight it and show me!” Anit paused and chuckled. “Not quite the unscalable brick wall, Eric. Cell, can you identify those scratch marks?”

“Marks bear the signature of a Grapplescale. Depth and scratch pattern implies the AP2300 model.”

“If the murderer used the rooftops as an escape route, show all routes that avoid detection by camera between here and… Err… Eric?”

“The river. He was found under Westminster bridge. Are we up or downstream from there?”

“Up… So, the body drifted and came ashore there, rather than just being dumped there. Westminster’s quite a way off. Cell, all routes between this location and the river that avoid detection. Send them to the other end of this connection too.”

“What is this Grapplescale thing?”

“I’ve never used one but I’ve seen them in use on the telop. Rock climbers use them as a safety measure. In fact, it’s illegal now for them not to be used for that purpose. The thing can climb any sheer face, attach itself when it finds somewhere to get a grip, like the top of that building and reel down a rope. Very powerful motor. It can easily lift two people. Or lower them.”

Eric’s map reappeared and this time, dozens of red lines wormed their way around the streets and over buildings. He sighed. “Well, now we know how he got away. Chances of picking him up are slim to none, wouldn’t you say?”

“Maybe… But it wasn’t the sort of conversation I’d expect from a retro. Added to that, he was using technology.”

“True, but I’ve heard the retros are a bunch of hypocrites. They’re more than happy to use computers and other technology when it suits their agenda. Why? What would you expect from a retro?”

“If he’d been killed for using computers, maybe?”

“But even retros can have personal vendettas.”

“I suppose you have a point, but I’m still not sure he is one.”

“What about the lack of a chip?”

“It’s illegal now, of course, but when they were first introduced. Well, you know how paranoid people were. Scared their chips might be copied and used to steal from them. They didn’t realise the security was so tight. There was a brief market for gloves that could shield them.”

“Ah, the old Faraday cage trick… I think wrapping tinfoil around your hand would do the trick, too, at a pinch.”

“I’m sorry… Faraday cage?”

“Doesn’t matter. There isn’t much more we can do without more information, though. I’ll ask the doctor this afternoon, during my retrial.”

“There is one more thing.”

Eric smiled. “Go on.”

“Where’s his hand? What happened to the chip?”

Eric nodded. “Cell, is there… Damn, he never did tell me what it was called.”

“What? What what was called?”

“DNA…” Eric sniggered at the blank look Anit returned. “I’ll explain everything when you’re brown… It’s a long story you’d probably find hard to believe anyway, so, I’ll let you adjust a little to your new life before I dump all that on you… Heart of the nucleus of every living cell? Double helix? What’s it called? That molecule?”

“What? PHN? Everyone knows about PHN!”

“It’s complicated. Right, so, PHN is DNA, gotcha. Computer, is there any human PHN in that alleyway?”

“Affirmative.”

“Highlight it.”

The whole alleyway turned various shades of red. The brightest was among the piles of rubbish.

“Is it possible to isolate an individual’s DNA in that mess?”

“Negative.”

“I was afraid of that… Probably why he chose the place. How about… How about this. Cell, are there any residues that are the result of burning flesh and bone? If so, show them.”

The blanket of red vanished. It its place there was one small patch in the middle of the alleyway that Eric had dismissed as an oil spill. He zoomed in.

“There’s his hand or what’s left of it. Just to confirm… Cell, are any elements present not indicative of flesh or bone combustion?”

“Affirmative. Traces of the elements gold, arsenic, germanium, boron and fluorine are present.”

“And there’s his chip.”

“Blood and shit! What the pox did he do?”

“Seems pretty obvious to me. Industrial laser? Those things are powerful enough to cut through solid steel. It could easily cut off a hand and if it had adjustable settings, maybe widen the beam a little, it could vaporise it. There’s just a smudge there now, everything else, poof. Smoke. Added bonus, from the killer’s point of view at least, no blood splatter to incriminate him. The laser would’ve cauterised the wounds.”

“Shit, that’s nasty.”

“I know. I’ll sign off for now, let you familiarise yourself with what you can do on your screen and your new identity.”

“What’re you going to do?”

“I’ve not watched much telop. Might try a few things. There won’t be another music class today. Ditton might not be back for a while. Still no idea where he went.”