Laughton replaced his mask, though, just so he wouldn’t get a hard time from security. “In the long run,” he said, “nothing can save you.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” the doctor said as they filed past the filled tables, back to the air-lock door.
* * *
“So what do you think Smythe had stashed away in that little pocket?” Laughton asked as they waited for the elevator.
“Memory stick seems like a good guess to me,” Kir said.
“But if Smythe is the source of the killer app, why would he be hiding it after it’s already in the wild?”
The elevator came, and they got on. “Unless it’s a nonexecutable copy, one that let him work on it. If people figured out a way to neutralize it, he’d want a copy to tweak.”
Laughton nodded. “Or it’s the antivirus.”
“If he wanted to kill robots, why bother with an antivirus?”
The elevator opened, and they moved down the hall toward the other elevator. “Maybe it was the first step in a ransom scheme. Let a few robots die, then come forward with the antivirus with a huge price tag.”
“I don’t know,” Kir said. “Most robots would think the addicts using sims deserved what they got. The government’s not going to be able to put money toward that.”
“But the sims dealers might. They don’t want all of their customers getting fried.”
Kir tilted his head. “That might work.”
“It’d be a reason to kill Smythe, to get the antivirus.”
“Or even the source code.”
“Could be worth a lot of money.”
The elevator opened at the lobby. They stepped out, giving way for others to get on. Jesse stopped short. “We should see if Betty and her mom are here before we leave.” He turned. “Excuse me, can you hold—?”
A young man holding a child propped in the crux of one arm put his hand out, and the elevator door stopped closing and reopened.
“Thank you,” Laughton said as they stepped on. The ER was marked on the elevator panel as one floor below them. Laughton smiled at the little boy in his father’s arms, and then remembered that the boy couldn’t see his mouth behind the mask. The mask covering the boy’s mouth covered almost his entire face and hung below his chin. They must have been out of child-size masks.
When the door slid open, Laughton said, “Take care,” and he and Kir stepped out. There was the subdued, waiting room hush of a lot of people attempting to make very little noise. There were two televisions, just loud enough to create a murmur, but not loud enough to be understood. Jesse started to scan the people in the chairs, when Kir grabbed his arm, and pulled him around.
“Who would have known Smythe had the virus or antivirus on him?”
Jesse felt his whole jaw tighten, the muscles below his left eye tingling. “Sam McCardy, who I stupidly let get away.”
“Or his middleman, Jones.”
“Who I also let get away.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. You can’t just hold people for no reason.”
“Says the robot police officer.”
“I never held anyone if it broke the law,” Kir said, his voice harsh.
“I know,” Laughton said, shaking his head. “I know. I didn’t mean anything. I just feel like an idiot.”
“Well, don’t. Letting Jones go makes sense. We’ll track him down later.”
“But not leaving someone to watch McCardy was lazy,” Laughton said.
“We can’t all be me,” Kir said.
“Fuck you.”
“Hey, it might be one of the women Smythe was seeing at the clinic, and then it’s a moot point,” Kir said.
Laughton thought that was unlikely, but Kir was right that it couldn’t be ruled out. “Okay,” he said.
“Don’t feel stupid,” Kir said. “We’re on this thing.”
“Tell it to your boss.”
“I have.”
“Jesse?”
Betty was walking toward them. Her pace increased as she approached, and she threw her arms around his waist. He pulled her in tight as she sighed into him. “You okay?” he said.
She nodded against his shoulder. “Just exhausted.”
“Tell me about it.”
Betty stepped back, and then she hugged Kir as well. “It’s good to see you,” she said.
Laughton saw his mother-in-law in one of the seats nearest to the TV. He went over to her. “Barbara, how are you?”
She wasn’t wearing a mask. Her lips were swollen to twice their usual size with a dried, red cut in the center of the lower lip. Her nose looked out of place with more blood crusted around one nostril, and a bruise trailing across her cheekbone. She just shook her head, and blinked.
“Hurts too much to talk?” he said.
She nodded.
“What happened?”
She shook her head again.
Betty and Kir had joined them, Betty taking the seat next to her mother. “Mom, this is Jesse’s old partner, Kir.”
The old woman nodded that she recognized him.
“He’s here because of the murder.”
“What happened?” Jesse said to Betty.
“I don’t know,” Betty said. “She went upstairs for something, and when she came back down, she fell.”
“They tell you how long until it’s your turn?”
“No.” There were at least thirty other people waiting. “What’d you find?”
“You know I can’t discuss it,” Laughton said.
“Because I’m a danger!” Betty said.
He raised his eyebrows and gestured at the rest of the room, indicating all of the other people.
“Oh, right,” she said.
“Betty, we’ve got this,” Kir said.
“He keeps saying that,” Jesse said.
“Because it’s true.”
“Well, don’t forget to pick up Erica by six if you don’t hear from me,” Betty said.
“I won’t,” Laughton said.
“I won’t let him,” Kir said.
“Okay.”
“Keep me posted,” Laughton said, and he bent down to kiss her through his mask. To his mother-in-law, he said, “I’d kiss you, but I’m afraid to hurt you.”
She nodded her understanding.
Laughton heard a familiar voice, and he looked over to the television. They were re-airing the press conference from earlier in the day with the commissioner, the secretary of Health and Human Services, and Brandis. It made his stomach turn. “I don’t want to see this shit again,” he said to Kir, and headed for the elevator without waiting for his partner.
His phone buzzed as he and Kir stepped into the elevator. He pulled it out. “Yes,” he said, looking at the screen. “Subpoena’s in.” He hit forward, and sent it to Moira. “Let’s get back to Liberty; try to interview at least one of the women this afternoon.”
“We need to make a stop first,” Kir said.
They were back in the main lobby. “Police headquarters. Secretary Pattermann wants to see us while we’re in town.”