They Just Fade Away
Chapter 3 Man Who Wasn't There
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am sorry that I was delayed adding this chapter. First there was Hurricane Irma, then I had overtime at work later in the week)
Chief Peacekeeper Pretorius's best assistant Lieutenant Vir entered his boss's office with a very peculiar expression. "Boss, we have a very odd mystery."
"What is it?"
"Seven people have called in to say that there's a body in the arena."
"There are supposed to be bodies in the arena. It's the Hunger Games."
"This one's not dressed as a tribute."
Now Pretorius was interested. One of the ironclad rules of the Hunger Games is the supplies available to the tributes were severely limited. A non-tribute outfit was supposed to be a no-no – and a curiously useless no-no.
"What do the Gamesmakers say?"
"They deny that a body was there. And they sent us this." Virt turned on his 3D viewer. A picture came up, one that the Chief had been familiar with throughout the Games this year: a low hill, with a cave visible several dozen meters up, and a couple of boulders at the foot.
"I don't see anything," said Pretorius.
"That's what the Gamesmakers insist," said Vir. "but the witnesses all said that was the part of arena where they saw him..
"Could it be a mass delusion?"
"A very specific mass delusion. Each caller said the body was dressed in dark green, had black hair, was lying in front of the largest boulder, and the only wound seemed to be a blow to the head, based on bleeding into the hair. By the way, they all agreed that they saw the body no more than 15 minutes after the broadcast came back on. Meaning that the man probably entered, and was killed, during the blackout."
"Or, turning it around," Pretorius mused, "the PURPOSE of the blackout was to cover up his entrance, or his murder, or both. Did the Gamesmakers ever give an explanation of the blackout?"
"No, sir."
If it had been anybody else behaving like that, Pretorius might have threatened them with legal consequences. But everything associated with the Hunger Games had immense prestige. Snow could threaten Gamesmasters, but the Peacekeepers couldn't. They needed another approach.
"Was the dead man's face visible?"
"Yes, sir. But of course the viewers had no way of recording it."
Of course. Individually-owned cameras or image-processing devices in general were prohibited decades ago. Too much danger of them recording something scandalous.
"We could question them all," said Vir, "but it's not likely that seven people can agree on a detailed description based on seeing an image on a screen for a few seconds."
"Mind's eye," said Pretorius suddenly.
"I beg your pardon, sir?"
"I think I know somebody that can help."
0-0-0-0-0-0
Standing in front of the door marked Dr. Anna Young, Pretorius hesitated a minute. The last time he saw Dr. Young , she gave him the willies. She would probably do it again today. Pretorius had come alone because he preferred not to have his assistant watch him squirm.
She opened the door on his knock. "You again."
"Um, yes. We've decided that we need your help."
She ushered him in. "What's wrong?" she asked sardonically. "Your favorite interrogation techniques not working anymore?" Her eyes seemed to bore into him, looking through his head directly into his brain. That was how she gave him the willies.
"I don't have 'favorite interrogation techniques'. I disapprove of torture. "
"Last year I tried to persuade your department that my hypnotic skills were both more reliable than torture and more humane. I was rejected."
"By my superior officer, backed up by Snow."
She pointed out his insignia. "Now YOU'RE the superior, and you need my help. Enough for you to fend off Snow and give me the job?"
Pretorius sighed. "I can fend off Snow. How much salary do you demand?"
"It's not the money." Her eyes stopped boring into him and softened. "Let me explain where I'm coming from. My cousin was arrested by mistake three years ago. I tried to intercede with the cops, explaining that I could use hypnotism on her memory to determine what really happened. They turned me down, and they "interrogated" her, and got useless information, because she knew nothing but wanted to stop the pain."
"I spent two years studying judicial procedures, and studying how to adapt hypnotism to obtain information. But I applied again, and was rejected again. Now, third and last chance. Are you going to hire me, and USE me as a kinder, gentler interrogator?"
"I think this is a big case. If we crack it, I'll have enough clout to push through your hiring and justify it to Snow."
"All right. What's this all about?"
He described the phantom murder case to her. To his surprise, she giggled. "Reminds me of an ancient nursery rhyme."
"As I was walking up the stair
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today.
I wish, I wish, he'd go away."
She returned to prose. "This isn't just a mystery to you, there seems something supernatural about it. And you aren't superstitious, so it REALLY irritates you."
"That's about it."
"I'll come when you're ready for the attempt. One thing. Do you think you can get your seven witnesses to agree to being hypnotized? I can't do it against their wills."
"Let's just say that we have a technique of our own. It's called Good Cop Bad Cop. I'll see you."
TO BE CONTINUED.
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: The rhyme was from a Gilbert-and-Sullivan style operetta, by an English writer named Hughes Mearns )
