3. The Meeting

Adam ambled through the warm afternoon sunshine, mingling with the shoppers. A certain amount of trepidation weighed on his mind as he turned the last corner, bringing him out opposite the front of the cafe.

Set back from the road, the first-floor overhanging the footpath, the front of the cafe in deep shadow. Standing in front of the cafe's window stood a man, tall, as tall as Adam, skinny and sallow-faced with long blond hair, fringe falling over his left eye. To Adam, he looked like a kid out of school, still in his school uniform. Black jacket, tie and shirt, pressed and spotless, but old-fashioned. The jacket was much longer than current fashion. Adam guessed this was the man he was to meet and could tell at a glance he was unfit, his build and stance giving him away.

He stopped to watch his new partner for a few moments, as his blond head moved from side to side, watching everybody as they walked past. The man ran his hand through his hair, combing it back out of his eyes, which slid back as his head moved. The hand ran through the hair again. Adam's mind switched up a gear at what was bothering him. He had long hair, a real rarity these days as it was not fashionable, as most preferred their hair cropped short, so it wouldn't impede virtual headgear. It was usual these days for people to have everything shaved.

He spoke aloud to himself, "Fuck me, it's James Bond's baby brother." He shook his head, realising that he had seen no one who looked less like a spy in his life. He did not look like a police officer either. He watched the hair thing again, realising this would drive him mad.

Adam looked up and down the street, intending to walk across the road when he saw an enormous man with long black hair and a big heavy shaggy overcoat. Strange, because it was over eighty degrees. The man was staring at his new partner, or that was how it seemed from where he stood.

Looking up at the clock on the wall of the restaurant, and saw it was now three o'clock. His eyes strayed back to the café, finding he was being stared at. Blondie gave an exaggerated shrug of impatience. How long had he known Adam was watching him? He looked up the road, realising the man had disappeared. He put him out of his head and walked across the road, dodging between the almost silent electric cars, before vaulting the metal railing onto the footpath.

"Anthony, I assume," He said as he stepped to one side to allow the rest of the people on the footpath to continue past them.

"I prefer Tony." His hand came out to give a perfunctory shake.

"Tony it is. I'm Adam, as you already know." He smiled, in the same way he did at perps and victims, with his mouth only.

"Shall we get off the street, Adam?" There was no humour in the man's voice. To Adam, he seemed cold, more like he would expect from a spy. Maybe his first impressions had been wrong, done to put him off. He turned away from Adam and entered the cafe without another word. Adam felt almost dismissed and he could feel anger wearing away at what little good humour he had left. Reluctantly, he followed him in, realising that he needed to take control of this partnership as quickly as possible, or this youngster would assume he was in charge, and he was having none of that.

On a table in the corner sat two drinks, still steaming. Tony sat down, and brushed his hair back yet again, gesturing to the other seat. "Black coffee with two sweeteners. Mine, when pushed to drink in a cafe, is tea, no milk, no sugar or sweeteners."

He played it as coolly as this youngster was, taking a sip of his drink. "Good coffee." He said, putting the cup down.

"Is it? I never touch the stuff?" He grimaced as he swallowed a sip of his tea. "And this is awful."

He was about to speak when he saw Tony was gearing himself up to talk.

"Adam, can we set a few ground rules?" He nodded. "We will meet people whom you will know, how they think, and how to talk to them. When we have to deal with this type of person, I will keep quiet and not interfere with anything you do." Adam frowned, unsure where this was going. "We will also meet people I am used to dealing with my work. I would appreciate it if you did the same for me."

"Your line of work, is what?" He asked, almost spitting the last word. Tony said nothing, shrugging as he shook his head, which made his hair fall again. "You're not telling me?" He asked, his voice getting louder.

"I wouldn't know how to explain my work. I have trouble understanding it myself, sometimes." He whispered.

"Try," Adam said, menace in his voice.

"I am under strict orders, to reveal nothing about my work, but I am under orders, to watch how you… solve a crime."

"You know how to. You're a policeman, so I'm led to believe." His voice was no longer whispering. Tony brought his head down and leant across the table.

Still whispering, he said. "Policeman, yes, sort of, but not in detective work in the way you work."

"I don't understand?" Adam said, perplexed, bringing his own voice down.

"I'm new to this. My bosses expect me to gain ability on police thinking and procedure from you while we solve this crime."

"How new?" He spoke slowly, a note of despair entering his voice, not missed by Tony.

He looked down at his drink. "This is my first solo case." He continued to look at his drink.

Alarm bells were ringing in Adam's head as they sat in silence, watching the people walk past until he spoke.

"Do you have a team?"

"A team?" He asked, confused.

"Other people like yourself, ready to help?"

"Normally, we work in pairs." Tony paused. "But I was told to keep this as low key as possible, need to know basis."

"Accountability." He said knowingly as Tony nodded. He downed the last of his coffee and stood up. "I have an office back at the yard. We might as well get our information onto a computer as fast as possible. I was told I wouldn't need a team, but bollocks to that, I'll get a small low-key team set up."

"I don't think a team is a good idea." Tony had remained seated.

"Why?" He asked, re-seating himself.

"The fewer people involved, the safer it will be for all concerned. Also, a team is hardly low key."

Adam leant forward and whispered. "We're investigating a string of murders. You can't get low-key. The two of us can't cover the ground or interview all the suspects on our own. Shit, I haven't interviewed a single person in five years."

"What suspects?" Tony asked, finally looking into Adam's eyes.

Adam thought for a moment. "Good point, but we will have suspects, a lot of suspects."

He could see the confusion in Tony's eyes, so he waited for the next question.

"Why haven't you interviewed anyone in the last five years? I thought that's what the police did?"

He realised that this young man knew nothing about the police or investigation, even though for now he would be a DCI.

"A DCI is a manager of people and resources. He has DCs, DSs and DIs doing the interviewing and running around."

"I don't think my people understood this."

"That's pretty clear."

Tony thought for a moment. "So, until we have some suspects, we keep things between you and me."

"All right, but I'm not happy about this, and neither will my bosses."

"There are a lot of things you aren't going to be happy about, but your bosses have no input."

"My bosses will demand—"

"Your bosses will do exactly as the Ministry decides, and so will I."

This sudden outburst brought Adam's train of thought to a halt, as he realised Tony feared his bosses, whoever they were.

Adam had led the way down many streets until they reached Scotland Yard, and not once had he spoken, even as they passed through the entrance hall. His eyebrows lifted in surprise when Tony stopped at the entrance door.

"Do you have one of these?" He asked, taking the clear plastic oblong tablet from his pocket. Tony shook his head. Adam looked up at the display at the face of the desk Sergeant, different from earlier.

"Name?" The Sergeant asked.

"Tony Garrett."

"Rank?"

"DCI, I think."

"You think?" He asked loudly, looking toward Adam. He nodded and the Sergeant's face dropped out of sight for a moment. The head came back up, looking quite surprised. "Put your hand on the red plate beside the door." Tony complied, and the door beeped and opened.

"Welcome to Scotland Yard, DCI Garrett." Tony nodded back, ignoring the sarcasm in the sergeant's voice.

The entrance had done little for Adam's mood as he tramped through the labyrinth of corridors until he came to his office.

Desks and chairs scattered around, all facing a large blank wall. The rear wall had a large comfortable couch under it, with a coffee table in front. The room's colour scheme was shades of grey, boring as hell, but did nothing to detract from the job at hand. The third wall partitioned a separate office behind a glass wall. The fourth wall had the door they had entered. Tony looked around and saw there were no windows.

"Is this it?" Tony asked, expecting to see computers on each desk and filing cabinets. Adam reached into his pocket and pulled his tablet out again, which sat in the palm of his hand. "A Policeman's digital notebook, this, along with cloud storage and a high-speed data link, is all we need. You know all this." Tony kept quiet, not knowing this. Adam held the notebook up and touched the front with his finger and it turned into a neat screen displaying the force's logo.

"Display details of my current case," He said to the room. The screen in his hand displayed small photos and files, far too small for Tony to read. Adam walked over to the blank wall and touched the surface with the edge of the notebook. The wall turned out to be a vast display, which lit up with pictures, which were identical to those on the notebook. He dropped it on the desk before walking over to the large display standing in front of it.

"Adam, I know this situation is far from ideal, but what have I done wrong?" Tony asked, taking a seat behind the nearest desk.

"You've done anything wrong," he replied, his voice emotionless, "yet." He added to himself, but loud enough for Tony to hear.

"Then why are you so bloody angry?"

Adam's head dropped to his chest as he took a deep breath. "I'm not angry at you. I'm angry about bloody everything at the moment."

"Would you like to tell me about it?"

"No, I fucking would not." He spat out.

Confused about this chastisement, he watched Adam point at the three pictures on the screen. "These are our recently deceased. Below each of these is the details of friends and family, already interviewed. The bodies have no signs of how they died or how they ended up where they were found. All doors were locked." He paused for a moment. "All took place within a thirty-minute walk from here." Tony moved over and joined him at the display.

"The First, Sarah Mitchell, 27, no priors, came from Bedford, and as far as we can tell, has never been to London. Found dead in a locked flat in Soho Square around five weeks ago. The entry card was in her pocket, the doors locked, the flat empty of furniture. According to pathology, she was healthy, fit and no reason for her death was apparent. An important point to notice is that she has never had medical or plastic surgery."

Tony looked at Adam as he spoke about the case. His demeanour had changed, becoming more animated, the anger draining away.

"What makes you think this is not some girl who committed suicide?"

"She had a job in Bedford, and she was five months pregnant." He looked at Tony. "Last seen by her husband six weeks ago in the family home. Unless she had some unknown psychological problems, there is no reason for suicide."

He touched the display and several menus dropped, allowing Adam to bring new information to the screen, much too fast for Tony to follow. A picture appeared on the wall display. "This is an excerpt from a surveillance camera, taken a week after she disappeared. It came to light because a supposed burglary had been committed nearby." The film, taken at night, showed the dead woman wandering down a street. "The woman was found the day after this video was filmed. Now there is no proof she was involved in the burglary, but the burgled building was just out of the picture on the right."

"Why a supposed burglary?" Tony asked.

"The building showed signs that someone was sleeping rough in it. So not a burglary, as nothing was stolen."

Tony was staring at Adam's notebook, lying on the desk. He picked it up and handed it to him, which he took without thinking. The display went blank. "Sorry, this always happens when I pick up something delicate like this, they break," Tony said, handing the phone back, which lit up again.

Adam was smiling at him. "The phone is keyed into me. I'm getting the impression you know little about these." Tony nodded. "If someone else touches it, it switches itself off. If someone other than me continues to hold it, it will send an alert, the cyber equivalent of a cry for help." He put the tablet down while Tony continued to look at him blankly. "Scotland Yard was attacked a few years ago. You must remember, they hit the building with an EM pulse, wiped out all phone systems and computers within a couple of miles." Adam shook his head as he remembered the details. "The police, fire and ambulance services came to a halt that day and for several days afterwards. The entire city was in anarchy, the traffic management system went down, which was less of a problem as every car for miles had also stopped working."

"I don't remember that."

"Really, it was world news for weeks." Adam frowned as he looked at him. "Anyway, since then, all our computers and communication devices have been hardened against electromagnetic interference. Also, the level of technology we were using was brought right up to date."

Tony could remember the anger from his father whenever he picked up his phone as a child, watching the screen go fuzzy, then black as the magic in his body destroyed it.

"I take it you don't have a phone or a notebook?" Adam asked.

"No. I'd need a course on how to turn one on."

"You've never used one?" He asked, his voice betraying his amazement.

"I can barely use a remote control, let alone a computer."

Adam looked at him in surprise as it was unheard of for anyone in today's society not to be able to use a computer. Everything worked through them, you couldn't live without one.

"How do you do your job without computers to store information on?" Adam asked.

"We have our methods."

"Your department at the Ministry must use computers and smartphones?" Tony shook his head. "Seriously?"

"To my knowledge, there is not one computer, smart or otherwise, in the whole of the Ministry."

Adam thought about this for a moment. He put this information to one side, for now.

"Anyway, back to young Sarah. This is where the weird bit comes in." He touched the display again, and another picture appeared below the picture of Sarah. This time the face was misshapen and lumpy, and the hair was now two different colours and of different lengths.

"Who's this, another victim? What the hell happened to her?" Tony asked as he moved in for a closer look.

"This is a picture of Sarah Mitchell, taken when they found out she was pregnant." Pointing at the top picture of a smiling blue-eyed girl, round-faced with mid-length brown hair. "This is a picture of the same girl taken when she was found." This one had green eyes; the hair was multi-coloured and looked as if it had been cut with a knife.

"Are you sure it's the same girl?"

"DNA says yes. It's assumed that it must have been an allergic reaction, but forensics has drawn a blank." He brushed his hand over the screen and the pictures disappeared. Adam looked at Tony.

"You're waiting for me to say something, or ask another question?"

Adam nodded. "She was five months pregnant."

"Where's the baby?" He asked, his voice rising as he realised the important point he had missed. Adam raised his shoulders. "No idea. She didn't have an abortion, she hasn't given birth, and forensics would have picked either up. Her blood work and hormones would suggest she was never pregnant."

"So, can we assume she was never pregnant in the first place?"

"No, she had a whole raft of tests over four months at her doctor's surgery and at her local hospital. There is no doubt she was pregnant." Tony kept quiet, his knowledge failing him yet again.

"Could those lumps on her face be bruises?"

"Forensics say no." He shrugged and touched the display again, and another picture appeared. "Anyway, number two is Robin Allinson, 30 years old, married with two children. No previous and no apparent reason for suicide, she was found three weeks ago." He pointed to the picture on the screen showing a young woman with short brunette hair and blue eyes.

"What links the two?" Tony asked as Adam held his hand up before bringing yet another picture to the display. This second picture was also of Robin, but again the face appeared lumpy and misshapen, the hair colour a blond-brunette mix and her eyes were now green.

"This is the most recent picture of Robin Allinson we have. It came from her husband."

"I assume DNA proves who she is?" He asked.

"Her parents and husband are having the body re-autopsied, as they do not believe it is who we say it is. Like the first girl, apart from appendix removal and births, she had had no medical work whatsoever."

"I assume that an allergic reaction is suspected?" Tony asked as unease started to worry him. He was beginning to think he knew the cause, he just hoped he was wrong.

"Allergic reactions do not change eye colour, as far as I know, but both now have green eyes."

"Can't you change your eye colour?"

"Yes, it's a simple laser procedure, but it's a licenced procedure that has to be registered, plus the treatment leaves markers behind that an autopsy can pick up."

"I assume they found nothing ?"

Adam nodded as he made the picture disappear, replacing it with girl number three.

"The third woman, found last week." He pointed to the picture; this one was tallish, slim and had fuzzy long blond hair and green eyes. There was no sign of any misshapen features or lumps. "No identification." He looked at Tony and raised his arms. "Usually, we use medical or dental history to find out who someone is. Not even DNA identification has helped. This woman is an enigma; she has never had surgery or dental work. We don't even know what country she's from." He shook his head in frustration. "We tried putting her picture out worldwide and so far nothing. We even checked missing person records for most of Europe. Again, nothing."

"When are you going to tell me the link, apart from green eyes?" Asked Tony, unhappy being kept in the dark, but he realised that this was what he was doing to Adam, so he lived with it, for now.

"They were all found in the same apartment in Soho Square, sitting up, legs out in front of them, and backs against a wall. We're sure they staged the scenes."

"That's why you think it's a serial killer?"

"There's no evidence they were murdered, but because of the similarities and background information, we have no choice but to investigate." He swiped at the display, which removed all the pictures. A few deft movements produced another picture, this time a male. "Now we have a fourth, one Marc Ewan, same MO, but this time in a locked room in a flat in North Wales."

"MO?" Tony asked, looking at Adam with a confused expression.

"Modus operandi, Latin for the method of operation." It puzzled Adam why he didn't know this common abbreviation, but again, he let it pass, storing it for future reference. Adam was about to continue when he realised Tony was staring at him.

"Are you going to tell me that Marc Ewan was a green-eyed woman?" Tony asked, making Adam laugh.

Adam sat down on the edge of the desk. "I am at a loss of what to do next. Something is going on, but I don't know what it is."

"Why is this Ewan's death included?" Tony asked after a moment.

"The police AI has decided that there are too many similarities between them, so it lumps together them. The police do not have the staff to run too many lines of enquiry, so the AI pulls similar crimes together. It's a system that has proven itself many times over."

"AI?" He asked.

"Artificial intelligence, quick and accurate. It looks at all the parameters and links, and evidence of multiple crimes, much faster than any human. If she says they are too similar to ignore, we do not ignore them."

"This AI sounds kind of scary," Tony asked, looking around the room.

"She is scary. Whatever you do, don't get into an argument with her. You will lose." He emphasised the word 'will.'

"You can talk to it?" Tony looked shocked.

"Don't call her or him it. Give her a name you're happy with. She'll respond if she thinks it's necessary."

Tony looked around the room, a deep frown on his face. "Can she hear us?"

"Oh yes, she's listening," Adam added.

Tony sat down and took a deep breath, realising that not only was everything being recorded, but they were also being watched by some strange entity. He decided it was time to bite the bullet. "We have two murders."

"What?" Adam Exploded.

"I told you in the cafe, you wouldn't be thrilled. Now you know why I'm here."

"How come we know nothing about these murders?" Adam was angry at this news.

"The first happened on the Norway-Swedish border. The other," He took a deep breath, "happened in our most secret establishment here in London."

"The murder abroad, I can understand. It's out of our jurisdiction, but another murder here in London."

"What goes on in the ministry is outside of police jurisdiction."

"Bollocks."

"No." Tony looked up and shook his head. "The Ministry has absolute authority over all matters in this area."

"Then we should have gone up the tree to a higher authority."

"Believe me, there is no higher authority."

Adam looked at Tony, anger etched across his face. "The PM."

"I am led to believe the PM does as he's told by the Ministry." The look on Tony's face told Adam all he needed to know.

"You're a fucking spy." He spat, his anger coming forth.

Tony shook his head, wanting to explain the reasons. "Did the murdered people have any personal effects on them when they were found?" Tony asked, changing the subject, not missed by Adam.

"We don't know they have been murdered yet, and there was nothing of any real importance on them." The anger in Adam's voice showed the subject of authority wasn't over.

"The unknown woman. Did she have anything strange on her?"

"I wouldn't say strange." He looked down. "The only item that was found is in evidence lock up."

A strange gong sound came from all around them as the door opened itself. A small powered trolley entered the room, rolled up to the desk next to them, and stopped. "I think that is for you. You've already said you don't have a phone; the AI will have listened to our conversation and provided the required equipment. Get it open and start sorting it out. I'll contact evidence lock up and get this unusual item sent up." Adam said, leaving the room. Tony placed his hand on the box, ready to lift it up to the table when it sprang open.

"Handprint identification found, contents for Detective Chief Inspector Anthony Garrett." A voice came from the box. He backed up across the room in shock; the vaping stick he kept up his sleeve, hiding his wand, was in his hand. He took a deep breath, realising that he now knew what DCI meant. Mentally, he chastised himself, he should be used to inanimate objects talking and moving.

He went back over to the box. Using the vaping stick, he reached over and lifted the lid open. Inside were three items. The first was a flat piece of clear plastic, a notebook, like Adams. Beside it was a small flesh-coloured lump and an equally compact disc with a clip on the back, which Tony guessed wrongly, was an earring. He picked all three items up, then dropped them in surprise as the notebook lit up and spoke at the same time as the little trolley moved away, its contents now delivered.

"Welcome to your digital notebook. Please supply retinal and voice identification." He slipped his vaping tube back up his right sleeve before reaching down and picking the items back up, cradling them in one hand. The words 'Not Enabled' floated in the clear plastic slab

Adam came back in, stepping over the trolley that was backing out of the room. "Notebook not set up." He said, looking at the items in Tony's hand. He shook his head.

"How does it know who I am?" He asked.

"Voice recognised as Detective Chief Inspector Anthony Garrett, please supply retinal identification." Tony had almost dropped the items again.

"You really have never used technology before, have you?" He said while shaking his head. "Hold the phone up in front of your face. You'll see a bright light for a moment. Don't be surprised this time."

Tony did as he asked as the whole screen flashed with a bright light for a moment. "Retinal print obtained, Welcome to your Digital notebook, Detective Chief Inspector Anthony Garrett." Tony looked down and saw that the display had changed to a Scotland Yard logo, rotating, with his name and rank under it.

"How does it know who I am?" He asked again.

"The information must have been supplied by your Ministry fellows." He accented the word Ministry as he sat down on the edge of the desk. "Unless you believe in magic." He grinned at Tony, who looked back, dumbstruck. "Put the lumpy bit," he pointed at the flesh-coloured lump, "in your ear." Tony looked at him, disbelief written all over his face. "It's the earpiece for your phone. Pointy end first. Just push until it tells you to stop."

He did as he was asked, feeling stupid as the cold plastic slid into his ear. He gave it a harder push, then jumped as a voice in his ear told him the Bluetooth earpiece was now working.

Adam saw him jump and pointed at the earring. "Now attach the camera to your jacket lapel." Tony did as he asked. He noticed Adam's smile when he got it right. "Right now, tell the phone you're active on case 118,429."

"What does that do?" Tony asked, holding the notebook out in front of him.

"It puts your notebook into record mode."

"Is this really necessary?" He said, turning the tablet around in his hand.

"If we end up in court, the information these notebooks keep will be used by the prosecution and the defence. They will watch and listen to everything said and done during the investigation. Also, those same records can protect or hang the officer."

"I have a question?" Said Tony, after a few moments thought, Adam nodded and waited. "Some things we may see could be sensitive to the Ministry." Adam nodded, more slowly this time. "They will not want some of this information, places, or people's interviews being recorded."

It was Adam's turn to think. "Any effort made to interfere with the recording on an active case is called tampering with the evidence. In a worst-case scenario, a custodial sentence could be given." Adam waited for this to sink in. "What argument can you possibly have that could allow me to request we are not recorded?"

He thought for a moment. "At the moment, I do not have a reason I can explain, but I'll talk to someone at the Ministry for guidance." He said with finality.

"Good. In the meantime, we record as per the law, until someone tells me otherwise." Adam smiled, hoping they had reached an agreement. "Also, I will have a word with the Super, and see what he thinks."

Adam talked him through the procedure and Tony heard the voice in his ear telling him he was now active. Tony put the notebook in his jacket pocket just as the gong sounded again. The door opened, allowing another powered trolley to enter the room of its own accord. It rolled up to Adam and stopped. He touched a small glowing square on the top, which triggered the trolley's rear box to open. He took a package from inside. The doors closed again. Tony watched it reverse across the room, the door opening, then closing behind it.

Adam held the package out to Tony, which he took, eyeing it. Inside was a long narrow piece of wood, one end carved into a handle and varnished, the other end tapered to a smooth tip.

"You know what that stick is, don't you?" It was a statement, not a question.

"One like this was found at a site of interest. It was made of an unusual wood, not usually found in the UK." Tony hoped the little white lie would pass unnoticed. "It didn't tell us anything, but it was unusual, so if you don't mind, I'll get it tested at the Ministry." He slipped the stick into his pocket. "It's probably nothing, but at this stage, I'm happy to clutch at any straw."

Adam's eyebrows went up. "You almost sound like a real policeman." Tony looked at him, wondering if he was joking with him. "Anyway, I thought there should be two. I assumed it was half of a posh chopstick. More importantly, the AI will have seen you place the object in your pocket. It will want it returned, within a reasonable period." He nodded back; annoyed that he would have to return the wand.

"If we go next door into the Evob, we can see the forensic scans of the murder sites." He saw the look of confusion on Tony's face for a moment. "The Evob is the Evidence observation room." He stood up and walked towards the display wall, with Tony in tow, not understanding a word he was saying.

He pushed on the display wall, and a door opened. Inside was an empty room, with no windows, no furniture. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all a uniform light grey. Adam closed the door, cutting out any light, before speaking to the room in the darkness. "Room, display main case crime scene zero zero one." The walls, ceiling, and floor glowed, becoming brighter as a room appeared around them.

He found himself in a large room, the walls a similar uniform grey colour, like this room, before Adam switched it on.

"As you can see, the display walls are all switched off. Room, add the body of Sarah Mitchell." Adam said. A figure of a late twenty-something woman appeared, dressed in jeans and flannel checked shirt and boots, slumped against the wall next to the fireplace. Tony walked around, amazed at how he could see the figure from any angle in fine detail.

"This is the interesting bit," Adam spoke, making Tony jump. "Room, overlay body of Robin Allinson." The form of another woman, like the first, appeared in the room, beside the first body. She also wore jeans, but with a black T-shirt and pumps. Same sitting position, head lolled to the same side. Tony moved in again, noticing that both of them had the same lumpy appearance on their face. A certain amount of trepidation was creeping into his mind, as he thought he might know what had caused this strange appearance, although he seriously hoped he was wrong.

"Are you saying that whoever placed the first body knew where to place the second body?" Adam smiled for a moment.

"Room, overlay third unknown female body."

The third body appeared next to the second body. Unlike the first two, her dress was strange, almost Victorian in look, long skirt, a flowery blouse, none of which matched. She had a strange black felt hat perched on her head. "Does that answer your question?" Adam asked as they looked at the three bodies in a row.

"Has to be the same person to know where the other bodies were," Tony said after a moment.

"It could be a coincidence, but I doubt it. The chopstick you have in your pocket came from the witchy-looking one." Adam said as he walked around the room. Tony's head flicked around to look at him, not sure what to say.

"Witchy?" He asked, not really wanting an answer.

Adam stopped and pointed at the female. "I can't think of what to call her clothing style, gipsy, bohemian." Tony nodded before turning away to inspect the three bodies. He reached out after a moment to touch the clothing of the woman and almost yelped when his hand passed through her.

"Takes some getting used to," Adam said, squatting down beside him. "I spent an hour in here before I came to meet you. None of this makes any sense. If the bodies were arranged for a reason or a threat, I can't work it out."

"Unless the message was meant for someone else, who would understand?" Tony replied, standing up, with Adam following.

"I think we can take that as a given. I assume you know what the message is?" He turned towards Tony as he spoke.

"No."

"Room, display off." The room plunged into darkness until he opened the door to the office.

They both stopped in front of the big display.

Adam picked up his tablet and interrogated it for a moment. "One other thing, the last one probably came from money." Tony stopped and looked back at him.

"How do you work that out?"

"The first two had standard high street clothes on. The third's clothing was high-quality materials and handmade, even though they look a little strange, this is something that is quite rare these days. The fabrics were all-natural as well."

"Does that help?" Tony asked.

"No, though it might make identification easier. The information on her clothing is in the AI database, so if a link to someone who makes high-quality clothing is made, we'll soon know." This information went straight over Tony's head, but he decided not to ask any more questions.

"This is all we have at the moment, so we might as well call it a day and start fresh in the morning when we should have the files from Wales and forensics."

"This isn't much."

"No, but forensics has details on the contents of their stomachs, which is apparently a cause for concern."

"Sounds good to me. I'll go into our office on the way home, and see if I can bring the evidence we have, over here in the morning." Adam nodded and waved his hand at the display, which went blank.

"Before we go," Tony said, sitting down on the edge of the desk again, "I assume you made some phone calls when you went to get this." He waved the stick in the air. A big grin appeared on Adam's face.

"Of course I did. I was told not to ask, as I wouldn't like the answer. That's if an answer could be found." Tony waited for him to continue. "I don't like this situation. I feel very much the outsider when in reality I shouldn't be."

"I agree entirely," replied Tony, surprising Adam. "My hands are tied. If I get the chance to bring you in, I will not hesitate. However, full disclosure could put you in grave danger."

"What the hell are you mixed up in?"

"If I told you, you would not believe me."

"Try me," Adam said, leaning forward and staring straight at Tony.

"No." He said emphatically.

"You realise I will continue to ask these questions tomorrow."

"I know." He tried not to smile but failed.