Free Dangerously Placed by Nansi Kunze Page B

Ki looked pleased.
    â€˜Then you’re no longer the only likely suspect! There are several Virk Rooms in the city, aren’t there?’
    I nodded.
    â€˜Five or six, I think.’
    â€˜Well, then – if the login records don’t show who was in those rooms, there could have been other people just as close to Grody as you.’
    â€˜That’s true. But I’m assuming if someone had been really far away from where they were supposed to be when the police escorted them from their Virk Room,they’d have been arrested by now. Most of the people in that list I just gave you would have been in other countries, so we can probably rule them out. We can definitely rule out Inge. While I was being interviewed, I heard these two officers laughing about a call they’d just got from Germany; apparently the German police wanted to strongly assure the Australian police that Inge’s location in Stuttgart had been confirmed. It seems she … wasn’t thrilled, shall we say, with how much time they spent questioning her.’
    â€˜I see,’ said Ki dryly, and I was sure she did. ‘So most of your colleagues were a considerable distance away … except Dale.’
    I looked up sharply.
    â€˜Yes. But his Virk Room is miles away, up in Woorenong.’
    â€˜If the login records aren’t there, though, he could have been in any Virk Room earlier on.’
    I swallowed, suddenly remembering my lunch break the day before.
    â€˜I … thought I saw him,’ I said slowly. ‘At lunch, when I was looking out at Beach Road, there was a guy walking past and I thought he looked like Dale.’
    â€˜Really?’ Ki leant towards me. ‘And yet I would have said it was impossible for him to get to Beach Road and back up to the northern suburbs in a forty-five-minute lunch break. Were you with him all of the time between seeing Grody alive and dead?’
    â€˜No.’ My stomach seemed to be squeezing itself intoa knot. ‘He wasn’t with me for most of the time the party was going on. But there were so many people there …’
    Ki arched an eyebrow.
    â€˜I know,’ I groaned. ‘It sounds really bad. But what motive would he have? He barely knew Grody, just like me. And …’ I put a hand up to my face, feeling again the gentleness of Dale’s fingers brushing my cheek. ‘I can’t believe he could do it, Ki. I really can’t. He might be a bit competitive, but that’s all. He’s … he’s a nice guy.’
    â€˜The human psyche is far more mysterious than one generally imagines, Alex.’ Ki sat down next to me. ‘I’m not saying that this one suspicious circumstance makes him a murderer, but you have to leave your attraction to him behind and allow yourself to be objective. Watch him. Find out what you can, and be cautious about your own safety. All right?’
    I nodded, feeling strangely traitorous to have made Dale a suspect in Ki’s eyes. But she was right – I had to watch him. If only to clear his name, as well as mine.
    â€˜Well, girls, what say we go and look at some unusual phlegm samples?’ cried Evan, striding into the room.
    â€˜Sounds fascinating,’ replied Ki, deftly slipping the autopsy report behind her back as she stood up.
    â€˜I think I see what you meant about this place showing you new sides of yourself,’ I muttered, following her out of the office. ‘I had no idea you were so … stealthy.’
    Ki’s lips twitched.
    â€˜I must confess,’ she murmured back, ‘that while I’m enjoying pathology, I’m beginning to wonder whether covert intelligence-gathering might not suit me better.’
    I smiled. I could totally see Ki as a spy.

I got up early on Thursday to see if Ki’s inside information could help me identify anyone apart from Dale as a suspect. I obviously couldn’t just ask around at Virk about who lived where