Free The Resurrected Man by Sean Williams Page B

network.”
    â€œSomeone such as me?”
    â€œYes. Evidence given by Officer Blaylock indicates that you and she parted on unfriendly terms five days before you opted for Privacy. When she tried to contact you later, you had disappeared. Your continued absence made us more suspicious, especially when the murders persisted and no other leads were forthcoming.”
    He wanted to ask: She tried to contact me? Instead, he concentrated on what QUALIA was telling him. “No leads at all?”
    â€œNone, Jonah. You are it—especially now that we have found both you and the body of the latest victim in the same location.”
    Jonah absorbed this in silence. He had to admit that the situation did look incriminating, in context. Almost too incriminating.
    â€œI didn't think that was possible,” he said. “Infiltrating the network, I mean.”
    â€œNeither did I.” QUALIA's tone of voice hinted at self-deprecation; given es stated position as overseer of the KTI network, Jonah could understand that. “There are many safeguards in place to prevent such a thing from occurring, even from within KTI itself. The killer has somehow evaded them all.”
    â€œDo you think that I'm capable of doing this?”
    â€œOn the available evidence, no,” e admitted. “And Officer Blaylock agrees.”
    â€œWell, then.”
    â€œIt's not as simple as that, Jonah.”
    He sighed. “I didn't think it would be.”
    â€œOf course not. Remember that you could have an accomplice within KTI or be employing someone else's knowledge.”
    â€œTrue.” He conceded the point with reluctance.
    â€œPerhaps you can see, now, why Officer Whitesmith was under such stress at the disposal scene this morning. Until the killer is caught and brought to justice, KTI is operating on the assumption that it has been infiltrated by persons inimical to its operation. This, as you can imagine, is taking its toll on the relationship between KTI and its supposed watchdog, the MIU.
    â€œAnd there is another disturbing detail of which you should be aware, Jonah. The murderer has several unique signatures; one of them is the presence of WHOLE hard-print literature at the disposal scene.”
    â€œI see,” he said.
    â€œThe first body was accompanied by the opening page of the most famous of all the anti-KTI propaganda. I think you will be familiar with it. It quotes in its title a twentieth-century scholar by the name of Daniel C. Dennet.”
    â€œâ€˜The Murdering Twinmaker,’” he recalled. “Lindsay helped draft that pamphlet.”
    â€œPrecisely. Yet another connection between the Twinmaker and you.”
    â€œIf this keeps up, you'll have me believing it, too.”
    QUALIA didn't laugh, but neither did he.
    â€œYou actually call him that?” he asked. “The Twinmaker?”
    â€œYes. It is suprisingly appropriate,” e said. “But that is all I will tell you for now. Officer Whitesmith is keen to obtain information only you can provide, and I am under increasing pressure outside this conversation to wrest it from you. Are you willing, now, to answer some of our questions?”
    Jonah resigned himself to the inevitability of being interrogated.
    â€œOkay. I'll do my best.”
    â€œThat's all we can hope for. Firstly, I want to check that we are correctly interpreting the processes occurring within your brain. As you may remember, I will be unable to tell if you are lying, only whether the memories you accessed are genuine or invented. I will need to ask you some simple questions to which we already know the answers in order to calibrate the cage properly.”
    â€œJust get on with it.”
    â€œVery well. Let's start with your profession. How are you registered on the United Republics of Australasia electoral database?”
    â€œAs a freelance investigator.”
    â€œA private eye?”
    â€œIf you prefer that term, yes. I