“Great,” Laith muttered with an exasperated sigh, and ran his hands back and forth through his hair, completely messing it up as a result. This was just what they had needed: media attention on the murder. Normally, the media didn’t catch wind of such a story so early on. There were strict and rigid procedures in place making sure of that. It hadn’t even been a full four days yet since the murder, and generally speaking, the media wasn’t contacted with any information until the crime had been solved. And yet, there it was, plain as day on his screen.

Woman Murdered in Hills Home, Killer Still at Large.

He glanced at the door, half-expecting Captain Olivia Fox to barge in at any moment, demanding to know how the media had caught attention of his case and how they were going to deal with the resulting spotlight. He didn’t know the answer to either of those two questions, so he rather hoped she wouldn’t show up. Besides, he was relieved to know that no particulars had been shared with the media, or so it seemed. They knew that a murder had happened, and that the killer had not been apprehended. All of their other material focused on who the victim was and the fact that her husband is also missing, possibly a victim or a person if interest in the case. All things considered, that wasn’t so bad. It could have been a lot worse if the mystery prints had also been included in the report. He hoped that that, at least, would keep Captain Fox’s fury at bay. All he could do now was continue on as he had been doing, and try to figure something out in this mess of a case.

There was Cassia Grove’s murder, Aster Lockwood’s disappearance, fingerprints that couldn’t be identified by PATET, a threatening X-letter with a photograph, Lockwood’s Slate in the Ruins, and a mysterious person under the name of Invidia. How did it all fit together? Did it fit together, or was he looking at separate things?

With a long sigh, Detective Laith Alazraq moved on to the third item on his list: the contents of Aster Lockwood’s Slate. They had been copied into a package file and downloaded into his computer by PATET. While it worked to find him the footage he needed from the area around Platano Maduro, he decided to check up on the missing man’s Slate and what he might have to add to the mystery.

First, Laith wanted to investigate his possible presence in the Ruins. Was there any reason for a business magnate like Aster Lockwood to be out there, in that lawless wasteland? It seemed hardly likely. A quick set of searches through his device contents highlighted a range of files pertaining to the Ruins:

List of Wild Organic Compounds Within 30-Kilometer Radius of Heliopolis

Wild herbs in the Ruins and their uses: Cytisus scoparius, Delphinium, Phalaris canariensis

Wild herbs in the Ruins and their uses: Acanthus ilicifolius, Valeriana officinalis, Gentiana lutea

Wild herbs in the Ruins and their uses: Nicotiana glauca, Dittrichia viscosa, Cannabis ruderalis, Erigeron bonariensis

A Primary Study of Ruderal Botany in the Ruins

Fruit Trees in the Ruins: Cydonia oblonga,

Risk Assessment: Procurement and Recovery of Organic Material in the Ruins

He wasn’t going to pretend like the plant names meant anything to him. Some held familiar connotations to him, but he didn’t understand the importance of these particular plants for Greenland Farm or Aster Lockwood. Perhaps he could inquire about it to the man’s assistant, though it hardly seemed relevant. What was relevant, however, was that last document – the risk assessment. Was Lockwood thinking of sending people into the Ruins to retrieve the plants found there? He hadn’t heard of any of the other farms looking to the Ruins for procurement. Then again, that might be why Lockwood would want Greenland Farm to get there first.

He opened the document and did a quick read-through. It looked as though Greenland Farm was interested in improving their genetically modified crops by moving back towards naturally growing hardy crops found in the Ruins. Preliminary investigations had found these crops to be hardy species with numerous naturally occurring variations that would help improve crops grown within the vertical farms of Greenland Farm. They also had a range of medicinal and pharmaceutical applications, which could potentially help Greenland Farm grow into those markets.

So, perhaps that was why Lockwood was out in the Ruins that day, or why his Slate was here. Perhaps he traveled there to survey the area and get a first-hand look at the wild plants he’d been given reports on in order to ascertain whether this was a good investment or not. And perhaps that’s where he got attacked.

Still, it made little sense to think of him deciding to go into the Ruins alone, unprotected, when he could have just as well gone through the official channels to request a drone or other type of surveying machine that could be remotely accessed. Apart from the fact that it might tip off his competitors – he was certain word got around quickly in the highly competitive arena that was the Farms – it seemed the logical thing for a man like him to do. He didn’t even have any weapons or armor to defend himself with.

Next, Laith moved on to the messages. His messaging history with Cassia was already known, given that Laith had read everything from her Slate. But Aster Lockwood had more contacts on his Slate. Granted, many of them seemed to be work-related contacts, but at the very least he was giving Laith much more to work with than Cassia’s four or five contacts.

Most of the messages were unassuming – business talk that meant little to Laith and didn’t seem at all relevant to the case at hand. Then he came across Lockwood’s messages with his assistant, Toma Pom.

27/10/2111

TP: Mr. Lockwood, have you looked into the suspicious financial activity I highlighted?

TP: I don’t want to bother you, but it seems to be a critical matter.

TP: 15% of our revenue is allocated towards Farm Hands Machines.

AL: Thank you for your diligence, Toma.

AL: You don’t need to concern yourself with this matter.

AL: I’m personally investigating the issue alongside a team of professionals.

AL: We’ll get to the bottom of it.

I wonder what that’s all about, Laith thought to himself, flicking through previous messages between the two. There was no other mention of this issue. Curiously, the exchange took place on the same date that Lockwood had told his wife he would not be returning him that night. Was there a connection between the two? Was Lockwood staying nights at the farm – or elsewhere – to investigate some kind of critical corporate matter? How critical were they talking?

Laith did a quick search for the company that had been mentioned: Farm Hands Machines. There was only one business with that name, and it wasn’t in Heliopolis. Farm Hands Machines was a small garage that built and fixed farming equipment for vertical farms around the world. It just so happened that its clients included some of the biggest names – Emerald Farm and Greenland Farm. Perhaps Greenland Farm was allocating a large chunk of its revenues to Farm Hands Machines in order to get more equipment made, but even Laith could see that 15% was too large a chunk for a business that made as much money as Greenland Farm. No wonder they’d wanted to look into that.

“PATET, I need to get a look at the financial records of Greenland Farm,” he requested, glancing over at his Slate. “Do I have clearance?”

Please state a reason for clearance.

“I think it might be connected to Aster Lockwood’s disappearance, which might be connected to Cassia Grove’s murder. It seems there were some financial inconsistencies that Aster was investigating in the time leading up to his disappearance.”

For a moment, PATET considered his request, the small swirling graphic on his phone turning round and round in an almost hypnotic fashion. Then:

Access to Greenland Farm financial records denied.

Suggested course of action: Alert the Corporate Crimes Division of the Heliopolis Police Department of the potential crime.

“But it could be related to my homicide investigation,” Laith protested. “Requesting access to Greenland Farm financial records on the basis of connection with the murder of Cassia Grove.”

This time, it didn’t take nearly as long.

Access to Greenland Farm financial records denied.

Suggested course of action: Alert the Corporate Crimes Division of the Heliopolis Police Department of the potential crime.

A growl of frustration ripped out of Laith’s throat before he could stop himself, and he considered his options. There was no reasoning with an artificial intelligence. It was programmed a certain way and would not function outside of its confinements. So, he’d have to work around them himself. He knew some of the detectives on the Corporate Crimes Division. Maybe they’d work with him and let him know if they find anything of interest.

“Fine,” he sighed, and selected a range of files and the message history between Aster Lockwood and Toma Pom. “Alert the Corporate Crimes Division of this potential crime. Send selected files for preliminary review.” Then, quickly, he added: “Request Detective Ulv Lebben if available.”

When the request went through, Laith sighed with relief. At the very least, Lebben was a friend. He would be more likely to be transparent with Laith when he needed, and in return, Laith would be more than happy to tell him what he’d learned already about Aster Lockwood and Greenland Farm.

Feeling slightly less disgruntled with PATET’s rigid protocols, Laith returned to the contents of Aster Lockwood’s Slate and pulled up his personal history. There wasn’t much to go through that seemed to be of any interest. His history fit along with what he’d learned of Cassia Grove’s history.

Aster had studied vertical farming between 2100 and 2102 at the Agricultural University of Heliopolis, during which time he’d met Cassia Grove. He moved to Novus Atlantis in 2104 for a training position with Emerald Farm – ironic, that he would later become one of their biggest competitors – and returned to Heliopolis in 2106. Two years later, he went back to Novus Atlantis again, this time to marry Cassia Grove and take her back with him to Heliopolis.

As he studied his records, scrolling through past travel passes and records, Laith realized something was missing.

“PATET, show me all of photographs of Aster Lockwood between 2100 and 2106.”

The results confirmed Laith’s suspicions. Aster Lockwood’s profile didn’t include any photographs of him prior to 2106 – the very year he returned to Heliopolis from his training at the Novus Atlantis branch of Emerald Farm. How was that even possible?

“PATET, show me all photographs of Aster Lockwood prior to 2106.”

No results found for your search.

“Search again,” he ordered, not quite believing his eyes.

No results found for your search.

Florenz Jardin’s words from the crime scene floated back into his mind. PATET doesn’t lie.

“But this is ridiculous,” he whispered, staring at the blank results page. Not a single photograph of Aster Lockwood before 2106? Is that even possible?

No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t possible, and it wasn’t likely to be a glitch in the system, either.

With a creeping sense of dread, Laith realized what this might mean:

Someone was manually messing around with PATET.