I was woken up by three things at five o'clock the next morning. The first was my earpiece buzzing on the bedside table. The second was my tabphone buzzing beside it. The third was Mitzy yowling along, standing on my feet like they were craggy rocks and she was howling to the moon.

"Shut up!" I groaned.

Flexing bruised knuckles, I stretched out a hand to grab my earpiece. When I'd put it on, the racket stopped. "Rames speaking. Who the fuck is this?"

"Alex." His tone was grave. "I'm sorry this is late, but the PRBs couldn't contact you again. We've been called out to a murder on Kings Road."

My stomach sank. "I'm on my way."

I threw on some clothes, fed Mitzy, and bolted out the door.

Kings Road was a backstreet just a minute's walk from Terra Road, lined by more grubby fire escapes than neon signs. Only street lamps pierced the darkness. At least it wasn't raining.

The crime scene was halfway down the street, marked by electro-tape. Alex and Cassia were already with the body. Cassia was issuing orders to her robot assistant, her examination finished. Alex was looking the other way, in the direction of the PRBs who were walking the scene.

I didn't need any gadgets to identify the victim. She was sprawled on her back against the wet concrete, rosy curls fanned around her face. Bryony Gold.

"Good morning," Cassia said. "It's nice of you to join us."

"Morning." I ignored her sarcasm and glanced at Alex. He was still miles away, so I cleared my throat.

His gaze swung to mine, his eyes haunted. I felt as if I was staring into something private, and we both looked away.

Bryony's throat had been slit, and the concrete glistened with her blood. Two PRBs approached with a trolley. Cassia's robot helped them put the girl in a body bag.

Cassia turned to me. "Both carotid arteries were cut again. I can tell you it was less than an hour ago, but I'm sure you'll get a better idea when you look at the time it was called in."

"Any clues about what she was doing down here?" I asked.

"I found a packet of crimson in her pockets."

That was a Class A drug. I sighed. "So she could have been buying it here. A drug deal gone wrong, maybe?"

"I thought you hated coincidences."

"Yes." I looked at Alex, realising that should probably be his line. He was still staring down the road. "Sergeant."

His gaze swung back to mine. "I asked Laney to call Jason Castle-Ackerman and break the news, but he's not picking up. Bryony's parents have been woken and informed."

"Good. Check in with Laney again in case she's had any luck now. I'll follow Cassia to the mortuary. We're not going to get a lot else done until the city wakes up."

Alex took himself off.

Cassia followed him with her gaze. "It's harder to look at a murder victim when they're so young. Bryony's, what, eighteen? Her life hadn't even started going anywhere."

Alex ducked under the electro-tape at the edge of the crime scene, and I released a long breath. "Yeah. Maybe that's what the matter is."

***

A few hours later, it was still dark, and I was standing in the mortuary with Cassia. While my sister had been performing the post-mortem, I'd discovered the exact time of the 999 Xplora call. Bryony had died a few minutes before half four. It gave me a much narrower timeframe for the alibis I'd need to gather.

Cassia had gone through everything with me, which wasn't much. No broken bones. No extra injuries at all, in fact, defensive or otherwise. No crimson in her system, but it was evident that she'd taken it plenty of times before.

My sister crossed the post-mortem room and washed her hands in an industrial sink. Her forensic suit had been replaced with scrubs. "Have you got in touch with the Castle-Ackerman boy?"

"Alex hasn't reported in." Which was worrying me. "I guess Jason's still asleep."

"Well, good luck." She dried her hands and drifted across the room towards the door. "I'll write this report up while I've got the chance. I'll have plenty more patients later this morning."

I shivered. "I've never understood how you can take bodies apart all the time. Or spend your day in here. It's cold. And gloomy."

"Gloomy?" She looked at the white walls and raised a sceptical eyebrow. "I think it's brighter than the station."

"I don't. The station's full of life -- I can see people through the glass. Live people."

"Your office isn't full of life. It's hardly got a thing in it, not even a picture."

"Who would I have a picture of? Mitzy?" I spread my hands. "At least you have a husband's picture to hang up somewhere and look -- what?"

She'd winced. Now she lowered her gaze. "Maybe next time you come in here, I'll have bought some big, fluffy pillows for the dead to rest their heads on. I could nick the fuchsia ones Mom's got. That would brighten things up."

I treated her to my inspector's stare. Cassia was a beautiful woman, and her full lips and deep-set eyes gave her a naturally brazen look. She'd had no shortage of willing suitors during her life, but only one had caught her interest. She'd married him ten years ago at the age of twenty-three.

"How is Miles, anyway?" I asked.

"Great." Her voice was flat. "Your sergeant's behind you."

I whirled on my heel. Alex was pushing through the doors on the other side of the room. He stopped and frowned. "Am I interrupting something?"

I glanced over my shoulder. Cassia had gone.

"No." I raked a hand through my hair and turned back. "Please tell me you've got something after treating me to hours of radio silence."

"I've got you someone," Alex said mildly. "Jason Castle-Ackerman. He's just settling into our custody suite. Some officers caught him buying crimson half an hour ago."

***

Dixon greeted us at the entrance to the custody suite, looking as if he'd been awake all night. "Jason Castle-Ackerman has been moved to Interview Room 1 and is refusing legal representation. He doesn't know about his girlfriend yet. Laney tells me he was arrested for possession of a Class A drug."

"Yes, sir," I said. "What about the dealer?"

"The drugs squad are still looking for him, but they don't know who he is. See if you can get a name out of Jason." Dixon stepped aside to let us past.

"Yes, sir." I was already trotting down the stairs.

Alex caught up with me in one second flat. "Are you going to tell him about Clyde?"

"Let's focus on the investigation for now. I'll ask the questions, you keep yourself pulled together."

He didn't say anything to that.

The interview rooms were glass cubes just like our offices, but you could only see in, not out. In Interview Room 1, Jason was sitting at a plastic table and sulking.

I pushed the door open and went in. "Hi, Jason."

He glowered.

We sat down, our movements watched by four discreet video cameras hidden in the room. For them and for Jason, I said, "This interview is being video-recorded and may be given in evidence if your case is brought to trial. We are in an interview room at Socrico Police Station on 29th December 2185. The time is 08:30. I'm Detective Inspector Amber Rames. The other police officer present is Detective Sergeant Alex Sullivan. Please state your full name and date of birth."

"Jason Castle-Ackerman," he grunted. "2nd April 2167."

"Jason, I will remind you that you have a right to legal representation."

"I don't want a solicitor."

"I will also remind you that you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence." I sat back. "Where were you between four and four-thirty this morning?"

"Underworld Eclipse, waiting for Bryony. We were supposed to be meeting. She never showed."

Silence settled over us. I exchanged a glance with Alex. He looked away.

"I'm sorry, Jason," I said quietly. "Bryony Gold is dead. She was murdered on Kings Road this morning."

He gaped at me.

"Yesterday," I continued, "you discovered that she'd been cheating on you with your older half-brother, Maxx. I imagine you were very angry."

He blinked slowly. "Yeah. But she told me that it didn't mean anything. We sort of...smoothed things over. She's really...she's dead?"

"Yes. I'm sorry." I watched him for a moment. "Why were you planning to meet her at Underworld Eclipse in the early hours of a Thursday morning?"

He scrubbed a hand over his face. "We were supposed to go to our dealer together. We always did. Bryony took crimson too, you know?"

"We found a packet on her."

"That was...old." He glanced away. "I was still kind of mad at her, but we agreed to meet as usual to go. She's fun when she's on crimson. I thought we'd take it one more time together, and then I'd let her go for good."

"She didn't show up at Underworld Eclipse. Eventually, you gave up and left alone."

"Yeah."

"You met your dealer."

"Yeah."

"Is he just your dealer? Or does he have another connection to Bryony?"

Jason blanched. "No comment."

"It would be in your best interest to answer my questions. Crimson is a Class A drug. Maximum time in prison for possession is ten years. You certainly won't be receiving the minimum if you don't cooperate."

"Okay, okay!" Jason held his hands up. "She owes him money. She was always like that -- she was just with me because I'm rich, and she pick-pocketed the dealer for extra crimson a few weeks ago. They almost came to blows. I said I'd pay for it, but he wanted her money and hers alone."

Money: a motive for murder. Alex and I looked at each other again.

"What's the dealer's name?" I asked.

Jason shook his head. "He'll kill me if I give him up. Seriously. He's a violent man."

"Our drugs squad are on his tail. We'll get him sooner or later. But if you speed the process up, it might work in your favour. Remember those ten years, Jason." I shrugged, as if I didn't care either way. "When we get him, we'll tell him that you wouldn't so much as squeak. But it's your call."

He thought about it for a moment. Then he hung his head and sighed. "Novick. His name is Kaden Novick."