“So you really don’t know where the cut on your neck came from?” Elaine asked Jolene.

“No,” she began, “Honestly, everything from the end of my shift to when I woke up after you’d apprehended me is a bit of a blur. I figured that was just because of how upset I was at Jill’s death.”

“Upset enough to unilaterally try to kill the person you thought was at fault without proof?” Elaine demanded.

“Yeah, about that,” Brad broke in, before the shouting match could continue, “what’s your relationship with Jill?”

“Oh, right…” Jolene looked at the floor sadly. “She was kind of like a big sister to me. My family on Earth isn’t particularly well off. It was just me and my siblings. Dad was gone most of our childhood, and Mom died when I was a teenager.”

“Yeah, that sounds pretty standard,” Brad muttered.

—

If you lived on Earth, chances are you were in one of two widely different economic castes. You were either incredibly wealthy, living in nice, well-kept cities, usually built above older, more run-down neighborhoods that were frequented by the lower class, poverty-stricken people who, barring the few in the upper class who blew their fortunes on drugs, gambling, and other poor pursuits, tended to be stranded not far from their original places of birth.

Any middle class citizens who found themselves unable to break into the upper echelons of Earth society due to the prohibitive cost of living in the newer, typically safer cities, would make their way towards the stars. Lunar colonies tended to be the most rich in opportunity. A solid silver medal that could be found more or less in Earth’s own back yard.

The quality of life expected from colonies decreased as distance from Earth increased. Without much of the groundwork already accomplished by colonists’ predecessors, there was an inherent risk to volunteering for such colonial expeditions. The kind of risk that was only really considered by volunteers that were either too brave, stupid, or desperate to try other methods. Drugs and violence were the norm, and any sort of police work on these distant colonies tended to have a relatively high turnaround as the local sheriff, for lack of a better term, would either get fed up with the work and quit, or find themselves in a ditch due to their actions offending someone.

The Epiphany Colony, due to its location on Deimos, was kind of in the middle as far as quality of life was concerned. Not on the bleeding edge of frontier exploration, but not so developed to be the next hot spot for the wealthier middle class in the Earth Federation. Maybe in another fifty years or so.

—

“Anyway, we were taken in by Jill’s family, up to a lunar colony. Although, by this point I was close enough to adulthood that I was going to join a colony out in the direction of Saturn. The only thing that stopped me was Jill encouraging me to see if I could join the academy. She’s put in a good word for me as a reference, both for the academy and for my assignment here.”

Elaine, whose posture relaxed somewhat while Jolene was talking, then said, “I guess I do remember her mentioning someone being taken in by her family. Why in particular did they pick you over the legions of other cases just like you in the slums on Earth, though?”

“I’m not really sure. I guess her father frequented a restaurant owned by my grandparents or something.”

Brad nodded in understanding. “So Jill helps you get this job and even gets you assigned to the same precinct. She dies. Somehow you get it in your head that Elaine is at fault. Somewhere along the way, you decide Elaine has to die. I think the thing we’re missing here is the why.

Jolene looked at her hands. “I’m not sure. I already told you everything I can remember. I finished my shift, clocked out, passed by the front entrance, and then everything after that is a blur.”

“Did you talk to anyone on the way out?” Elaine asked.

Jolene rubbed her temples. “I dunno. There was the receptionist. She was talking to…gah, I can’t remember his name! I’ve been here a month, I should at least have the important people’s names down! He’s the captain that was on duty today.”

Elaine sat up straight. “That can’t be possible. I was the highest ranking officer on duty in the detention center.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe he was beginning his shift when things started to get hairy?”

“What did he look like?” Elaine asked.

“Uh…tall, dark hair, really tan skin. Asian.”

“Matsumoto? Shoji Matsumoto?”

“Ah yeah, that sounds right!”

“Did you say anything to Captain Matsumoto?” Brad asked. “Did he say anything to you?”

“I can’t really remember. That’s when things start to get blurry. Like, Jill’s death was announced, and before I knew it, I was standing in her cell, wearing a mask, about to shoot Elaine.”

Brad and Elaine looked at each other. “Drugged.” They both said.

“The only question is by who, and why?” Brad mentioned. “Do you know anything about Matsumoto?” He looked at Elaine expectantly.

“Not really. I’ve never worked alongside him, and he seems to really keep to himself. You don’t think…”

“I really hope not,” Brad answered, not needing to hear the rest of the question. “I suppose we’ll figure that out with this.” Brad pulled the hard drive out of his pocket.

“Oh yeah, what did you find?” Elaine asked.

“Nothing. Yet.” Brad filled the two of them in on his upcoming meeting. “Vince found something that someone important didn’t want getting out. I think the pieces are falling into place.”