Hale leaned back in his chair and stared across the desk at Joe, studying the familiar features. He had the men separated in order to ensure their facts were straight. Lawrence had been fairly forthcoming about everything but the vault. Harvey admitted to blowing the power and his rescue effort but to nothing else. Tanzer was under heavy sedation, recovering from his wounds. As for the psychopath, he demanded parchment and quills to write a letter to his confessor to pay his ransom. Hale transferred him to the medical facility for diagnosis. Joe was last on his list before checking up on the man who claimed to be King.
“I’m not big on interrogations, but I’d be delighted to know exactly what you were doing underground, Mr. Noone.”
Joe grunted, still in shock from the previous skirmish. Finally he looked up into the lieutenant’s pensive gaze. “It’s a long story. And I really I don’t think you’ll believe a word of it.”
“Try me. Smoke?” Hale held out a fresh pack of cigarettes and a lighter. “Go on, take it.”
Joe’s eyes twinkled and he took the pack. “Thanks.” Unwrapping the cellophane, he dug out a cigarette and lit up. Taking a long drag, he settled back in his chair and exhaled. “Well, it all began a few days ago. I was on duty in Sector C when I passed out.”
“Why did you pass out?”
Joe sighed. “There’s no point in lying to you, I guess. I was drunk.”
“Ah. Please, go on.”
“So, I woke up a day later in the same spot and found out I had been fired.”
“Understandable.”
“Agreed. Still, I was pissed so I decided to take my case before Human Resources. Long story short, Lawrence and I barged into his office and found a whole bunch of men who looked exactly like me.”
“That had to be a shocker.”
“It was. Then these two scientists and Mister Falcon—“
“The personnel manager?”
“Right. He tried to pitch some spiel about what’s good for the company and offered us new jobs “overseas” in exchange for our silence. We agreed, given that our other option was less desirable.”
“What option was that?”
“Ah, that would be pretty much: taken out and shot.”
“I see. Continue.”
“Then the next thing I know, some crazy French woman in leather pants has us in her torture chamber. She…did something to my brain. Lawrence later explained to me that Sergeant Harvey rescued us. He took us underground to safety. Then when I saw Al—“
“Who’s Al?” Hale leaned in closer, curious.
Joe clammed up. “I don’t think I should be telling you this.”
“OK. We’ll get back to Al.”
“Let’s just say he’s an old friend, OK? Seeing him again snapped me out of whatever voodoo that lady had me under. Then we got some sleep. I got up and made coffee, then the world caved in and Tanzer started shooting at us.”
“You will be relieved to know that Captain Tanzer is currently in custody. As soon as I speak with Henry Bosak, I plan on turning him over to the authorities for your attempted murder.”
“Really?”
Hale nodded slowly. “Do you know what happened to the two doctors you saw at the meeting with Falcon?”
Joe shook his head.
“They were murdered last night.”
Joe fell silent, dragging on the cigarette thoughtfully. “You think the four of us had something to do with it?”
“Can you convince me otherwise?”
“Not that you’ll believe me, but Sergeant Harvey was with us all night.”
“I never said I don’t believe you, but there’s been a lot of suspicious activity lately. Take your escape for example. It happened during an engineered blackout. The woman in leather you mentioned, her name is Omega. She listed you as escaped mental patients.”
“I’m not crazy, Lieutenant.”
“I don’t think you are either. If you are, then I’m just as mad. I’ve seen the copies of you.”
“You have? Where?”
“I’m not at liberty to tell you. But I will say that I believe your story. I don’t think either you or Lawrence is guilty of anything. And I don’t believe Sergeant Harvey killed the doctors either. The man of the hour appears to be Captain Tanzer, but I can’t prove it yet. However, what I think versus what VirCorp thinks is another story. I’m not sure whose head or heads will be on the block for this business. But the CEO respects my thoroughness, so I could put in a good word for you.”
“I’d appreciate that. All I want is to get out of this thing alive.”
“I think you can. If you can tell me who Al is.”
Joe sighed and rubbed his eyes. He wasn’t a rat, but he had to find some way of protecting the sting. Finally, he figured unadorned hard facts would work best. “He’s the other man you have in custody.”
“Ah. His full name, please?”
“Jablonski. Al Jablonski.”
“And how do you know him?”
“He used to be my boss. He was the top dog of security here until Captain Tanzer usurped him a few years back.”
“Really? A former employee?”
“Yeah.”
“What was he doing in the vault?”
“Engineering our rescue, of course. The rest I’m not at liberty to say.”
Hale chuckled, “Fair play,” and stood up from the table. “Very good. Well thank you, Joe. You’ve told me all I need to know for now. Keep the cigarettes. One more question: is my staff treating you well?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good to hear. Maybe when this is all over you wouldn’t mind filling out a customer service survey saying just that. I know it sounds foolish really, but this is a world where image counts.” He laughed. “I’ll be in touch soon.”
Hale stepped to the door and nodded at Martins outside. The guard stepped in and took Joe gently by the arm, leading him back to his cell.
In the ensuing silence, Hale ran through the scenarios in his head. Noone wasn’t lying; Hale’s own eyes corroborated much of what he said. Lawrence filled in most of the other blanks. Harvey was with them for the murders. There was just one more piece of the puzzle missing.
Putting on his headset, he switched frequencies and called dispatch.
“Operator,” said a nasal voice on the other end.
“Operator, this is Marmalade Echo Zero One Niner.”
“What can I do for you, LT?”
“Did that ballistics report come back yet?”
“Hold on just a second, let me check. Ah, yes. Here it is. I’m forwarding it to you now. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No, thanks. Over and out.” He closed the connection and pulled out his handheld computer to view the report. Scrolling past the header, his suspicions were confirmed:
Type: Semi-Automatic Pistol
Make: Magnum Research
Model: Desert Eagle Mark XIX
Caliber: .50
“Gotcha! I think I’ll forego asking you the preliminary questions, dear Captain.”
