Caliban

Alvar Kresh stood up and paced the interrogation room. He was eager, anxious. Things had shifted suddenly. He could not explain how, or why, exactly, but nonetheless they had. The access recorder data was part of it, but not all of it. All it did wassuggest certain things. It would be up to Kresh to prove them. He sensed that he was suddenly on the verge of answers, knocking on the door of a solution to this whole nightmare fiasco. All he had to do was press, push, bear down, and it would come.

Gubber Anshaw. Kresh dropped the notepack onto the table and thought about Anshaw. The interrogation that had been put off, delayed, pushed back, forgotten, lost in the chaotic shuffle of events again and again. And now, with the access recorder data in his hand, with the fact of Ariel ‘ s presence at Anshaw ‘ s home last night, it was suddenly clear thatthis was the interrogation that could break this case wide open. This was the man who knew things.

Alvar Kresh paced twice more up and down the room, but then forced himself to sit down and wait.

The door opened, and Donald ushered in Gubber Anshaw.

Alvar Kresh waited for Anshaw to sit down in the chair on the opposite side of the table. Then he set his hands palm-down on the table and leaned forward. Then he looked the robotics designer in the eye.

It was time for thereal investigation to begin.

17

“SO how long have you and Tonya Welton been romantically involved, Anshaw?” Alvar Kresh asked, his voice low and calm.

Gubber’s mouth dropped open, and he stared at Sheriff Kresh in horrified astonishment.

Kresh laughed. “Let me guess. That was the one thing you had been most determined to hide, the one thing that made you lie awake last night, scheming over the best way to conceal it from me-and we know it already.”

“How did you know that?” he asked, his voice little more than a high-pitched squeak. “Who told you?”

“No one had tofell me, Anshaw. And I didn’t know it for sure until just now. But it was simply the only explanation that made sense. It’s been staring me in the face from the start. The devil himself knows how I missed it.

“Tonya Welton arrived at the crime scene five minutes after I did. She had no reason to insert herself into my investigation. At least noprofessional reason. Therefore, she had to have personal reasons.

“But that’s not the time frame I’m interested in. Perhaps you could explain what she was doing-and you were doing-at the lab at the time of the attack on Fredda Leving.”

Gubber Anshaw opened his mouth, but found that he had no words. No words at all.

Kresh pressed home his advantage. “We’ve got the access recorder data, Anshaw. Weknow who was there, and when they were there. Three names stick out. Tonya Welton, Jomaine Terach-and you. Gubber Anshaw.All of you, and no one else, besides Fredda Leving herself. Medical evidence gives us about a one-hour period during which the attack could have happened-and you four were all in and out of that building during that time period.No one else.”

“Ah-ah-ah…” Gubber tried to speak, but nothing would come.

“Settle down, Anshaw. Tell me. Answer the questions I’m going to ask, or else you ‘re going to be in far deeper trouble than you are right now. Did you conceal the fact that she was there to shield her? Did you think she attacked Leving?”

“Oh dear! Oh my!”

“Answer!”

“Yes, then. Yes. I don’t believe it now, of course. But that night-it was all so frightful. I did not know what to think. And she and Fredda had argued terribly that night.”

“And why did you suppose that she would attack your superior?”

Silence. Kresh pressed harder. “Talk, Anshaw. Talk now and talk well. Tell me what I need to know. That is the best thing you can do to protect Tonya Welton. Silence and lies can only hurt her now. Now I ask you again-what made you think Tonya Welton deliberately attacked your superior?”

“Oh, I don’t think she did itdeliberately,” Gubber said all of a rush. Then he realized the gaffe he had made. “That is, now, of course, I do not think she did it at all. But, but, at the time I thought that shemight, justmight have done it, out of anger, in a rush of temper, perhaps.”

“All right, then. Nowshe concealed the fact thatyou were there,” Kresh said. “Did she do that to shieldyou? Did she think thatyou might have committed the attack?”

Gubber looked up, a little confused and distracted. “What? Oh, yes. I suppose so.” He thought for a minute, then went on a bit more eagerly. “Fredda and I-Dr. Leving and I-had argued as well, rather often. Tonyacould have thought I was angry enough to commit the attack-but if she thought that was possible, then that proves that she could not have done it herself!”

“Unless shedid commit the attack, and is doing everything she can to act innocent. Maybe she’ s feigning innocence and planning to frameyou. Or didn’t that occur to you?”