Blaze Tuesday and the Case of the Knight Surgeon (Special Edition)
Chapter Nineteen
We pulled up to Five Points in silence. Leroy let us out and I told him to take a hike. I wasn't sure what was gonna happen and I didn't want the kid to have to answer questions when the cops showed up. I paid Leroy and thanked him profusely before telling him to scram.
I did it because I took care of my employees, unlike some corporations.
Jackson and I entered the building together. We were both on edge. The entire thing sent creepy crawlies up my spine and my cop sense was more than simply tingling. I shot a quick glance at Jackson and his posture told me that it wasn't just a me thing.
The main lobby was all gilt and shine as we walked across that what I assumed to be marble floors. The secretary sat behind a huge gleaming wood and brass desk with an inlaid Manhattan skyline done up in some sort of darker material. Walnut or ebony or something overly luxurious and pointless.
The secretary looked like she could have been a supermodel. Or a robot. I wasn't gonna judge. Both of her eyes were clockwork, like Jackson's, but blue instead of copper. Her face was perfectly smooth, obviously she'd had other work done. Her right hand was also clockwork, only her index finger wasn't covered in the plastic flesh that hid the rest of the gears from sight. I wondered what application that could possibly have, aside from hacking computers.
“Can I help you, gentlemen?” she crooned as we approached. Even her voice seemed mechanical. I had to suppress a shudder.
“Can you please tell Doctor Tekla that Detectives Early and Tuesday are here to see him?” Jackson asked as I worked out the heebie jeebies that were threatening to make me lose my composure.
“Of course,” the secretary droned. She picked up the phone and dialled an extension. “Doctor Tekla, the Detectives you have been expecting are here,” she paused. “Yes, I will send them right up.”
“Let me guess?” I interrupted. “He's in his office on the fifth floor?”
“Third floor,” the robotic secretary corrected me. “You may go right up.”
I forced a smile and skedaddled as quickly as I could across the expansive lobby to the elevators. Jackson followed me into the lift and he shook his head as the doors closed behind us.
“She is the scariest thing that I have ever seen,” I whined.
“You're such a pansy,” Jackson retorted.
I didn't have a chance to answer before the doors slid open and a skinny, smartly dressed man in a lab coat, who looked eerily similar to Rose, greeted us. “Detectives?”
“Doctor Tekla, I'm Jackson Early. This is Detective Blaze Tuesday. Pleased to meet you,” Jackson said as we stepped out of the elevator. Jacks shook Tekla's hand warmly. He was the same guy we’d seen following Lazzari out of the elevator the other day. I peered around the room, acting more aloof than I actually was. The room was big and empty. The walls were dark wood inlaid with brass wainscoting and gas lamp sconces were evenly spaced around the room. Potted palms filled up the corners and the floor was carpeted, which I found odd. The only furniture to be seen was a desk in the far corner and a cream couch. There was no personal touch to the entire office. I assumed that the Doctor didn't spend much time in here. Being a major investor apparently had its perks.
“Please, let's get right to business. I'm sure you're very busy men,” Tekla said as I wandered around the huge open space that made up his 'office'.
“Well then I will be blatant and simple,” Jackson said. “It has come to our attention that Five Points Engineering may have hired someone to commit a murder on behalf of the company.”
“That's impossible,” Tekla insisted.
“Well, as I'm sure you've heard, a Doctor in the Kitchen who worked with Gearheads has been killed?” Jackson continued.
“Yes, tragic thing that is,” Tekla replied guardedly. “What makes you think that Five Points had anything to do with that?”
“We were led to believe that the murderer had been hired by someone from your firm.”
“Who told you that?” Tekla pressed. “Certainly you're not taking the word of a murderer at face value?”
“You seem entirely convinced that your firm had nothing to do with the murder whatsoever,” Jackson carried on, maintaining the calmest tone of voice I'd ever heard in my life.
“We are a firm who excels in creating a better standard of life for everyone,” Tekla said, innocently.
“The victim was on the Wayside payroll and had just accepted a very large, very lucrative contract to spearhead new advancements in Clockwork technology,” I piped up, casting a glance over my shoulder from the window where I stood. “From what I gather, Wayside is actually ahead of Five Points for the first time in ten years.”
The truth. Five Points usually pumped out technology with little or no testing and ended up causing a lot of headaches for Wayside. This time, though, it seemed like Wayside had something ready to move into testing.
Tekla shrugged simply. “That might be true, but we are developing our own products at our own pace.”
“So then getting proprietary secrets that could potentially cripple Wayside's production wouldn't appeal to you in the least?” Jackson asked.
Tekla shifted uncomfortably.
We gotcha now, Tekla.
“Why would I want proprietary secrets?”
“You're head of research and development aren't you?” I asked, closing the distance between myself and the others.
“Yes,” Tekla admitted.
“So you're telling me that stopping Wayside from getting ahead of your firm isn't top priority, falling just shy of actually creating something good?”
“What are you accusing me of, exactly?” Tekla asked. “Should I call my lawyer up here?”
“No,” I replied coolly. “Not if you're innocent and telling the truth.”
“Well if I had some more information about what you wanted, I would be more than happy to cooperate.”
“These are the imprints we found on the victim's body,” Jackson hurried on, pulling the sub-dermal image photos out of his pocket. “Do you recognize that gear pattern?”
“That is standard Five Points technology,” Tekla said, looking only as long as he needed to identify the marks. He was uncomfortable. “You don't see that kind of implant very often anymore. Likely an illegal implant, if I'm not mistaken?”
“No, it was legal when it was done originally,” I replied. “The upgrades that caused the patient so much unnecessary pain were illegal though.”
“Five Points technology is only compatible with other Five Points technology,” Tekla explained.
“So how did he get illegal upgrades then?” I pressed.
“The discomfort was probably caused by incompatible technology!” Tekla exclaimed.
“Or, shoddy manufacturing.”
“What are you suggesting?” Tekla asked me, defensively.
“I'm suggesting that your firm knows more about illegal implants than you're willing to let on,” I accused. “And if you're hiding a conspiracy to commit murder, I will not hesitate to bring the entire force of the law down on your head and tear this company apart cog by rotten cog!”
Tekla wasn't a fighter. Thankfully.
“Okay, yes, I admit that there is a leak that allows defective merchandise onto the street at below cost prices,” Tekla whined.
“Are you that leak?” I asked.
“No,” Tekla admitted. “Well, not directly. I only follow orders from the chairs above me.”
“How does the defective merchandise find its way to the Greasers?” Jackson asked, clenching his hand around the photos. He was losing his composure and I was inclined to let him.
“Through the factory,” Tekla said slowly. “They skim one or two pieces off the defective line as it's headed to melt down for reuse,” he sighed, as if this was a secret he'd been carrying for a long time and was relieved to get it off his chest. “Add it all up and by the end of the week you're looking at a hundred or so pieces to get shipped out. No one misses them since they're defective.
They get packed away and sent out to the distributors in the Kitchen. I don't know anything more than that. I caught the guys on the lines who do the skimming and reported them to my direct boss once, but I was immediately removed from factory rotation and told to forget about what I saw or else I'd lose my job.”
“Aren't you a major investor?” Jackson asked.
Tekla nodded. “Yes, but that's because I started here as a designer and made my fortune. So I continued to invest, and the benefits have been amazing.”
“So why not just pull your funding?”
“I'd lose everything,” Tekla said. “My money is all in stocks and things. If I pulled my funding and blew the whistle, my family stands to end up in the poorhouse.”
“What a shame,” Jackson spat sarcastically. “And meanwhile your daughter works in the Kitchen with the kids who are getting mangled by your inventions.”
“I'm so sorry about those kids. I truly am. It's not my job to make sure that they're getting proper treatment!” Tekla whined, making excuses. “I'm just the designer!”
“You let defective pieces head out of your factory!” Jackson shouted.
I placed my hand against Jackson's shoulder, trying to calm him down. “Look, Jacks. Doctor Tekla isn't responsible for the defective pieces flooding the streets, but he knows who is. So why don't you tell us, Doctor?”
Tekla nodded quickly. “Yes! My direct supervisor! He's one step below the committee! He's pretty much on his way to becoming the CEO!”
“And what, pray tell, is your boss's name, and where can we find him?” I asked, sarcastically sweet.
“His name is Marco Fierri,” Tekla told us, stammering in his nervousness. “His office is one floor up.”
I smiled innocently at Jackson and patted my partner's arm. “There, see?” I crooned. “That wasn't so hard, was it?”
Jackson shook his head. “Let's go have a talk with mister Fierri, shall we, Blaze?”
“You read my mind,” I replied, before turning and heading towards the elevator.