Unnatural

  * * * *

  “Come on, where is he hiding this stuff?”

  Having found no evidence of deep AI research in Livingston’s home, Uriah had assumed it would reveal itself in the weasel’s office. Clearly Livingston was careful about anything that could incriminate him, even postmortem. He’d done such a superb job of it that Uriah would’ve started doubting his judgment of Livingston had the body been there. That the body was missing made it easier to maintain his suspicions, but he could see why Livingston would do it anyway. If he had something to hide from Luna, either the body’s fingerprints were a liability, or the lack thereof that rendered him illegally anonymous would have raised a few Lunar eyebrows.

  “Keep your eyes peeled for anything you might expect to find in a room where someone stole a body and removed its brain,” said Uriah as they entered Marshall’s workplace. There was no stray cranial fluid or a copy of Artificial Body Brain Transplants for Dummies, and Marshall, too, had covered his tracks thoroughly.

  After five minutes’ sleuthing he slammed his fist on the desk. “Jesus, how did he make so much line up perfectly with his case? Of course he’s fulla shit and he knows it, but it’s like I put half a puzzle together and it made total sense, then the rest of it doesn’t fit at all.”

  Jane shrugged. “No one else believes you about this, Dennis, and after meeting Livingston I can’t blame them.”

  He leered. “Sabrina believes me! And come on Jane, look at the facts. There’s no body. If an android had moved it, you’d think Zolnerowich would’ve told us that. Who else does that leave? You think Thornton survived not only the Dethroning but also a bomb?” He started rummaging through the desk drawer for the third time. “Whatever the truth is, it sure isn’t what you all have in mi–”

  He found a Softsheet that read:

  Memorandum

  To: Marshall Patterson

  From: Nancy Marconi

  Priority: High

  Date: 4/5/62

  Re: E Wing Meeting

  I expect all collaborators on Project Autopia to attend an urgent meeting in Room 526 from 8 P.M. to 11:30 P.M. tonight. Extremely important information has come to light. If you absolutely must excuse yourself from this responsibility, let me or any other supervisor of E Wing know ASAP.

  April 5. Eight to eleven-thirty. Was he recalling correctly what Pat had said?

  “Dennis? Found something?”

  Uriah looked up, as if surprised to remember that Jane was there, and then buried his head in his hands. “I screwed up. Livingston was innocent.” Could those words pass from between his lips? “There was no way he could’ve done it.”

  For another document demonstrated that Isaac Livingston had attended that meeting on April 5.