Body Harvest by Malcolm Rose

Author:Malcolm Rose [Malcolm Rose]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781781276686
Publisher: Ransom Publishing
Published: 2014-12-26T16:00:00+00:00

SCENE 18

Thursday 10th April, Early evening

‘Chapulines?’ Troy turned up his nose. ‘What are they?’

‘Grasshoppers toasted with garlic and lime. Want to try?’

‘Er … No, thanks. I’ll stick with sausages.’

‘Any scorpions in them?’ Lexi asked with a grin.

‘It’s a mystery. No one’s quite sure what they’re made of. Pork, offal, horse?’

‘You don’t even know what you’re eating!’

‘I know they taste nice, especially when they’re swimming in brown sauce.’

Lexi tried to imitate her new partner. ‘Weird.’

Under a darkening sky, she was still licking her dessert – an ant lollipop – when they arrived at the homeless centre.

The building was at the edge of Foreditch’s commercial hub, next to the temple, in the grounds of the cemetery. It had probably once belonged to the temple but now it was dedicated to helping the displaced. The manager was not much older than Troy and Lexi. She introduced herself as Skye and she showed them around, pushing open doors so they could see inside every part.

‘We provide hot meals and drinks,’ she said in the main room, which was a modest self-service canteen and seating area. ‘Our most important function.’ She opened another door on a small dormitory. ‘And a few beds. On a first-come, first-served basis. Never enough in winter but okay at this time of year.’ She flung back another door, revealing an office. ‘My bit of space for getting things organized. It’s open, though. No secrets here.’ There were a couple of phones and three desktop computers. A homeless woman was seated at one of them. ‘They can go online here, if they want. I encourage it.’

‘Why?’

Skye sniffed. ‘A connection to the rest of the world. Makes them feel part of the community. Less alone.’

‘Have you come across The Solitude Network?’ Troy asked.

‘Sure. I recommend it. Very comforting. Nothing wrong with that, is there?’

‘I’m just not sure it’s as safe as it looks. But you’re not to know that.’ Troy nodded towards Lexi’s life-logger. ‘We want to show you a picture of someone. I warn you, it’s not very pleasant because he’s dead, I’m afraid. But I want to know if you recognize him.’

Skye peered at the cleaned-up image of L4G#1, screwed up her face and sighed. ‘Jerome Eleven. Think so anyway. Pretty sure.’

‘One of your clients?’

Skye nodded. ‘A regular. Then he stopped.’ She turned away momentarily, obviously upset.

‘Weren’t you suspicious?’

‘No. It’s normal in this game. People come in a lot and then they don’t. Remember, they’re drifters.’

‘Did he use The Solitude Network?’

‘Think so. Yes.’

‘When did you last see him?’

Skye shrugged. ‘Weeks ago.’

Taken aback, Troy glanced at Lexi. The decomposition of the body wasn’t consistent with death that long ago. ‘Are you sure it was weeks?’

‘Couldn’t put my finger on a date.’

‘But weeks rather than days?’

‘Definitely.’

‘Did he tell you anything about his online browsing?’

‘I don’t ask. It’s private.’

‘Before he left, did he tell you what he intended to do?’

‘No.’

Disappointed, Troy switched his attention to the heart from L4G#4. ‘Can you think of an outer – man or woman – who used The Solitude Network near the end of last month and then didn’t come back?’

Skye frowned.

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