12. Steak Knife
The flashes and bangs stopped, then resumed a few blocks to the north. “See? The first sally was a feint,” said Daffy, around a mouthful of cheesecake.
While Daffy ate his dessert, the rest of us nursed our drinks. Katz still had an inch of her original half pint. Agent Land had water.
Below, the remaining cops got organized and headed north with their tactical trucks and drones, leaving the streets strewn with barriers and trash. Thankfully, the noise diminished as they moved away.
The show was over, but I sensed that business was not. Daffy and Land hadn’t driven here just for a chat. They ran investigations. This one had got bigger. Naturally, that called for changes. Whatever they were up to, I’d had enough of theatrics and beating around the bush. “When can we talk to Barston?” I asked.
“No idea,” replied Daffy. “He’s recovering from surgery. The flashbang blew his balls off.”
Katz grimaced, like she felt for the bastard.
“His lawyer’s been in touch. Going to sue the Bureau for millions. Says Barston was only defending himself from Agent Katz’s aggression. Going to sue you, too, Arklow.”
“Huh,” was all I could say to that.
“Claims his client’s crippled, deaf, half blinded, got PTSD, and is unable to make a statement. I hope you can help us with the motive, meanwhile. After all, it seems he was gunning for you.”
Lovely. Turning to Katz, I tried another angle. “Didn’t you say Pythia also found earlier examples?”
“Yup, the ones Deputy AD Krome thinks I shouldn’t have closed as false positives.”
“Krome’s an idiot,” muttered Daffy.
“Well, at least they weren’t followed by a violent crime,” said Katz, relief in her voice. “Pythia just flagged patterns of postings and aggressive responses. The problem is that Pythia can’t say why she decides something’s interesting. I mean, she highlights some flags, but she can’t introspect into her own thought process. You have to start with the source material and work it out.”
“Pythia’s an idiot,” said Daffy.
“She’s just an algorithm,” said Katz, with asperity.
“Isn’t that what I said?”
“I mean, she’s based on an artificial neural network. It’s a proven technique, but like with human brains—real neural networks—it’s sometimes hard to figure out why they do what they do. I’m sure Dr. Arklow would agree.” She looked at me with narrowed eyes, daring me not to.
I shrugged. “Real people can be inexplicable idiots, so why not artificial people?”
Daffy gave a cackle of hilarity.
Katz’s eyes flicked skyward. “Whatever. I haven’t had time yet to review those earlier alerts, but I will. There might be more priming, as Dr. Arklow calls it.”
I wished she’d drop the ‘Dr.’ I said, “Let’s go through them tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll get the Pythia data ready tonight and—” she began.
“Good idea, Arklow,” interrupted Daffy, briskly. “We’ll make sure the analysts assigned to work with you provide whatever information you need.”
Beside me, Katz went quite still.
I leaned back and sipped the last of my wine. It seemed we were finally getting to the point of the visit.
Daffy raised his eyebrows, as though I’d said something, then shrugged. “I’ve asked Agent Land here to take personal responsibility for the investigation. He’s the obvious man for it because of his National Security Branch experience. Now that Atomkrieg is in the picture, it’ll be a joint effort with NSB. Short story, Doug will assign field agents and analysts with appropriate qualifications. Arklow, you’ll make your reports to him. You’re in good hands.”
There was a silence. I wished someone would bring more wine. To fill the void, I said, “Atomkrieg might be a red herring.”
Daffy shrugged. “Agreed. But they’re in the picture, so NSB is too.”
“Sir, I hope I’ll be able to continue to work on the case,” said Katz in a husky voice.
Daffy had wine to quaff, so he didn’t have to reply. The bastard had scarfed the last of the bottle for himself. He waved a hand airily in Land’s direction.
Katz turned toward Land, eyebrows raised—almost a beseeching look.
Land gave a slow smile. “Agent Katz, you’ve made a key contribution with your insightful analysis. We thank you for it. Investigations like this often change mid-course, so the assignments change to fit the new parameters. The—”
Katz evidently couldn’t stand how long the hammer was taking to fall. “Yes, sir, but wouldn’t my background—”
“Atomkrieg’s involvement means we have to assign more experienced field agents. It also makes sense to divide our efforts between analysis and field work. That’s a standard operating procedure you’re familiar with.”
“Um, of course, sir. I thought maybe my experience with Pythia might—”
“Pythia!” spat Daffy. “After two years, that budget-suck’s done nothing but fall on its fat ass.”
“Um,” said Katz. Her shoulders were high, her arms stiff, her hands on the seat of her chair. I couldn’t blame her. Daffy wasn’t her boss. He was her boss’s boss’s boss or something like that.
Daffy continued. “I offered to host Pythia field operations in my department because I’m open to new approaches, new ways of thinking. And I did that idiot Krome a favor.” He tossed back the last of his wine.
“Where I come from, it’s called hedging your bets,” murmured Land, deadpan.
I almost smiled. First funny thing he’d said. There was hope for the guy.
Daffy made an annoyed gesture with his empty glass. “Krome and I agree on one thing: time to roll Pythia field operations into his Tech Ops unit at Quantico, where he can monitor it himself.”
Katz grinned gamely. “Sorry it hasn’t worked out, sir. Pythia field ops was the assignment they gave me, not what I asked for. I mean—”
“Krome put in a request for your transfer to Quantico, Agent Katz,” said Daffy. “Says your practical experience makes you ideally qualified to help the developers strengthen the system. It’s a reasonable point.”
Katz would be a disaster at poker. I saw three kinds of anguish play on her face, despite that she’d probably guessed it was coming.
Then her face hardened into anger. “Dammit, sir, if a Doberman asked you to transfer your cat to his doghouse because she’s ideally qualified to strengthen his jaws, would you say that’s reasonable?”
Daffy actually giggled.
Land smiled. “Patience, Agent Katz. I’ve seen the wheel go all the way ‘round plenty of times. The important thing is to tackle every assignment with the same determination. My information from your supervisory agent is that you think highly of Dr. Evangelos, and she of you, so you will find her team welcoming. The outcome could have been worse.”
He meant she could have been fired. Likely, that wouldn’t feel worse to her.
She glared at her glass, hunched forward, shoulders high. I could plainly see the teenaged Katz in her posture. And I could see again the steak knife cutting into the tenderloin and the blood leaking out.
I yawned hugely into my hand. It’s a trick of mine to do that at will. But I didn’t have to fake it much. “Too bad,” I said to Katz. “I enjoyed working with you.”
She looked bleakly up at me.