Falling Awake

it.
    “Ellis didn’t kill either of them,” she said.

    “What did Katherine tell you about her lover?” Ellis asked.
    “His name was Vincent Scargill,” Dave said slowly.
    Ellis nodded. “That fits.”
    Dave’s expression tightened. “She said they had to keep the affair quiet because she was afraid she might get fired if Lawson found out about it. She said it was always the woman who lost her job when workplace relationships came out into the open. She had seen it happen at Frey-Salter when Lawson himself got involved with a member of his staff. When the affair ended, the woman was forced to transfer to another position in some other agency.”
    Ellis grimaced. “Have to admit, Katherine might have had a reason to be concerned after that incident, although I can’t see Lawson firing any Level Five. He hasn’t got enough of them as it is.” He drank some coffee and slowly lowered the cup. “Here’s what I think happened, Dave. I believe that Scargill faked his own death. Afterward, he contacted Katherine secretly and got her to bug Lawson’s office phone. When that was done, he killed her to keep her quiet.”
    Dave’s gaze switched back and forth between Isabel’s and Ellis’s face. Isabel sensed that he was finally starting to listen and process the information they were giving him.
    “Why would Katherine take the risk of bugging Lawson’s phone?” Dave asked. “She worked for the guy and she liked her job.”
    “She liked her job but she loved Vincent Scargill,” Ellis said. “My guess is that he probably gave her some story about beingset up. Maybe told her that he needed proof that I was the bad guy so he could take it to Lawson. He asked her to help him.”
    Dave put the coffee cup down hard on the desk. “I’m not buying any of this yet. I need more proof that you’re telling me the truth.”
    Ellis hesitated. “I found something in your sister’s apartment. I want to show it to you.”
    He straightened and bent over the briefcase. Alarmed, Dave gripped the arms of his chair and started to get to his feet.
    “It’s all right,” Isabel assured him. “He’s not reaching for the pistol.”
    “What, then?” Dave did not take his eyes off the briefcase.
    “This.” Ellis removed a magazine from a manila envelope. “It was in Katherine’s living room. Something about it seemed wrong at the time but I couldn’t figure it out. All I knew was that it didn’t fit into the scene. I tried a Level Five dream but that didn’t help.” He gave Isabel an ironic look. “Probably because I didn’t have enough context. But it did reinforce my hunch that it was important.”
    “You stole that from her apartment?” Dave snatched the magazine out of Ellis’s hand and flipped it over to look at it. For a few seconds he just stared at the photo on the cover with an uncomprehending expression.
    Isabel looked over his shoulder and saw a picture of a cobra. “Ugh. Snake.”
    Dave’s face became even more grim and desperate. Slowly he raised his eyes to look at Ellis. “Where, exactly, did you find this?”

    Somewhat to Isabel’s surprise, Ellis slipped off his dark glasses before replying.
    “On the floor,” Ellis said. “Very close to where Katherine was found. I think what bothered me was that this was the only issue of the magazine in the place. There’s no subscription label so I assume she bought it at a newsstand. Was Katherine interested in nature and wildlife? I didn’t see any other books or magazines on that subject in her place.”
    “Oh, shit,” Dave whispered in a strangled voice. He could not seem to take his eyes off the cobra. He appeared to have been transfixed by the creature. “Oh, shit .”
    Ellis watched him closely. “Talk to me, Dave. Is it the magazine or the snake that interests you?”
    “The cobra.” Dave’s stunned expression gradually transmuted into anger. “That was the symbol of his avatar.”
    “Explain,” Ellis ordered.
    Dave put the magazine on the desk very carefully, as though he feared the cobra might strike. “Katherine played one of those big, online fantasy world games, the kind that thousands of people can play at any given time. They call them massively multi-player games.”
    “Go on,” Ellis said.
    “The one Katherine liked involves a world of towns and cities. The players have various powers and skills. They compete to rule the urban zones. Each player gets an avatar.”
    “An avatar is a computer-generated character