In Death 18 - Divided in Death

chairs, and a wall of sealed drawers. The desk held a muscular data and communications system with a ‘link that could only send or receive outside the lab with Roarke’s personal voiceprint and passcode.
    “Close the door,” he ordered Tokimoto. “Have a seat.”
    Tokimoto did both, then folded his long, neat hands in his lap. “If you’ve brought me in here to ask me about Ewing, you’re wasting our time. And we both value our time. She didn’t kill anyone, however much he deserved it.”
    Roarke sat, adjusted his thinking and approach as he studied Tokimoto.
    The man was forty, trim and long-limbed. He wore his black hair short and close to the scalp. His skin was very white, his eyes tawny beneath long, straight brows. His nose was narrow, his mouth pressed now into a thin line of annoyance.
    It was, Roarke estimated, one of the very few times he’d seen Tokimoto annoyed in the six years of their association.
    “This is interesting,” Roarke commented.
    “I’m pleased my opinion is of interest,” Tokimoto responded in his clipped, precise voice.
    “I didn’t realize you were in love with Reva. Obviously, I haven’t been paying attention.”
    Tokimoto remained still, face and body. “Ewing is—was—a married woman. I respect the institution. We are associates and colleagues, nothing more.”
    “So you haven’t told her, or moved on her. Well, that’s your business. Your personal business, and none of mine unless it pertains to what goes on inside this lab. But I will say that, at the moment, she could use a friend.”
    “I don’t want to intrude.”
    “Again, your business.” Roarke took a disc out of his pocket, inserted it in his computer. “Have a look at this. I’d like your opinion.”
    Tokimoto rose, walked lightly around the desk to study the screen. He pursed his lips over the grid, the complex lines and boxes. He scratched his chin.
    “Will you enhance? This area.” Tokimoto gestured to a section of the grid.
    Without speaking, Roarke keystroked to enlarge and enhance the requested area. “There’s a shadow, just here in Quadrant B, section five through ten. A bug was there, but is not there now. I think . . . wait. Does it move?”
    The question, Roarke knew, wasn’t directed at him. But to answer he magnified again and let the disc play forward.
    “Yes, yes, it moves. Barely a shadow when it moves. More detectable when it rests.”
    “And your conclusion?”
    “The device is planted on a movable object. A person or droid. It’s highly sophisticated. Minute and very well shielded. Ours?”
    “I don’t think so, but we’ll work on that. This is a security print of the lab, Tokimoto. And this . . .” He tapped a finger on the screen where the shadow was darkest. “This is Reva’s station.”
    “There is a mistake.”
    “It’s not a mistake.”
    “She would never betray you or her associates. She’s honorable.”
    “No, I don’t think she’d betray me, or you. I’m going to ask you this once. Have you been approached by any outside party regarding the Code Red?”
    “I have not.” It was said simply, with no hints of insult, annoyance, or fear. “Had I been, I would have reported to you.”
    “Yes, I believe that. Because you’re honorable, Tokimoto. I’m showing you this because you are. Because in this very delicate matter, I’m trusting you.”
    “You have my loyalty, but I won’t believe this of Reva.”
    “Neither will I. How, in your opinion, could this bug have infected the lab?”
    “On a person, as I said.”
    “On her person.”
    Tokimoto’s brow creased as he studied the screen again. “This is contradictory to me. She would know if she carried a device, and she would not enter the lab. Therefore, she could not have carried a device. In addition, lab security is meticulous and multilayered and would have detected a device. Therefore, a device could not have penetrated the lab. Yet it did.”
    “That’s very logical, Tokimoto, but expand your thinking. How might Reva have brought a device into the lab, unknowingly, that penetrated lab security?”
    “She’s an expert, and your scanners are the most powerful available. It’s impossible that a device was planted on her person and escaped her detection, and the scanners. It is . . .”
    He stopped, straightened, and Roarke watched the idea bloom on his face.
    “Internally,” Roarke supplied.
    “Such things are possible, in theory. Some have been tested. Those in development,