time, the voice emerged about half a meter from his left ear.
"It's only fair to reassure you on one point, Mr. Makenzie. As far as we can ascertain, no Terran laws have been broken. We are not here to investigate a crime — only to solve a mystery, to explain a tragedy.
If any Titanian regulations are involved, that is your problem — not ours. I hope you understand."
"Yes," Duncan replied. "I assumed that was the case, but I'm glad to have your confirmation."
This was indeed a relief, but he knew better than to relax. Perhaps this statement was exactly what it seemed to be — a friendly plea for co-operation. But it might also be a trap.
Now a woman's voice came from immediately behind him, and he had to resist the impulse to swing
around and look at the speaker. Was this quite unnecessary shifting of sound focus a deliberate attempt to disorient him? How naïve did they take him to be?
"To save us all time, let me explain that we have a complete summary of Mr. Helmer's background."
And mine, thought Duncan. "Your government has been most helpful, but you may have information
which is unknown to us, since you were one of his closest friends."
Duncan nodded, without bothering to speak. They would know all about that friendship, and its
ending.
As if responding to some hidden signal, Mr. Smith opened his briefcase and carefully laid a small
object on the table.
"You'll recognize this, of course," the female voice continued. "The Helmer family has asked that it be handed over to you for safe custody, with the other property of the deceased."
The sight of Karl's Minisec — virtually the same model as his own — was in itself such a shock that
at first the remainder of the message failed to get through. Then Duncan reacted with a start and said:
"Would you please repeat that?"
There was such a surprisingly long delay that he wondered if the speaker was on the Moon; during the
course of the session, Duncan became almost certain of it. With all the other interrogators, there was a quick give-and-take, but with the lone woman there was always this invariable time-lag.
"The Helmers have asked that you be custodian of their son's effects, until disposition is settled."
It was a gesture of peace, across the grave of all their hopes, and Duncan felt his eyes stinging with unshed tears. He looked a the handful of microelectronics on the table and felt a deep reluctance to touch it. There were all of Karl's secrets. Would the Helmers have asked him to accept this if they had anything to hide? But there was a great deal, Duncan was certain, that Karl had concealed from his own family;
there would be much in the Minisec that only he had ever known. True, it would be guarded by carefully chosen code words, some of them possibly linked with ERASE circuits to prevent unauthorized intrusion.
"Naturally," continued the voice from the Moon (if it was from the Moon), "we are interested in what may be in this Minisec. In particular, we would like any list of contacts on Earth — addresses or personal numbers."
Yes, thought Duncan, I can understand that. I'm sure you must have been tempted to do some
interrogation already, but are scared of possible ERASE circuits and want to explore other possibilities first...
He stared thoughtfully a that little box on the table, with its multitudinous studs and its now darkened read-out panel. There lay a device of a complexity beyond all the dreams of earlier ages — a virtual
microsimulacrum of a human brain. Within it were billions of bits of information, stored in endless
atomic arrays, awaiting to be recalled by the right signal — or obliterated by the wrong one. At the
moment it was lifeless, inert, like a consciousness itself in the profoundest depths of sleep. No — not quite inert; the clock and calendar would still be operating, ticking off the seconds and minutes and days that now were no concern of Karl's.
Another voice broke in, this time from the right.
"We have asked Mr. Armand Helmer if his son left any code words with him, as is usual in such
cases. You may be hearing more on the matter shortly. Meanwhile, no attempt will be made to obtain
any read-outs. With your permission, we would like to retain the Minisec for the present."
Duncan was getting a little tired of having decisions made for him — and the Helmers had apparently
stated that he was to take possession of Karl's effects. But there was no point in objecting; and if he did, some legal formality would undoubtedly materialize out of the same thin air as these mysterious voices.
Mr. Smith was digging into his case again.
"Now there is a second matter — I'm sure you also recognize this."
"Yes. Karl usually carried a sketchbook. Is this the one he had with him when—"
"It is. Would you like to go through it, and see if there is anything that strikes you as unusual —
noteworthy — of any possible value to this investigation? Even if it seems utterly trivial or irrelevant, please don't hesitate to speak."