Cooper and Murphy scrutinized every detail of the frozen couple while Emma hummed and examined their footage for clues.
“They’re not frozen.” Cooper held his hand near each person’s forehead, making a point not to make contact. “No cold. And they look more like rock or crystal.” He pointed to the hand Alicia had on her husband’s bare wrist. “He was petrified first. And she was petrified when she touched him.”
“His eyes are too low to be looking at her.” Murphy followed the terrified gaze of Rudy to a heavy stool overturned in the middle of the small room. “He was chatting with someone. And his hands are out in front of him like he was holding something.”
A chrome bottle sat next to the stone man’s foot, completely upright. A metal screw-on lid laid on the ground near his other foot.
“The size of the bottle and lid match the way his fingers are spread out,” Cooper said. “He was opening a bottle, talking to someone on a stool, and was suddenly frightened at his moment of death.”
“Maybe the assassin struck while distracting him with a drink,” Emma said over the radio.
“This doesn’t look like a drink container.” Murphy crouched to get a better look at the durable metal bottle.
“That is a military canister,” Victoria said through the headsets. “Brazilian Army uses canisters like that to transport chemicals. Things like cleaning solvents or motor oils. But where is the label?
Murphy stared at the bottle for a moment before he mustered enough nerves to pick it up. It was slightly colder than room temperature, but devoid of any contents. An impression at the bottom confirmed it was manufactured in Brazil, but there was no label of any sort.
A cybernetic attendant rushed in and slammed the door shut behind herself. Her gray skin had even less tone than the attendant at the door. Her bare head contained wires and stripes of blue and green, as if a mixture of performance modifications and simply vanity upgrades. Her eyes had undergone enough modifications to appear as ink-black orbs, which made her scowl all the more unnerving.
“Keep this door closed at all times!” The attendant stomped toward Cooper. “We’re about to disembark. None of the passengers are to learn anything of this incident.”
“You mean the train company knows what happened here and isn’t calling the police?” Murphy waved his arms and shook his head. “These two people are dead and their little daughter is now an orphan.”
“Everyone here needs to flee as fast as possible,” Cooper said, walking up to the cyborg and staring back at her. “You call the police, and the train is delayed. You let the passengers know, and there’s panic for the whole ride to Utah. We understand.”
“We?” Murphy rubbed his shaved head. “No, the train company wants us to help keep this under wraps like it’s nothing more than an overturned dining cart making the meals late. That’s not something I can go along with.”
“We will keep this room closed and comply with secrecy,” Cooper said to the cyborg.
“Good.” The cyborg’s face softened to almost grin. “Have you been able to ascertain what happened to them?” She touched the back of Mr. Kurosawa’s hooded jacket and rubbed her wire-lined fingertips along the crystalized fabric.
“Someone killed them and a shady train company is covering it up, that’s what happened,” Murphy said.
“Please continue to investigate,” the cyborg said. “Federal Rail isn’t heartless. We want this murder solved immediately, especially if the killer is on board for this trip.” She turned to Alicia and touched her chin.
A loud hiss echoed in the room. The cyborg froze in place the moment her flesh and wires made contact with the flesh-colored, stony surface that used to be Alicia’s chin. Her black orb eyes were frozen in place, casting an inquisitive look at the other two victims.
“What just happened?” Emma huffed and the clicks and beeps of her various keyboards was loud enough to pick up on mic. “Is she frozen, too?”
“Wife touches husband’s skin, gets turned to stone,” Cooper said. “Attendant touches passenger’s skin, gets turned to stone.” He pointed at the bottle in Murphy’s hand. “Investigator touches strange container, remains safe.” He pointed at Rudy’s hands. “But what did this passenger do to be the first to die? It wasn’t touching the bottle. And it wasn’t touching someone else, or there’d be yet another victim in this room.”
Murphy tossed the bottle on the ground and it rolled away from everyone toward the far end of the room opposite the door.
“There’s a tilt in the floor.” Cooper glanced at the door, then followed the stained red carpet toward the bottle. “The entire room tilts down as it goes to the windows. The bottle should’ve rolled when it first fell, but it stayed upright.”
Murmurs and stomps filled the hallways outside the door. Engines fired up with a mechanical mixture of whirs and whistles in the distance.
“Emma, shift Jordan Kursosawa’s ticket status to witness priority,” Cooper ordered. “Victoria, get her on board to the entertainment room, Car 15. I’ll meet you there.” He spun around and faced the only cohort he had present. He tapped a button on the side of his headset and the computerized glow faded. He glared at his subordinate.
Murphy gulped.
“We may only be scarecrows, but we’re here as deputy agents for Homeland Defense.” Cooper narrowed his eyes and tilted his chin down ever so slightly.
“You want me to act like these people’s deaths are an inconvenience to be hidden?” Murphy puffed his chest.
“I want you to act like a government agent.” Cooper flexed his jaw. “Don’t ever question my orders while on assignment the way you just did. If you can’t manage that, I can make sure your reserve status is revoked and you can go back to being an indebted baker until you’re sent to prison.”
“I am a baker.” Murphy nodded to himself with an angry smirk. “And you’re a messenger. And Victoria, a mechanic. We’re all scarecrows, not some glorious team of government agents. We deal with petty security gigs, not horrors like this.”
“Can you do this job or not?” Cooper raised his finger over the button on the side of his headset. “Be honest. If seeing a few dead bodies and how people react is too much for your delicate sensibilities, I’ll send the request to revoke your deputy status. You’ll be free to get off this train before it leaves Santa Cruz.”
Murphy put his arms akimbo and closed his eyes. He took longer than he liked to get his deep breaths under control.
“I’m sorry I undermined you,” Murphy said as he opened his eyes. “I hope you can be a little more understanding that I don’t have any experience with grisly crime scenes.”
“Objections are fine.” Cooper’s gaze shifted to a hint of friendliness. “In fact, your softness is what keeps Vic and I balanced out. You remind us we’re dealing with people. Just make sure to stay as professional as you are ethical.”
Murphy nodded.
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