Josh had stared at the holographic whiteboard for what felt like an eternity, trying to figure out where one particular piece fit in the puzzle but coming to no conclusion. The view of the city beyond his office window was clad in the colors of the night, with all of his colleagues having deserted the building several hours ago. The only people entering and/or leaving the building at this point – besides himself – would be the poor souls con-demned to work the night shift at the various facilities twenty floors down. And in maintenance.

He pulled up the file of Yoshiro Busujima once more, for what felt like the thousandth time, and gave it another read-through in the hopes of uncovering something. Even though previous repetitions of the action had yielded no progress. Busujima’s murder was an enigma all things considered. It felt so random among everything else, but it was nonetheless con-nected when all of the evidence was weighed together. The same golden lip marks had been found on his neck as Hara-shima’s – the killer’s signature, had to be.

Then he panned to the holographic projection of the killer. The woman who had played escort to Harashima and slashed his throat open with his own cybernetic penis. Quite a novel way to kill someone, he had to admit – then again, in lack of a traditional weapon, she’d had to improvise. But as much as he tried to think about it, Josh still didn’t know how the implant had been sharp enough to produce a wound that looked so much like an ordinary knife wound. If he wasn’t privy to how security in The Golden Falcon worked, he certainly could’ve mistaken it as such.

He bounced his eyes between Busujima’s file and the image of the woman for a few more minutes before sighing in frustration and finally deciding to call it a night.

He walked to the main elevator and pressed the Call button, waited for it to reach his floor, then stepped inside when the doors slid open. Once inside, he hit the button for the ground floor and assumed his usual ‘riding in the elevator’ position as the elevator began to descend.

The descent came to a sudden halt about halfway.

A slight wave of panic washed over Josh – in all his years of wandering around in the police headquarters, an elevator had never once broken down like this. Not while he was in one anyway. But he kept his cool. He just needed to call the maintenance guys and they’d get on fixing the elevator as soon as they could. He began to dial in the number on his wrist comm, but a voice from above interrupted him.

“I’d keep my finger off the dial if I were you.”

Josh looked to the direction where the voice had come from and was greeted by the sight of a silhouette in the vague shape of a woman. That was all the detail he was able to make out from the dim lighting of the elevator shaft. “Who the fuck are you?” he shouted, half angry, half curious.

“You don’t need to know who I am,” the figure re-sponded conspiratorially. “Yet.”

“Why shouldn’t I call for help?”

“Because you’re supposed to be plummeting to your death right about now,” came an unexpectedly honest response from the woman three feet above. “Wouldn’t want to tip off my boss that I didn’t complete the job. Besides, there’s no one down there to pick up.”

“You kill the maintenance guys?”

“Nah, just knocked ‘em unconscious.”

“And by whose orders are you to kill me?” A question Josh knew he wasn’t likely to get an answer to, but he figured he had nothing to lose by trying.

“Sure you want to know?” came a response from the woman. Something in the tone of her voice told Josh she knew something he didn’t – something crucial to the investigation. And damned if he was going to let the opportunity to get that intel slip. “Go on, spill,” he demanded.

“Can’t give you a name. Not without putting myself in danger. All I can say is there’s a black sheep in your ranks.”

Well, better than nothing, thought Josh. Though the idea of a criminal in the police force gave him pause. Then he re-membered why he was trapped in the first place and proceeded to ask: “So if I’m supposed to be dying, why aren’t you cutting the cables?”

The figure above shifted slightly and sighed, the action seeming to carry with it a lifetime’s worth of repentance, then spoke with equal earnestness: “Conscience came knocking… Plus I’m on your side, believe it or not. So I’d rather keep you alive.”

“And let your boss down?” Josh inquired with a tone that conveyed an attempt at sarcasm. He immediately came to the conclusion that it wasn’t his strong suit.

“Oh, I don’t just plan on letting him down,” the woman answered seriously, ignoring Josh’s poor attempt at humor. “I plan on taking him down.”

“Awfully bold to be confessing that right in front of an officer,” Josh growled with an authoritative tone. “Could arrest you right now for planned murder.”

“You could,” the woman admitted. Then she squatted down and brought her face closer to Josh’s, staring him down directly and letting him see her face a little better, although still not clearly, and continued: “But you won’t.”

“And why is that?”

“Because you need an inside informant. In other words, me.” The woman tilted her head slightly, as if deliberately ad-justing herself so Josh could make out more of her facial fea-tures. To his dismay, he couldn’t. “Plus I’m already on my way to dismantling the gang from within. Once the leader is out of the picture, then you’re free to arrest me. But until then, trust me, you need me out there.”

Josh wasn’t sure if he liked the terms he was presented with. Agreeing to the deal would surely compromise the investi-gation. Especially considering this woman was a self-confessed criminal working in the exact circles that were under Josh’s eye. But at the same time, she clearly knew something that could speed the case along. The implications of making the deal gnawed on his mind for a minute until he realized to ask: “What’s in it for me? For us?”

“’Us’ meaning your team?”

“Yeah.”

“Not having to figure out who the black sheep is. You’ll know when I’m done. What’ll be left for you at that point is cleanup.”

Now the deal was getting enticing, but Josh still hesi-tated. How would working this closely with one of the bad guys affect the investigation? At least the lady seemed honest. One last clarifying question: “And once the leader is down, you will agree to be arrested if I so choose?”

“Merc’s honor.” The woman placed a hand above her heart to signify undying honesty.

With that, Josh carefully extended an arm above and said: “Deal.” The woman leaned forward a little further and her hand clasped into his, the two interlocking in a handshake. Now the light was good enough to get a clear view of her face, the elevator’s interior lights providing adequate illumination.

It was Harashima’s killer.

The color drained from Josh’s face upon realizing he’d just made a deal with the devil. And the devil in this case was the woman directly responsible for the murders. His arm stiffened. His body tensed up. The blood running in his veins felt like it was freezing over. “What’s wrong?” the woman asked. “Look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Josh wanted to formulate some sort of response, but he was so petrified even his lips didn’t move.

It wasn’t until the murderer released her grip that he was able to relax. Even then, it was only enough to let his muscles move again. His arm swung downward with a heavy motion, almost slamming into the wall behind him like a wrecking ball.

He cleared his throat, partly in an attempt to calm himself down further, and asked: “Now then, mind rebooting the elevator?”

The woman shook her head and replied with a feigned sense of regret: “Not an expert on elevators, I’m afraid. All I know is how to hit the kill switch.”

“You’re not saying I’m stuck in here for the night?”

“I am saying you’re stuck in there for the night. Could keep you company, though.”

“No, thanks.” The earlier exchange was enough for Josh. He didn’t feel comfortable sharing an elevator with a murderer, especially not one whose hitlist he was on. Even if this par-ticular murderer had defected. Something different crossed his mind right then. “Should call Momoko. Let her know I’m staying at the office overnight.”

“Your wife?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t. Like I said, it’ll tip off my boss if you do. Don’t pick up either if she calls. We want him to think I completed the job. I’m on thin enough ice as it is.”

Josh sighed heavily. He wanted to act against the woman’s instructions, but he trusted she knew what she was doing. “Fine,” he muttered reluctantly.

“Appreciate your understanding,” the woman replied as she stood back up, evidently getting ready to leave. “See you from behind bars.” She shot a thin wire upward from a wrist-mounted device of some sort – electromagnetic grappling hook, the kind used by the maintenance workers – and zipped up with more speed than Josh figured the thing was designed to handle. Maybe her unit was modified, tailored to her specific needs, no doubt provided by whoever orchestrated the operations she was involved in.

But Josh didn’t want to think about her anymore tonight. Or anything else related to the case. Instead, he settled to take a seat on the elevator floor, waiting for sleep and, eventually, the next morning. Hopefully the elevator would be fixed by then.