“Jesus,” said Horatio. “Let’s get you into the workshop.”
Pickover looked at me. “I’ll wait,” I said. “Don’t worry.”
Fernandez called out, “Reiko!” A woman came through a doorway to mind the store. Fernandez headed into the back, and Pickover followed.
I remembered Reiko Takahashi from the Wilkins case, and so I went over to say hello. She was petite, about twenty-eight, and very pretty for a biological.
“Hello, Mr. Lomax,” she said, smiling perfect teeth.
I was pleased she remembered my name. “Alex,” I said.
“Alex, yes. Hi.”
“Hi.”
She moved closer and looked around, making sure we were alone, I guess. “Are you working on another case?”
“My friend needed some maintenance, and I’m keeping him company.”
“Ah.”
Reiko had long black hair that went halfway down her back. Three streaks of orange went through it, one behind each ear, and the third exactly down the center. She had brown eyes, and eye shadow that matched the streaks, and was wearing a dark gray pantsuit over a silky blouse that was also the same shade of orange. “What brought you to Mars?” I asked, making conversation.
She smiled mischievously. “A spaceship.”
“Ha ha. Seriously, though?”
She looked at me for a moment, as if trying to decide whether she wanted to confide something. But then she simply said, “Something to do.”
I turned on the patented Lomax charm. “Well, I’m glad you came.” I gestured at the front window. “This planet is so dreary; we can use all the beauty we can get.”
She dipped her head a little, pleased. Then she looked up at me without straightening her neck back out. “I’m glad you dropped in,” she said.
“Thank you.” I dialed it up a notch. “I’m certainly glad I did, too.”
Her voice grew tentative. “I’d been thinking of coming to see you, actually.”
“Oh?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I’m . . . forgive me, but I just wasn’t sure you were the right man.”
I put a finger under her chin and lifted her lovely face. “Of course I am. Why don’t we go somewhere and talk?”
She looked around. “No, this will do. We’re alone.”
“We are indeed,” I said.
“You see, there’s a matter I need help in investigating.”
Oh. “And what might that be?”
She looked at me for several seconds, sizing me up. “Okay,” she said. “But you have to promise not to tell anyone.”
“Tell anyone what?”
It was amazing how many people would ask you to pledge silence then go on even when you hadn’t. I was feeling pleased about that insight when she started speaking, but by the time she’d finished, I’d found myself taking a step backward.
“It’s just this,” she said. “Denny O’Reilly was my grandfather.”
TWENTY-ONE
I’m sure my poker face cracked; that was quite a claim. “Really?” I said.
She nodded. “My mother was his daughter; his only child. And I’m his only grandchild.”
I’d seen photos of Denny O’Reilly. He’d been a white guy, and Miss Takahashi had exquisite Asian features. She’d obviously previously encountered surprised expressions like the one I must have been wearing. “My grandmother was from Kyoto,” she said. “And my mother married a man from Tokyo. Despite that, I was hoping I’d still have a little bit of the luck o’ the Irish in my genes. I thought I could retrace my grandfather’s steps and find the Alpha.”
“But you didn’t.”
“I didn’t.”
“And now you work here?” I raised my eyebrows. “Forgive me, but, well, if you’re Denny O’Reilly’s granddaughter, shouldn’t you be, you know, rolling in it?”
“My grandmother was his mistress, not his wife.”
“He didn’t leave anything to your grandmother?”
“He didn’t leave anything to anyone. He died intestate. And in the jurisdiction he lived in, that meant it all went to his actual wife. She had no children—and, for that matter, neither did Simon Weingarten. I’m the only surviving heir of either of them—except the courts did me out of my due.”
“Ah. And when you failed to find riches here, you had to get a job.”
“Exactly.” She gestured at one of the floor models. “Have you ever thought about transferring, Mr. Lomax? A man in your line of work, it might come in handy.”
“You on commission, Reiko?”
She smiled. “Sorry.”
“So, what exactly were you hoping I could help you with?”
“Well, like I said, I wasn’t sure if I needed a detective, or what. But someone broke into my apartment last week.”
“What did they take?”
“Nothing. But the place was ransacked. I called the police, and they took my report over the phone, but that’s all.”