ARC: The Buried Life Read Online Free PDF

room and reappeared in the door of the holding room a few moments later. Malone started; though she had seen that same uniform, the same neat slick of hair, and the same rounded eyes, less than a minute earlier in the observation room, the man beneath them seemed taller, older, and quietly assertive.
    The groundskeepers looked up at Sundar, pulling the mugs between their propped elbows. He strode to the table where they sat, shook their hands, and addressed them with polite warmth. He seemed transformed from the nervous and excitable young man in the hall, a confident smile underlining his every word.
    “Gentlemen, thank you for your time,” Sundar said. The groundskeepers watched him silently. “You must know that we appreciate your assistance. Your reports contribute greatly to the peace and stability of Recoletta.”
    One of the groundskeepers sniffed.
    “Of course, I also know that you don’t have any choice but to be here. If you weren’t, some goon with a bad attitude and a blackjack would be at your door, giving you hell and halitosis. You’d end up here anyway, and probably with an extended stay at the Barracks,” Sundar said, referring to the headquarters of the City Guard and its infamous prison on the western end of town.
    One of the sweeps plunked his mug onto the table, crossing his arms. “You got questions or what?”
    Sundar nodded at the mug. “Yeah. How’s the tea?”
    “Horse scat,” said the same man, and the other laughed. Sundar smiled.
    “You’re not kidding. They gag us with that stuff every morning. Part of the daily briefing.” The sweeps didn’t laugh, but concessionary grins slid across their faces, and Malone saw their postures relax as they slumped more comfortably in the stiff chairs. “Between you and me, though,” Sundar said, settling into a seat across from them, “I know you’ve got nothing to do with this. Someone was going to stumble across the veranda sooner or later, and it just happened to be you two. So, why don’t you just tell me what you saw?” Slipping into the interrogation, Sundar asked them about their routine and their findings that morning, and they answered amiably, gulping their tea and thumping the table as they talked.
    After half an hour, Sundar shook their hands again and walked them to the door. “That addresses all of our questions, but we’ll contact you if anything else comes up. I’ll have someone see you out.”
    Sundar and the two sweeps disappeared from the holding lobby and, two minutes later, he returned to the observation room. For all of the acting talent he’d shown in the chamber below, he hid his triumph poorly.
    “Passing grade,” Malone said, her eyes still lingering on the room below. “Barely. You forgot something.”
    “What’s that?”
    “You interrogated them together.”
    Sundar nodded once. “I know we usually separate witnesses upon arrival, but, respectfully, I thought I could get more information from them this way.” Malone tilted her head, and Sundar continued. “If they wanted to make up a story, they had plenty of time to rehearse it on their way to the station. A little goodwill can go a long way, and I’d rather have them lie freely to me together than clamp shut in separate lobbies.”
    Malone felt her own jaw clamp tight. “As long as you can tell the difference.”
    “Respectfully, ma’am, I think I can.”
    She pulled a silver pocket watch from her coat. “Meet me in Chief Johanssen’s office in five minutes. I’ll cover what I found at the scene.”
    She reviewed Sundar’s notes from his initial observation. To her disappointment, they were neat and thorough. If she was going to get a reprieve from babysitting, she’d have to talk to Chief Johanssen directly.
    Malone returned to the main hallway and followed the fiery trenches to its end. A shallow alcove framed a wide, solid door. Malone pushed it open to reveal a familiar scene: Farrah, the chief’s buxom assistant, drowsily scanning