"Mike Resnick - Velvet Comet 2 - Eros At Zenith" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

anyone figured out yet how the killer got around it?"
"No, sir."
Crane frowned. "Has anyone done anything yet?"
"I assume so," replied Oglevie noncommittally. "I was in the Resort when it was
discovered," he added. "When I reported back this morning, I was told to meet you at the
airlock."
"What's your Security Chiefs name?" demanded Crane.
"The Dragon Lady."
Crane snorted. "Dragon Lady. Black Pearl. Doesn't anyone use a real name around this
place?"
"Very infrequently, sir," answered Oglevie. "It tends to spoil the illusion."
"What's your real name?"
"Paxton Oglevie," replied the security man. "But of course, I rarely deal with the
patrons."
"Well, Paxton Oglevie, once I get to the Black Pearl's office, wherever that may be, I
suggest that you hunt up your Dragon Lady and tell her I want to see her as soon as I've
examined the body."
"And how soon will that be, sir?" asked Oglevie, nodding politely to an extremely
handsome young man who waved to him from the opposing slidewalk on the far side of
the strip of parquet flooring.
"I haven't the slightest idea," said Crane. "Maybe an hour, maybe two."
"Wouldn't it be easier to summon her when you're ready, rather than—?"
"First of all, Oglevie, that wasn't a request," said Crane. "Second, a murder has been
committed here, and the Chief of Security had better not have anything better to do with
her time than help me solve it." He paused. "And third, I tend to become very unpleasant
when my authority is questioned."
Oglevie shrugged and said nothing.
They rode the slidewalk another half-mile in silence. Then Crane turned to the security
man again.
"What's that vibration beneath us?"
"The tramway, sir."
"That's where you found the body?"
"Yes, sir."
"It runs the whole length of the shopping mall?" asked Crane. Oglevie nodded. "And also
stops at the airlock?"
"Yes, sir."
"Are there any other entrances or exits to it?"
"None, sir. The tramcar stops only at each end and at the airlock."
"And of course only the Comet's personnel are permitted to ride it, so that the customers
will have to pass by all the stores on the way in and again on the way out, right?"
"Yes, sir—and we call them patrons ."
"Call them anything you want," said Crane. "I'm not one of them, and the next time I
direct you to take me somewhere you can skip the scenic route."
Oglevie made no reply, and in another three minutes they reached the end of the Mall.
"Follow me, sir," said the security man, stepping onto the parquet flooring and heading
off toward an ornate reception foyer.
"What level are we on?" asked Crane.
"The main one, sir," replied Oglevie. "There are three levels beneath us, composed
entirely of suites for our patrons."
"And above us?"