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Tyler glanced over Josiah’s shoulder and gave a beaming smile of what looked like genuine pleasure.

“You’ve brought Alexander with you! What a nice surprise.

Bloody good to see you again, son.” Tyler ignored Alexander’s politely outstretched hand and drew him into a warm hug.

Alexander seemed to respond in kind, putting his arms around the older man and hugging him back.

Josiah surveyed the scene impassively. Was the hug calculated, on Tyler’s side, to show ostentatious warmth, and on Alexander’s to display precisely the right degree of reciprocation so as not to cause offence? Or was he reading too much into it?

“It’s good to see you again, too, sir,” Alexander replied demurely.

“It’s been a while. It’s great to see you looking so well.” Tyler patted Alexander’s arm, smiling broadly.

“You too, sir,” Alexander responded serenely, the impassive mask firmly back in place after the interlude in the hallway. Josiah was impressed by how adeptly his IS was able to hide the challenging, witty personality he only allowed him to glimpse when they were alone together.

“Funnily enough, I was just watching you on the news.” Tyler jerked his head at the smartwall. “The damn media are going nuts for the latest development in the Dacre case. I presume that’s why you’re here?”

“You’re right,” Josiah said.

“So – can I offer you a drink?”

“Not for me. I don’t drink,” Josiah replied as Tyler walked across the room to a large, imposing bar.

“What, never?” Tyler shot him a quizzical smile. “Or just not while you’re on duty?”

“It’s not my thing.” Josiah smiled back blandly. Tyler was sizing him up, trying to get a feel for him, and Josiah couldn’t blame him for that. He was here in an official capacity, investigating a high-profile murder; a man as sharp as Tyler would obviously want to know what he was dealing with.

“And what is your thing?” Tyler asked with a conspiratorial wink.

“Chocolate, I’m afraid.” Josiah patted his stomach ruefully, which made Tyler laugh.

“Well, I don’t have any to hand right now, but I can at least give you something to sip.

” He gave them each a glass of sparkling water and took one for himself.

“Please – sit down, both of you.” He took a seat on an armchair.

Josiah sat at the far end of the giant sofa, while Alexander perched on the red leather armchair opposite.

“So, how can I help you?” Tyler asked, gazing at Josiah earnestly. “I do hope I’m not a suspect in Mr Dacre’s murder.” He gave a little chuckle, as if the idea was completely absurd.

“Not as far as I know.” Josiah took a thoughtful sip of his drink, watching as Tyler leaned back, looking supremely confident. “It would help if I could rule you out of our inquiries, though. Do you have an alibi for the morning of Tuesday, October twenty-fifth?”

There was a flicker of something in Tyler’s eyes that took Josiah by surprise. Was it… relief?

“I was in Spain, on business.”

“You have witnesses?”

“Dozens,” Tyler laughed. “I was the keynote speaker in a conference on floating city technology.”

“Thank you. You’ll have no objection to sending through the details of your participation in that event to Investigator Reed?”

“Not at all.” Tyler waved his hand around expansively. “I’m curious, though… Why, exactly, would I want to murder Elliot Dacre? I barely knew the man.”

“You used to be Alexander’s houder; it’s possible you wanted him back.”

“I sold his contract for a reason. No offence, Alexander.” Tyler shot the indie a rueful smile.

“He was a great IS but also a very expensive one. I was overstretched financially at that point in time, so I made the reluctant decision to free up some money by selling him. I was fond of Alexander, so it wasn’t a decision I made lightly. ”

“Did you ever regret it to the point of wanting him back?” Josiah queried smoothly.

Tyler raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Mr Dacre had a couple of offers for Alexander, and we’re investigating where those came from.” Josiah was happy to give away that piece of information to see where it led.

Tyler shrugged. “Not from me, Investigator Raine. I was fond of Alexander, as I said, but by the time I sold his contract he’d really completed his purpose and therefore was no longer of much use to me.”

“And what purpose was that?” Josiah took another sip of water, gazing keenly at Tyler over the rim of his glass.

“He designed our Destiny range of AVs that revolutionised the market. They were his brainchild.”

“You used him to help you design this revolutionary AV, and then you sold him when you were done?” Josiah probed.

Tyler shook his head. “No. God no. It was a little more complicated than that.”

“In what way?”

“It’s a long story.” Tyler gave a pained smile. Then he leaned forward. “Do you play golf, Investigator Raine?” he enquired unexpectedly.

“I have a working knowledge of the game. I wouldn’t say that I ‘play’,” Josiah replied. He had little interest in golf, but he’d acquired the basics in order to obtain a witness statement during a previous case.

“Good. How about I fill you in over a round?”

“I’m not normally in the habit of pausing to play golf during a murder inquiry.”

“I’m sure, but it’s a glorious day, and I was looking forward to playing with one of my friends this morning. I had to cancel when your colleague called and said you were on your way. Make it up to me, Raine – we can talk just as easily outside.”

Josiah was intrigued as to where this was going. He gave in gracefully and nodded his agreement.

“Excellent.” Tyler stood up. “I’ll go and organise some clubs.”

Josiah wondered if he was arranging the game as a way of separating him from Alexander. He glanced at his IS for clues, but Alexander’s face remained impassive.

He looked around the room during Tyler’s absence.

Everything was neat, tidy, and kept perfectly in its place – including the two indentured servants standing to attention by the door.

Even Alexander had lapsed into a well-trained silence and was sitting with his back straight, as if he were still wearing Tyler livery.

There was little to see in a house this spartan, but Josiah looked anyway.

His eye was caught by the slightest glint of the sun, shining through the huge windows onto the wall in front of him.

He frowned. The wall was painted white, perfectly ordinary…

but… was that a faint shimmer where the light hit it?

He realised, suddenly, that the wall wasn’t painted at all – it was a smartwall.

Smartwall tech had been around for a few years, but was still the preserve of the well off.

The people who could afford this fashionable new technology usually showed off their smartwalls, setting them to display beautiful scenery, or showcasing a rotating selection of favourite family photos.

However, this smartwall had been set to be as invisible as possible.

It looked as if the wall was painted, even down to mirroring the tiny smudges, bumps, and imperfections that you’d see on any normal painted wall.

Yet, the realistic effect was an illusion produced by the thin layer of electronics covering the entire wall.

Josiah glanced up, to the top right-hand corner, and saw the tell-tale shimmering of pixels at the very edge of the wall – and that was when he saw the small red dot that indicated the smartwall was recording.

Now his interest was piqued. Was the smartwall set to record everything that happened in this room, or was it just because an investigator was visiting? If so, why did Tyler want their meeting recorded?

At that moment, Tyler returned, walking briskly. “Right – let’s get going. Alexander can be your caddy – he’s very good at it. I had him trained especially.” He winked at Alexander and then swung back towards Josiah.

So this wasn’t a ruse to separate him from his indie.

Alexander took a bag of clubs from Tyler’s IS and followed silently behind Josiah, shouldering it like a pro.

Tyler’s IS was walking just as quietly behind him.

Josiah couldn’t help but notice how streamlined Tyler’s world was, his indies trained to fall into step with his every whim.

“It wasn’t my intention to avoid your question,” Tyler said as they walked to the teeing ground.

“I’m happy to answer any questions you have.

In respect of why I sold Alexander, there’s a rather long story attached.

I wasn’t kidding when I said it was complicated.

” He grinned and held out his hand. A club was placed into it, a tee was put in the ground, and a ball was quickly balanced on it.

“I’m impressed by your servants,” Josiah said. “Were they all trained at Belvedere, like Alexander?”

Tyler gave a bark of laughter. “Fuck, no. That place is bloody expensive! Even I couldn’t afford to send all my servants there. No, we have an in-house training programme run by my major-domo. He ensures that all my staff are equipped to do their jobs properly.”

“So why send Alexander there?” Josiah asked, watching as Tyler gave a practice swing.

“He’s the most expensive IS I’ve ever bought, so I paid for him to go to Belvedere to give him the most exclusive training possible.”

“Even though you bought him to help you develop your Destiny range of AVs?” Josiah inquired blandly. “Surely, teaching him to be a caddy, or butler, or whatever they do at Belvedere, is somewhat redundant in those circumstances?”

Tyler brought his club down with a decisive swing, and the ball flew off into the distance, landing on the green a few inches from the hole.

“Good shot,” Josiah said.