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It took Dred almost two hours to locate the antique shop that carried the matches but when she did the descriptions matched. Frank was waiting for her. He had left the glasses clear and wore a K-suit she had picked out for him. His smile disappeared quickly.
"It's a farmers match. Lights on anything. They sell them in the Cozy Candle Antique."
"This match wouldn't be enough to burn his face off. Why are you following this? We wrapped it. Nobody cares."
"My husband was killed by a zerker. The victims are special to me. This was something else." She realized the truths of what she said as she spoke. "Don't you want to know if it was a separate murder?"
"You do. That's enough for me. I gave you the information you wanted. They didn't have anything that would burn somebody's face off."
Instead of answering, Dred pulled a straw from her pocket. It was loosely packed with coffee whitener. Lighting the match she had bought at the antique store
she blew the powder into the air. A curl of fire filled the area between them The smell of burnt hair floated on the air.
"The SIDs knew who sold the Devil chip."
Frank's shoulders dropped. "Maybe."
"That's all you're going tot say?"
"Good work." he said softly.
"Good work! Those kids killed somebody. I don't care if he was a scrimer. The set his skin on fire."
"Tough to prove."
"Help me. We can nail them."
"This isn't your case, it never was. We handle any crime not directly related to the zerkers on site."
"YOU KNEW!"
"I suspected. The girl's father could have told her about the flammable disks. It doesn't matter. Their parents would protect them and we would get nowhere."
"And you might lose you job. That's what this all about. They pay you to do more then enforce the law, don't they?"
"I can't stop you from seeing it that way. My sister cut herself to pieces because a scrimer sold her a bad chip. The kids took justice into their own hands."
"And because their parents own you, you'll let them. I'm leaving. From now on we're strangers."
"I'm sorry."
"Gaffa."
Dinner that night was ugly. She yelled at Gyle and over-waved the casserole. As Dred stood in the shower to wash away a blinding headache, she realized that this was the same feeling she got from killing somebody.
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