‘Shh!’ Chetta said without thinking, holding up one finger. She had the momentary exhilarating thrill of witnessing an Imperial inquisitor fall silent at her command, probably through sheer surprise more than anything else, but the churning in her stomach quite ruined any enjoyment she would normally have garnered from the moment. ‘A thought occurs. DeShelle, you said the behaviour seemed ritualistic?’

‘Yes, my lady,’ DeShelle nodded. ‘The killer appears to have had a compulsion to remove the warp eye, even when in danger of discovery. This sort of trophy-taking is concordant with other known mass-killers in social environments, such as–’

‘Never mind the background,’ Chetta cut her off, before DeShelle could show off her education any further. ‘I’m not concerned with the killer’s mental state. I’m more worried about it being for an actual ritual.’

Ngiri’s eyes had gone wide. ‘Gallimo.’

‘Gallimo,’ Chetta said grimly, nodding. ‘DeShelle, did you get a good look at the killer’s face?’

DeShelle nodded, her mouth tight.

‘Right.’ Chetta detached herself from her children and stumped over to the annex where Tekoa Yunn and his party were still buried in their work, under the watchful eye of an autogun-armed guard. She pressed the door release and it slid open, releasing a warm waft of body odour and recaff fumes. ‘Tekoa! I want the face of every single suspect who came in through immigration ready for DeShelle to look at.’

Tekoa jerked at the sound of his name, like a cyber-mastiff on auto-recall. ‘Yes, high lady! But, that’s hundreds of people…’

‘Best get moving then,’ Chetta said briskly. ‘Can you narrow it down before she starts, if she gives you a rough description?’

Tekoa nodded. ‘To a certain extent, yes. We already have some preliminary cross-referencing classifications based on skin tone, hair colour, height and so on.’

‘I knew there was a reason I rescued you from Administratum obscurity,’ Chetta told him with a tight smile. ‘DeShelle, get to it.’ She looked at Ngiri. ‘Lady Vass. If we get a name, and an image, can you use your influence with Judge Arctos to get a manhunt going?’

Ngiri was staring at the banks of cogitators, her expression thoughtful. ‘You set this up with… what?’

‘Paper records from the Administratum archives, after you so inconsiderately removed the data files, and pict-feeds from the portmaster,’ Chetta said impatiently. Ngiri’s brows lowered in response.