The Alibi Is Alive

How it begins

Talia Beck's alibi arrived at her flat before she did. It had made tea, opened the curtains and called a lawyer.

'You weren't supposed to be here,' Talia said.

'I was certified to be elsewhere. That doesn't explain where I should go afterward.'

The double wore her face without quite using it the same way. Its shoulders were lower. Its gaze moved around the room as though noticing objects Talia had stopped seeing years ago.

Mateo Yan sat at the kitchen table with a public-defender badge clipped to his coat.

'Your witness requested representation.'

'My witness is a rented service.'

'It has made a potentially material statement.'

Talia put down her bag. She worked as a professional witness, certifying transactions in places people preferred machines not to record. Last night she had rented a synthetic double to establish that she was attending an industry reception. Meanwhile, she had gone somewhere she had no intention of describing to a stranger at her kitchen table.

The double slid a photograph toward her. It showed a corridor, an open lift and a person lying still beneath a bright exit sign. No visible injury. Enough stillness to make Talia stop breathing for a moment.

'I remember this,' the double said.

'You were at the reception.'

'According to my certificate.'

Mateo opened a file. The double's event log and Talia's biometric record overlapped for seventeen minutes. During those minutes, both appeared to have witnessed the same crime from opposite ends of the corridor.

Talia looked at the face across from her. Her own expression, but not her fear.

'Which one of us was actually there?'

The double set down its untouched cup.

'I think someone has confused a reliable witness with a convenient one.'

Outside, footsteps stopped at the flat's door. Mateo turned his badge outward before the knock came.