A scream ripped through my ears, and I fell to my knees. The body of a woman was lying on the street in front of me, her blood soaking into my jeans. There was a knife in her chest, but the blood was running from her back...

Running, running, running...

I woke up with a gasp.

"Amber?" Alex tightened his hold on my waist, pressing his face into the crook of my neck. "It was just a dream."

We were so close to Ruby.

Alex peppered kisses up to my earlobe. I wanted to relax in his arms, but the nightmare had left me tense and cold, and light was slipping beneath the curtains. I pulled away from him. "Why hasn't the alarm gone off? It must be way past seven."

"Because you set it." Amusement crept into his voice. "I'll never know why, but that probably has something to do with it."

I snatched my tabphone off the bedside table and tried to unlock it. The screen didn't even light up. "Oh, great. It's broken."

"Or just dead?" he suggested. The mattress moved as he got up.

Just dead. I swallowed and put it on the charging pad. "Right."

Alex went straight into the bathroom while I got dressed and trudged into the kitchen, where I'd finally removed the punch bag and replaced it with a table. I'd also replaced my broken coffee machine with Alex's.

I fed Mitzy, then put four slices of bread in the toaster and started making coffee. My mind wandered as I worked. We needed to crack Ethan today and find out who Iberia had been sleeping with. Maybe the mysterious woman would connect the dots between the bride and Ruby. Maybe she was even the murderer.

The toast popped up just as the coffee started to brew, and I grabbed a random knife to butter it. We needed to grill the others properly, too. None of them but Jade had admitted that William Sharpe had hated Iberia, so what else were they hiding?

The coffee finished brewing, and I grabbed the pot. After we'd spoken to Ethan, we'd talk to Jade. Much of everyone's attention yesterday had been on Iberia. Perhaps if we got the maid of honour alone today, we could have a thorough discussion about Ruby and the darker corners of her life. I wanted to know if there was anyone other than Iberia who would have been angered by the affair --

Something sliced my palm open. My fingers loosened around the coffee pot, and it fell to the floor and shattered. The large knife that I'd accidentally squeezed went with it. Mitzy, who'd been watching me from the other end of the kitchen, shot out the door.

Broken coffee pot. Knife on the floor. Blood streaming down my palm. I stared at it all, wondering which danger to sort first. Dead bodies, I could do. I wasn't sure about a catastrophe in my kitchen.

Alex filled the doorway, his hair damp and his shirt unbuttoned. "What was that?"

"I've broken the coffee pot." Finally coming to my senses, I picked up the knife and tossed it in the sink. Then I waved my bleeding hand beneath the tap. "Watch the glass."

Cold water hit my palm, stinging the wound. It was a long, ugly gash, but I didn't think it was too deep, just very painful. And cold.

I gave up as Alex reached me. His fingers latched onto my wrist and tugged it back under the water. "How did this happen?"

"I was thinking. With a knife in my hand. Now we can't have coffee and there's blood on our toast. Sorry."

"Never mind the coffee or the toast." His grip on my wrist tightened. "You might need stitches."

"Or an amputation. I'm going to get frostbite."

He released me, and I tugged my hand away from the sink. In the blink of an eye, blood welled up between the ragged edges of my flesh again. I sighed. "Can you get me a plaster, please?"

Alex found the ancient first aid kit, his jaw tight. He removed the largest variety of plaster, then cleaned away the fresh blood with a tea towel and tenderly pressed the sticky pad onto my palm. "I'm not sure how much this is going to help."

"It's not that deep. It's fine." I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

His brows lifted, and a wry smile flickered across his lips. "Stay there while I sweep up the glass. I'm not trusting you with anything else sharp today." He looked down at the remains of our coffee pot. "Then I suppose we'll have to make a trip to Rise & Grinder."

***

Rise & Grinder hovered above the city on one of the highest metal walkways. Marked by nothing but a battered door and a lopsided sign that flickered, its looks were deceiving from the outside...and perhaps from the inside, too. Paint peeled off the walls while dust clung on, and the steel tables were scratched and dented. But the coffee and the food tasted amazing, and the view across Socrico was almost as good as the Alps.

Two teenagers were standing behind the counter. They were Indigo and Emz, twins of opposite genders who always helped their father at the shop on weekends. His other son, Cadium, was a few years older and currently training to join Socrico Police.

The twins smiled as we approached the counter, far too used to seeing us here. Emz, with the better set of social skills, was standing at the front to serve us. Indigo lingered by the coffee machine, pleased to make our orders as long as he was allowed to be quiet. They took non-identical to the extreme in their looks, too: Emz had long, dark curls, while Indigo's hair was short and blond. Indigo was dressed in a hoodie and jeans; Emz was wearing a blazer.

"Good morning." Emz flashed us a sunny smile. "Would you like your usual?"

"Just one double espresso," I replied, "and one medicoffee, please. Plus the muffins."

While Indigo made the drinks, Emz scooped up two chocolate muffins from the counter and put them in a paper bag. Alex moved to the eye-scanner and paid before I could reach it, leaving me to twiddle my thumbs.

"How's Cadium getting on?" I asked.

Emz put down the tongs. "Great! He's really enjoying police academy, and he can't wait to become a proper officer." She handed the bag over.

Indigo brought our coffees to the counter, and I took mine, wincing as I stretched my sore palm to its limits. "That's good. Are you two enjoying college?"

"Yeah, loads. It's great to finally be doing subjects we like. Plus we go into the city at lunchtime instead of just staying on campus! That's cool, isn't it, Indigo?"

He nodded.

"Great." That was largely where my conversation skills with teenagers ended. "Well, keep working hard. We'll see you around."

We left the coffee shop, and I pulled a chocolate muffin out of the bag before passing it to Alex. I needed a chocolate hit almost as much as I needed caffeine. In fact, I was so absorbed in consuming my muffin that it wasn't until we were on ground level when I realised Alex was unusually quiet.

"So," I said as we hit the high street. "We should go straight to Ethan's. He's had some time now, and I want to crack him. We need to know who Iberia was sleeping with. Do you remember his address?"

"Seventy-two Albion Street."

We rode a tram packed with Saturday shoppers to Albion Street and arrived in a very different neighbourhood to Iberia's. The road was wide, and the brownstone blocks of flats were spread a comfortable distance apart. Window boxes filled with fake tulips were attached to them.

We got off the tram and entered Ethan's block. It was the top floor that we needed, so we got a lift up. I rang the doorbell, and a camera emerged from the oak.

"May we come in?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, Ethan and Danielle aren't at home right now," the doorbell replied. "Would you like to leave a message?"

"Yes. Ethan, we need to talk."

***

Our next stop was Jade's Cakes, located on the fourth floor of a skyscraper in the centre of Socrico. Plaster had been slathered over the bricks and painted cream, and a hand-made sign was nailed over the door. As I pushed it open, an old-fashioned bell rang.

We entered a showroom filled with hologram models of cakes. Most were white and had three or four tiers adorned with ribbon and marzipan flowers. A select few projections showed what Jade had made in the past for other occasions: birthday cakes modelled like skyscrapers, Christening cakes shaped like butterflies, and anniversary cakes adorned with edible wedding rings. They hovered inside glass cases around the room. A wooden counter stood at the back with an eye-scanner mounted to it. Behind that was a display case full of knives.

Jade Beaumont emerged from an archway near the counter, a plain apron tied over her dress. "Oh. Inspector, Sergeant."

I crossed the shop floor to her. "Morning. We're here to ask a few more questions about your sister. We won't be long."

She stared at us with red eyes, then evidently realised that I wasn't going to take no for an answer today. "Of course."

"By the way, I didn't realise you sold knives here." I inclined my head towards the display behind the counter. "You don't advertise them on your Xplora page."

"This is a cake shop. I advertise my cakes. The cake knives are offered at a discount when my customers have placed an order."

"Did Iberia buy a knife with her wedding cake?"

"Ethan did, as a surprise for her." Her eyes darted between us. "Look, I don't know what you're suggesting --"

"This must be where the murder weapon came from," Alex said. "Ruby was stabbed with that engraved knife."

"What?" Jade stepped back and almost staggered. "She was killed with their...? No one told me."

"When did Ethan come in?" I asked.

"Last week." She pressed a hand against her mouth. "He said that Iberia had forgotten to buy a knife, and he'd promised that he'd sort it out. God..."

So I wasn't the only one who forgot things. "And you gave a knife to him?"

"After the engraving. That part was the surprise for Iberia."

"Where does the engraving take place?"

"Here. I have a machine for it in the back." She forced a horribly sad smile onto her face and drew herself up straighter. "Why don't you come through and sit down?"

We followed her through the archway into an industrial kitchen that smelled of buttercream. Another wedding cake, real this time, was standing on a counter: three tiers of white fondant icing laid over sponge with a bride and groom topper. Icing bags, mixing bowls, and spoons were scattered across the surfaces. I spied a bulky machine tucked in the corner that I guessed was used for the engraving.

A large table stood in the middle of the mess, and I sat down at it. Alex strolled around the room, glancing at the equipment. He stopped by the wedding cake. "This was Iberia and Ethan's?"

"Yes." Jade sank onto a stool opposite me. "I haven't worked out what to do with it yet. Iberia spent hours and hours choosing the design -- everything for her wedding had to be perfect."

"Did you make it as a favour for your friend?" I asked. "Or was she a customer?"

Jade's gaze slid away. "A customer. Ethan could afford it."

"And you needed the money?" I glanced around. "It doesn't look like it."

"It does at home."

"This is a bespoke cake company," Alex said, "with high-end clientele and high prices."

"I reinvest everything it earns. My standard of living comes second. Our standard of living comes second." She raised her eyes. "Ruby was struggling to find a job -- I was the one keeping us afloat. I had that to think of when I asked my best friend's fiancé to pay for the cake like any other customer."

Alex sat down beside me. "Tell us about Ruby. What sort of work was she looking for?"

"She was trained as a receptionist. Two months ago, she was working at a dental surgery. But everyone's making cutbacks, and robots are getting cheaper. She was let go."

"She had no one but you to support her?" I said. "No partner?"

"No. But she didn't really do commitment." Jade smiled tightly. "She went out clubbing every weekend and didn't come home until the morning. I imagine she played the field while she was out. She always did at school."

"Whose money did she use to go clubbing?"

"Mine. It took a painful chunk out of our funds, but I could hardly confine her to the flat."

"Did she ever resent you for putting your business before your home?"

She lifted her chin. "No. My work is my passion and my life. Ruby understood that. A lot of money has to be spent so that clients with a lot of money will come in."

Alex looked over the kitchen again. "We know you've been renting this space for the whole time Jade's Cakes has been in operation. You started the business four years ago?"

"Yes, that's right."

"You're on the fourth floor. That's not bad in the heart of the city. The rent must be expensive."

"Yes. Like I said, I reinvest most of the money I earn here."

"Where did your funds come from when you started?" he asked.

"I took out a loan."

"No bank would give a start-up enough money to rent this space."

"What does this have to do with my sister?"

I didn't know either, so I steered the conversation back to that point. "Have you thought any more about who might have wanted to hurt Ruby?"

Jade's shoulders tensed. "No. No one hated Ruby. That's the thing."

"Were you aware that she was having an affair with Ethan?"

She reeled back as if I'd slapped her in the face. "What?"

"I'll take that as a no. Can you think of anyone who would have been upset aside from Iberia?"

"No...I can't believe Ruby would do that to her. You're sure?"

"Very. Does Ruby perhaps have any angry exes?"

"No. Not to my knowledge."

"Not even from a really long time ago -- like your school days?"

"No," Jade said more firmly. "I would definitely have heard about that because we went to school together. That's where we all met. It was the six of us."

"You, Ruby, Iberia, Ethan, Danielle, and Levi?" I said.

"Yes. Iberia and Ethan started going out in Year Nine."

I remembered the way Levi had shoved through the crowd at the crime scene and bypassed the electro-tape, thinking it was Jade who'd been hurt. "What about you and Levi?"

Jade blushed. "Nothing ever happened there. I did have a crush on him for a while, until Iberia told me he'd groped her at a house party. She was really upset about it, and I actually grew very distant from him until the whole group came back into orbit last year."

"You didn't talk while you were at college?"

"We went to separate colleges, and the others went to another together, so we were split three different ways. Then we mixed and matched again for university. Ethan went off to New London. Danielle and Levi attended Bright Light, although Danielle dropped out when she got pregnant. Iberia and Ruby went to Socrico University. I got some experience at a cake business in Rosek."

"And nothing happened during any of that time to earn Ruby an enemy? Someone who hated her enough to kill her?"

Jade shook her head heavily. "No."