The next morning, our routine went much smoother than the last: I did not bleed on the breakfast or break anything. As we sat at the kitchen table and ate our toast, I described my hen party in more detail. Alex listened without taking his eyes off me, his lips set in a sensual smile. Everything felt a little more settled in the universe again.

We went to Rise & Grinder for caffeine. Emz and Indigo were working, and they'd heard all about the arrests we'd made the previous night with Cadium. Emz seemed especially interested in what I'd been doing on the backstreet and why I'd been walking around with no shoes on. I explained both. She quickly decided that when she got married, she was also going to play laser tag at her hen party.

It prompted me to message Nina as we left. Thank you for such an amazing night. I hope you don't feel TOO shitty this morning.

We walked to Levi's flat, situated in the same grotty neighbourhood as Iberia's. On a day that was even duller than usual, it looked doubly depressing. It felt like it should have been six in the morning instead of nine, and even with caffeine in my system, I wanted to be in bed. My eyes were aching and gritty. My feet were sore from dancing.

We entered Levi's building, and my sergeant rang the bell to his flat. "May we come in?"

A camera screen emerged from the door. "Let me ask Levi."

At last, we'd found him.

Levi said nothing over the intercom, but the door swung open. He was standing in the hallway, his hands shoved into his pockets and his biceps straining against his t-shirt. He had a nasty black eye and a bloody scrape across his chin, and his eyes were wild with uncertainty.

"Morning," he said slowly. "I didn't know you were coming."

"I left several messages last night asking you to come down to the station," Alex said, his tone cutting. "We tried tracking you, but you were under a blanket block."

"You called in sick to Underworld Eclipse," I added, "but you weren't cosied up at home. You were at a street fight, Levi."

"No."

Alex fished the evidence bag out of his pocket and held it up in the light. The cracked tabphone gleamed. "You dropped this when you fled."

Our suspect paled.

"Levi Ford," I said, "I am arresting you on suspicion of affray. You do not have to say anything, but --"

Alex's earpiece buzzed. He shot me an apologetic look and stepped back into the corridor. By the time I'd cuffed Levi, Alex was back again.

His eyes narrowed as he regarded Levi, who by now was as white as a wedding dress. Then he muttered in my ear: "There's been another murder."

***

The quaint charm of Jade's Cakes had been crushed under the physical evidence of the tragedy. Electro-tape stretched across the door, and a PRB was on guard beneath the antique sign. Next to it, Lavender Jones the wedding planner was standing with DC Laney, shivering in the cold wind.

"She was just lying there," Lavender said as we approached. "She looked so horrified... Oh, Inspector Rames."

We stopped. Lavender's tawny skin was a little cooler, and her chocolate-and-caramel hair was swept away from her face. She was dressed in a plain beige trench coat, but gemstones still gleamed on her fingers as she linked them together.

"You found her?" I said.

"Yes." Lavender's lips quivered. She touched my shoulder. "It was awful, Inspector."

"I'm very sorry. Do you mind telling me what you were you doing up here?"

"I came to talk with Jade about another client of mine. I was impressed with her when we worked together for Iberia's wedding." Lavender looked down. "She wasn't in the showroom, so I walked through to the kitchen..." She shuddered and pressed a hand over her mouth.

"All right, thank you."

We suited up and entered the crime scene. Beyond the hologram cakes, a PRB was examining the display of knives. We walked straight through to the kitchen.

Jade Beaumont was lying on the steel table in the centre of the room, a knife planted in her chest. With Cassia standing over the table, I could have almost been fooled into thinking the cake shop had become a functioning mortuary.

Iberia and Ethan's wedding cake was still on display at the edge of the room, but it looked as if it had been attacked by a maniac. The icing was smashed, the sponge was squashed, and huge pieces had been hacked out of it. The couples' topper had been thrown to the floor and stamped on until it had broken in two.

Cassia straightened up and turned to us with bloodshot eyes. "Morning. I hate you."

"Getting drunk wasn't my idea." I joined her at the table and looked at Jade's frozen face. "What can you tell me?"

"Weapon appears to be a cake knife." Cassia tapped the handle, which had hearts engraved all over it. "According to the PRBs, there's one missing from behind the counter."

I turned to Alex. "See if they've found any CCTV."

He went back into the showroom.

"What time are you thinking?" I asked Cassia.

"Early this morning -- between midnight and two, probably."

"That's after we shut down the street fight. What was she doing here?"

"What street fight?"

"You don't remember?" I almost smiled as I looked at my sister. "We walked straight into it. You sat at the side of the road and threw up while we made the arrests. Then you called Sebastian your hero."

Her cheeks turned pink. "Oh, God. I don't really remember anything."

"Before the fight, we went dancing and played laser tag." I felt my frown return. "And after the fight, someone walked in here and stabbed Jade."

A shadow fell over us, and I glanced over my shoulder as Alex filled the doorway. He was holding a tiny camera in his hands, but he looked no happier. "It's gone."

"They took the footage out?"

"And wiped the camera down for prints. There are no prints on the knife cabinet, either."

"Damn." I glanced at the destroyed cake. "Please tell me the murderer isn't intending to kill the entire wedding party..."

***

Levi's solicitor still hadn't turned up when we got back to the station, so Alex and I went to our office to wait. I'd only set one foot over the threshold when I heard DC Laney behind me. "Ma'am, we have something you should see."

"Yes?" I turned around and almost walked into Alex.

"Footage of last night's street fight has been uploaded to Xplora and reported to us. While we were examining it, we identified Levi Ford."

"Show me."

She led us into the larger cube attached to our office, filled with glass desks and house plants, tablets and photo frames, officers talking on tabphones and PRBs. We followed her to a desk near the back of the room, where a tablet displaying a dark video on pause was hovering. She sat down and pressed play.

The figures jumped into motion, and a roar of unintelligible noise poured out of the speakers. People were milling around in a messy crowd. The cameraman was turning around, showing off the chaos. The tabphone lingered in place every few seconds to focus on friends placing bets and fighters warming up.

It briefly settled on Levi, dressed all in black and wrapping boxing tape around his large knuckles. A woman shuffled into the frame and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Stop!" I said.

Laney tapped the screen, and the video froze. I leaned in and looked hard at the golden blonde. "That's Jade Beaumont. You'll have to send me this video, Laney."

"Yes, ma'am." She tapped the screen again.

Levi turned around, surprise flashing across his face as he looked at Jade. They exchanged words, but whatever they said was lost beneath the din of the crowd.

The camera moved on. As it curved around the street, it trailed over a burly woman with bright red hair helping a scrawny teenager to wrap his knuckles. A familiar, angry man was standing next to them.

"Ethan Sharpe!" I said as the camera spun. "What was he doing there?"

In the reflection of the tablet screen, Alex frowned.

The camera kept moving in a slow circle until it reached Levi again. Jade was moving out of the frame. Ethan was entering it. Levi turned towards him.

The footage stopped.

***

"This interview is being video-recorded and may be given in evidence if your case is brought to trial. We are in an interview room at Socrico Police Station on 19th November 2186. The time is 11:30. I am Detective Inspector Amber Rames. The other police officer present is Detective Sergeant Alex Sullivan. Please state your full name and date of birth."

"Levi Ford." His voice was hoarse, and his eyes were red. "10th September 2163."

"Also present is Levi Ford's solicitor," I said. "Levi, I will remind you that you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence." I leaned back. "We have video footage placing you at the scene of an organised street fight at around ten-thirty last night, alongside Ethan Sharpe and Jade Beaumont. That is the last time Jade was seen alive."

His jaw tightened, and he swallowed hard.

"Where were you this morning between the hours of midnight and two o'clock?"

"At home," he said thickly.

"Doing what?"

"Sleeping."

"Can anyone else confirm that?"

"No."

I slid three Xplora screenshots I'd printed out across the table. One was of Levi wrapping boxing tape around his knuckles. The second was of Levi talking to Jade. The third was of Levi turning to face Ethan with clenched fists.

I tapped the picture of Levi and Jade. "What was your relationship with Jade Beaumont?"

"We were friends," he said quietly.

"You were in love with her. But Iberia Mills sabotaged your chance at a relationship."

"That was a silly old thing in school."

"Had you forgiven her?"

He hesitated. "No."

His solicitor scowled at him.

"You spoke with Jade before she left last night. What did you discuss?"

"The fight." Levi sighed. "It wasn't my first time, and she knew it. She hated me going to stuff like that. I don't know how she found out about it, but she came to beg me not to participate. She was worried that I might get hurt."

"What was your response to her plea?"

"I brushed her off. She got angry with me and left."

"Just as your best friend showed up." I tapped the third picture. "Did you fight him?"

"Yes. Ethan has -- had -- his eye on her."

"So whoever won got the girl?" Alex asked, looking unimpressed.

"Yes."

"Did you fight before our PRBs arrived?" I asked.

"Yes. I won." His gaze drifted away, and his voice cracked. "Not that it matters now."

"Where did you go after the crowd broke up?"

"Home."

"Can anyone testify to that?"

"No."

"Okay." I took the pictures back. "Why was it that you thought Ethan liked Jade?"

His hands slowly closed into fists. "I saw them on a date in Coffee Glitch on Wednesday. I didn't know what it was at first, although I was suspicious. Then I found out that just having one woman hadn't contented him while Iberia had been alive. If he'd slept with Ruby, it wasn't a stretch to imagine that he'd also been sleeping with her near-identical sister." Levi's eyes darkened.

"Did Jade confirm that she was in a relationship with Ethan?"

"I didn't ask." He leaned forward, his voice breaking. "Look, Inspector...did you know Jade introduced Iberia to Ethan at school? She also encouraged them to hook back up when they graduated from university. She's the reason why they were getting married. William knew that. And Brittany."

"Brittany didn't leave her flat last night," I said, recalling our surveillance report. She'd left her flat at two the previous afternoon and entered it again at five, where she'd remained since.

But the report hadn't mentioned where William had been.