It was a short few hours until Auburn and Sio hit a dead end with the people on the list. Each person was either on camera somewhere near the entrance of the mines, gathered in the crowd in the square, or on scout assignments validated by their holo-band time markers when checked. But Auburn did not give up. He scanned over the holo-band trackers looking for anyone who deviated from their routine the day the mines collapsed, so far there was nothing. Sio was growing rather antsy sitting and watching Auburn go over the information. They were currently sitting on a hill overlooking the town square. It was twilight, and not many people were out and about their business. Most would be at home making dinner and chatting within their shell-units, warm and cozy.
Sio was not warm and cozy, but she did not complain.
If it meant finding out who sealed the mines that killed her grandmother, she would wait out in the cold. She'd certainly do more than wait. Sio tugged on Auburn's arm, and the man grunted to her, not looking her way. He was currently watching the pattern of a single dot on the overhead view of the mines for anything suspicious.
"I don't think that these people on the list did it." She said. Auburn nodded his head, acknowledging her, but said nothing further. He continued to watch the dot. It disappeared in the mines. Auburn made a note on a different screen.
"I think you're right, little Sio." He said after a while. "Then, who do you think it is?"
"I don't know." She said, but with hesitance that made Auburn pause and face her. He didn't ask again, he didn't have to. His silence was enough to prompt Sio into speaking. "Lurio's been acting strange… I'm not saying it's him, but I thought you should know."
"Strange how?" Auburn asked slowly.
"He's been up in the early hours, missing late at night… I… well, here." Sio showed Auburn the compiled list she had been making in her free time. She even told him about syncing up with his holo-band late last night, and how she heard Lurio leave. "I'm sorry." She expected Auburn to get mad. But Auburn simply tapped on Sio's holo-band and synced his own monitoring data with his own. Several names popped up. Lurio's was one of them. Another miner that they had interviewed had his name crossed out. Then there was a final name.
Ava. Sio knew this name. It was Laura's sister.
It was Auburn's deceased wife.
–
Sio and Auburn returned home notably with a wariness bred from suspicion. Lurio was whittling away at a bone. Sio felt uncomfortable. Auburn had shown her that he had been tracking Lurio's movements since discovering there had been tampering with the water pump in the mines. It was Lurio who used to be the pump operations specialist before he retired and by rite of passage gave that position to his daughter when he left. By all means, it was Lurio who very well could have been the culprit, but what would he have to gain? His daughter's death? The loss of his son-in-law? None of it made sense.
Auburn had made it clear that Sio was not to approach Lurio on this matter, especially not alone. They had no evidence it was him, and besides his previous position as operations specialist, they had no other indication Lurio would do such a thing. He had no motive. It was likely someone else was involved. But the miner they interrogated was present in every video feed they checked away from the pump. Sio thought maybe the monitors could be remotely accessed, but Auburn said that's not how the machine was set up. It wasn't linked up to the holo-band network. It was purely its own system. So it had to have been someone physically present to access the water pump systems.
There was one way they could know for sure if Lurio was the culprit. His holo-band. If he were anywhere near the machine, Auburn would be able to track it. Auburn was the first to greet Lurio.
"Hello, father." He said in his usual manner. Sio squirmed next to him.
"Son." Lurio nodded to him and gave Sio a small nod as well. Sio returned the nod. Auburn gestured Sio to go inside. She did and, after putting away her shell-suit and boots, made for the window in the living area. She could at least watch whatever was going to unfold. She made sure to peek through the lower slats to the metal shades so as not to draw attention. Auburn and Lurio chatted non-consequentially. It appeared to anyone looking that their usual banter was on when Lurio was home. Polite 'how are you?' and 'fine.' Small questions. Small replies. But Auburn never let the conversation lull into awkward silence, which was a surprising skill.
Auburn was usually the quiet type. Sio wondered if this was strange to Lurio, knowing his son-in-law better than she. But perhaps Auburn was more talkative the more one got to know him. Either way, it was an interesting watch. Auburn told Lurio of his dealings in the mines, Lurio replied with his own stories of his youth spent underground. They spoke of familiar things, it seemed. Lurio whittled at the bone in his hand, shaping it, but into what, Sio could not see.
Auburn patted Lurio on the shoulder as he went inside, then, in short order, took off the outer shell-suit and boots as Sio did. Sio looked to Auburn for any indication that he had done something other than talk to Lurio. Auburn tapped his holo-band, and Sio got a ping from hers. He had done it. Auburn synced his holo-band with Lurio's. But due to his proximity, they couldn't look into the details just yet. So they waited, and, like clockwork, Lurio left towards the workhouse to get a drink.
–
Nothing.
Auburn and Sio scoured through Lurio's readings the day of the incident and found nothing unusual. He was on the hill watching from afar, from what they gathered. He did not move the pump. Sio heard Auburn curse under his breath.
"Back to basics." He said to Sio. They returned to the list given to them by Otheyo. Auburn paced the living area while he looked for any correlation to Lurio's position on the day the mines collapsed, while Sio overlooked the names for anyone they might have missed.
Seeing the name Ava crossed out bothered Sio.
Auburn had struck her name off the list immediately, and Sio understood. While the dead did proceed in spirit in the Symphony, it was unlikely Ava had set a curse upon the mines in death. The mines were her livelihood, and the village's livelihood. Ava was a sweet woman from what Sio remembered of her. She was quick to smile, and, unlike Auburn, was always one for a chat. It was custom for Laura and Sio to have tea with Ava in the afternoon when she was out of work for the day. Auburn would leave them to their chats and go with Lurio to get a drink. Then she went missing in the mines during Sio's trip with her grandmother.
Auburn had said it had been like any other day in the mines until Sio's parents sent in a distress beacon from their holo-bands. Otheyo went into the mines to check in on them, accompanied by Ava. Otheyo returned, the others did not. Otheyo claimed they all got separated in the mines due to a tunnel collapse, and Ava tried to find another way around, but it had taken hours. The mines were also starting to interfere with the holo-band network. The last known location of Sio's parents and Ava was at the bottom of the mine. It had been three days, the trip to The Mirror took four. When Sio and her grandmother arrived, it had been nearly five days since anyone had last contacted Ava and Sio's parents.
Sio knew it was unlikely Ava was still alive, but the thought gnawed at her.