FUTURE CRIMES
are bound to be even more convoluted, more inventive, and far more difficult to solve "beyond a reasonable doubt" than those by which we are currently beset. And the consequences for failing to bring a criminal to justice—be the perpetrator human, alien, robot, cyborg, or some form of intelligence not yet imagined—may be as far-reaching and devastating as interstellar warfare.
In this unique anthology of all-original stories, Mike Resnick culled the near and far future and came up with eighteen scenarios for crimes that may some day be committed. Then he set his fellow word sleuths to solving and resolving them. The result is a masterful meld of science fiction and mystery themes, this delightfully challenging collection of—
WHATDUNITS
Other imagination-capturing anthologies
from DAW Books:
CATFANTASTIC I & II Edited by Andre Norton and Martin H. Greenberg. For cat lovers everywhere, these are original collections of fantastical cat tales, some set in the distant future on as yet unknown worlds, some set in our own world but not quite our own dimension, some recounting what happens when beings from the ancient past and creatures out of myth collide with modern-day felines.
THE NIGHT FANTASTIC Edited by Poul and Karen Anderson. Let Poul Anderson, Ursula K. Le Guin, Isaac Asimov, Alan Dean Foster, Robert Silverberg, Fritz Leiber, and a host of other fantasy masters carry you away to magical realms where night becomes day as the waking world sleeps and sleeping worlds wake.
HORSE FANTASTIC Edited by Rosalind M. and Martin H. Greenberg. With an Introduction by Jennifer Roberson. From a racer death couldn't keep from the finish line to a horse with the devil in him, these are all-original stories by such talents as Mike Resnick, Jennifer Roberson, Mercedes Lackey, Mickey Zucker Reichert, and Judith Tarr.
DRAGON FANTASTIC Edited by Rosalind M. and Martin H. Greenberg. With an Introduction by Tad Williams. From a virtual reality dragon to a once-a-century get-together of winged destroyers, here are brand-new tales by such masters as Alan Dean Foster, Esther Friesner, and Dennis McKiernan.
edited by
MIKE RESNICK
DAW BOOKS, INC.
DONALD A. WOLLHEIM, FOUNDER
375 Hudson Street. New York. NY 10014
ELIZABETH R. WOLLHEIM
SHEILA E. GILBERT
PUBLISHERS
Copyright ® 1992 by Mike Resnick and Martin H. Greenberg.
All Rights Reserved.
Cover art by Peter Gudynas.
Introduction copyright ® 1992 by Mike Resnick.
"True Faces" copyright ® 1992 by Patricia K. Cadigan.
"Gut Reaction" copyright ® 1992 by Jack C. Haldeman II.
"Loss of Phase" copyright ® 1992 by Anthony R. Lewis.
"Its Own Reward" copyright ® 1992 by Katharine Kerr.
"Monkey See" copyright ® 1992 by Roger MacBride Allen.
"Heaven's Only Daughter" copyright ® 1992 by Laura Resnick.
"Heaven Scent" copyright ® 1992 by Virginia Booth.
"Lost Lamb" copyright ® 1992 by Barbara Delaplace.
"Cain's Curse" copyright ® 1992 by Jack Nimersheim.
"Murder On-Line" copyright ® 1992 by John DeChancie.
"Color Me Dead" copyright ® 1992 by Sandra Rector and P.M.F. Johnson.
"Signs and Stones" copyright ® 1992 by Judith Tarr.
"Murder Under Glass" copyright ® 1992 by Bob Liddil.
"It's the Thought That Counts" copyright ® 1992 by Michael A. Stackpole
"The Colonel and the Alien" copyright ® 1992 by Ralph Roberts.
"Obscurocious" copyright ® 1992 by Ray Aldridge.
"An Incident at the Circus" copyright ® 1992 by Richard Katze.
"Dead Ringer" copyright ® 1992 by Esther M. Friesner and Walter J. Stutzman.
DAW Book Collectors No. 892.
First Printing, October 1992
123456789
DAW TRADEMARK REGISTERED
U.S. PAT OFF AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES
—MARCA REGISTRADA,
HECHO EN U.S.A.
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
To Carol, as always,
And to Elsie and Betsy Wollheim
and Sheila Gilbert
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION by Mike Resnick
TRUE FACES by Pat Cadigan
GUT REACTION by Jack C. Haldeman II
LOSS OF PHASE by Anthony R. Lewis
ITS OWN REWARD by Katharine Kerr
MONKEY SEE by Roger MacBride Allen
HEAVEN'S ONLY DAUGHTER by Laura Resnick
HEAVEN SCENT by Virginia Booth
LOST LAMB by Barbara Delaplace
CAIN'S CURSE by Jack Nimersheim
MURDER ON-LINE by John DeChancie
COLOR ME DEAD by Sandra Rector and P.N.F. Johnson
SIGNS AND STONES by Judith Tarr
MURDER UNDER GLASS by Bob Liddil
IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS by Michael A. Stackpole
THE COLONEL AND THE ALIEN by Ralph Roberts
OBSCUROCIOUS by Ray Aldridge
AN INCIDENT AT THE CIRCUS by Rick Katze
DEAD RINGER by Esther M. Friesner and Walter J. Stutzman
There was a time when people said it couldn't be done: you couldn't blend the mystery story with the science fiction story without having the detective solve the case by coming up with a piece of obscure scientific (or pseudo-scientific), knowledge to which the reader couldn't possibly have access.
Well, Isaac Asimov put that objection to rest 40 years ago with his classic The Caves of Steel, the first book-length science fiction mystery that succeeded on all levels. And fast on its heels came Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man, considered by many writers and critics to be among the half-dozen best science fiction novels in the history of the genre, a cat-and-mouse game in which a killer must commit a murder and hide his guilt in a telepathic society.
Nowadays, science fiction and even fantasy mysteries appear with some regularity, and a number of detectives, from Lord Darcy to Lije Bailey to Gil Hamilton to Matthew Swain to my own John Justin Mallory, have achieved considerable followings.
If there is one place that the science fictional mystery has not yet made major inroads, it is in the category of the short story. This anthology was commissioned to fill that gap.
Once the good people at DAW told me what they wanted, I sat down and created a few dozen murders, each with a science fictional theme. Usually they were just a few sentences, occasionally they stretched to half a typewritten page. (The operative murder scenario will precede each story.) Then I selected the authors who were to appear in this volume and gave each of them a choice of two or three of the scenarios. Murders were chosen, assignments were made, deadlines were met, and I hope you're as happy with the result as I am.
PS: They say that inside of every editor is a frustrated writer trying to break out.
DAW will be publishing a companion volume, More Whatdunits, a few months up the road. The gimmick is the same—I create the mysteries, the writers solve them—but there is one major difference: every story in it has been written by an editor.
Keep an eye out for it; I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised.
Pat Cadigan has written a few dozen powerful short stories, is a multiple Nebula and Hugo nominee, and is the author of Mindplayers and Synners.
-
A human diplomat is found murdered in an alien embassy. Seventeen aliens are present. Each claims to be the sole murderer, and because of their psychological makeup, each passes a lie detector test.
. Are any of them telling the truth?
. Why was the human killed?
. How do you question aliens who are congenital liars?
"I told you I wasn't in the mood for this," Stilton whispered.
I gave him an elbow in the ribs without looking away from the body of the woman lying on the floor of the large room. I'm never much in the mood for a strangulation murder myself, but it didn't pay to advertise. Not in this company. History, I thought; I'm looking at history in the making right there in front of me. People had been strangled before and they'd get strangled again, but this was the first time one had ever been strangled in an alien embassy. The first alien embassy, no less. Two firsts. And we were the first law enforcement officers on the scene, so that was three firsts. The day was definitely running hot.
On my other side, the tall man in the retro-tuxedo swallowed loudly for the millionth time. He'd said his name was Farber and given his occupation as secretary to the dead woman. I wasn't sure which was more striking, his old-fashioned getup or his noisy peristaltic action. I'd never met anyone who could swallow loudly before—did that make it five firsts? I shoved the thought aside. The room was so quiet, I probably could have heard him digesting his food if I listened closely enough. The Lazarians either observed quiet as a religion, or they were as much in shock as the human employees, who were all huddled together on the far side of the room, too spooked even to whisper to each other.
There was only one Lazarian on this side of the room. The rest were gathered in a semicircle around the corpse. There were about twenty of them and the grouping had this very odd formality to it, as if they'd all gathered there to seek an audience with the woman.
I turned to Farber, who reacted by swallowing again and then blotting his forehead with his sleeve. "One more time?" I gave Stilton another jab in the ribs.
"Ready," Stilton said sourly, moving so that I could see he had the interviewer aimed.
...
allforjesus2001