“Are you Casey Shen?”

“That’s me.”

“Electrical engineer, specializing in radio-frequency analysis, at Johnson and Rich Aeronautics?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Originally from St. Joseph, moved to Engelsheim for work?”

“Yup.”

“Excellent. Mr. Shen, my name is Miles van Recht, and I’m a prosecutor for the City of Engelsheim. If my reports are to be believed, you’ve caused us quite a bit of trouble.”

“With all due respect, I still don’t know why you have me here.”

Miles knit his fingers. “Have you heard of Nighthawk?”

A smirk crossed Casey’s face. “Course I have. Didn’t they force some politician to confess his crimes on live television?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“Seems like a good person. Why are you chasing them?”

“Well, they stole $1.17 billion from Lawrence Waters.”

“Waters can afford it. Besides, didn’t you find it?”

“We did- in the bank accounts of over eighteen thousand of the employees Waters had just laid off. This case is grand theft on an almost unprecedented scale. We must bring Nighthawk to justice.”

Casey scowled. “I think Nighthawk just ticked off a bunch of rich jerks, and now, like a good little soldier, you need to make your masters happy.”

Miles pressed on. “Didn’t you work for Waters? Here, on your resume, it says you worked for one of his companies.”

“I did. So what? You think I’m Nighthawk because we both have some beef with Waters? I can give you eighteen thousand others who do.”

Miles shook his head. “I’m not done yet. Nighthawk also unlawfully breached Waters’s privacy.” He pulled out a small circuit board. “Do you know what this is?”

Casey peered closely at it. “I do, but any tinkerer worth their salt could tell you it’s a camera.” He pointed at the lens.

“It’s not just a camera. It transmits a video stream wirelessly to an off-board recording device, which can be anywhere within five hundred yards of it.”

“Your point?”

“Well, it’d take a pretty skilled electrical engineer to rig up something like this, wouldn’t it? Perhaps one with a background in radio transmissions?”

Casey shook his head. “You really think I’m Nighthawk.”

“You seem a likely candidate.”

“So, based on that, you barge into my home in the dead of night, haul me away in cuffs, and interrogate me in this dungeon?”

“Mr. Shen-”

“What happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty’?”

“Calm down, Mr. Shen.”

“Besides, I didn’t hear you complaining when they helped you catch the art forger, or bring down that trafficking ring. Or didn’t you see those calling cards Nighthawk left for you?”

“Nighthawk is one of the biggest thieves of all time!”

“So is Waters! You don’t become as rich as he is without being one.” Casey took a deep breath, and leaned forward. “You're a man of justice, Prosecutor van Recht. I trust you will bring in the right thief."

WC: 476. Feedback welcome!