"Sir," the man said after a moment.
"Can I—am I free to go? I've said what I was told to say. I don't want any part of whatever this is. I just want to go home and forget what happened this evening."
"You're free to go," Veronica said.
"But I'll need you to present yourself at the Arcnyte divisional office tomorrow morning for a formal statement. Ask for Senior Arcnyte Veronica Izzard-Crew. Can you do that?"
The man nodded rapidly and began retreating down the alley before the sentence was fully complete.
*
When the sound of his footsteps had faded, the alley settled into a silence that had texture to it.
Nobody spoke immediately.
There was a quality to the silence that suggested everyone was waiting—not for permission to speak, exactly, but for the specific person whose voice mattered most in this moment to speak first.
