Rangin looks over the report, but doesn't see what he was looking for. "No, sorry, not that report, the crime report that should have been submitted with the details of the theft. The issue was only discovered last night by all concerned parties, but the details weren't passed on." Rangin looks concerned at Officer Peters. "At least not that I'm aware of."
"Could you find that one for me please?"
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Not yet finding her quarry, Kylah is frustrated. She has no idea how much the rest of Fastolfe's household has heard about the results of the search; she very much wants to get to him before his staff learns of the discovery of the second transporter trace--and especially before it is communicated to their employer.
Then a thought occurs to her and, annoyed that she did not think of it before, she slips into an empty place--looking in all directions to make sure she is alone. Her hand grabs at her communicator.
"Kylah to Rangin," she says softly. "Can you speak freely? I have a question for you regarding the research you have seen regarding the loss of the spore effects."
Last edited by choie; 25 Aug 2014 at 12:50 PM.
Rangin steps back to give Officer Peters some room to look for the initial report.
"Hello, Kylah, yes I can talk, what's question?"
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Kylah closes her eyes briefly. Just hearing him soothes her. "I shall try to be discreet. Were you able to take a look at the records of the anomalous patients? If so, did you notice whether any were taking any medication, or had any pre-existing conditions? I would have asked T'Var but she has an oath... I do not know if you do."
"I don't have the same oath, but I still would not answer that kind of question," Rangin gently chides Kylah. "All I will say is that I did see Dr Halsey's reports and that it did not appear that any medication that may or may not be being taken by the people examined were responsible for the loss of spores taking effect. I will also say that Dr T'Var has seen the same notes and said nothing towards that end and I did get it confirmed by Dr Lucy Anderson at the research station. If it was a factor, then we have all missed it."
Rangin pauses and thinks for a moment. "There is one thing you could do for me though. Could you find out from Lord Fastolfe, or his entourage, if they raised the issue of the missing knives with the hotel security? Thank you..."
Rangin pauses slightly, "...and I hope everything is going well over there for you."
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Kylah's fingers wrap tightly around the communicator near her lips as she murmurs, "I am not sure how things are here. For some reason Mr. Graham wished to speak to me alone and was asking personal questions, and I..." She hesitates, then shakes her head. There is no time for such details. "It does not matter. Thank you for answering what you could, and I am sorry to have sounded as if I wished to pry or ask anything untoward. Something else may have been taken besides the knives--something from a bedside table. Medication was the first thing that came to mind, that is all."
Looking up, Kylah does not dare say more. "I had better go--I will ask about the security issue for you and will let you know. Take care of yourself, Velir." She closes the communicator. She is disappointed to have learned nothing new, not to mention in the attempt of gaining information perhaps she has made Velir think less of her. She returns the device to her belt and continues the search for Fastolfe.
Peters digs deeper in the WR&R Security files. "I don't see that Fastolfe or any of his staff reported the knives missing. Mr. Hsu mentioned it in his daily summary, though, as I said." He points out the relevant paragraph to Rangin.
Dan Stimmons, Lord Fastolfe's personal assistant, is clearly very reluctant to come downstairs and talk to Graham, but he does. He clutches the pharmacy bag a little more tightly, and Graham notices that he is sweating slightly. He asks, "Yes, sir?"
Lt. JG Haakon Kjaerstad emerges from an upstairs room, tricorder in hand, and sees Kylah. He seems surprised. "Mr. Kylah! May I help you?"
"Thank you, Lieutenant... Kjaerstad," Kylah says hesitantly, uncertain if she is getting his name right. She glances around, also not sure exactly in which direction she should be heading. "I am trying to find Lord Fastolfe. Have you seen him since we left?"
Last edited by choie; 25 Aug 2014 at 08:09 PM.
"Are you...feeling all right, Mr. Stimmons?" Graham asks, cocking his head and leaning forward just slightly. He gestures toward an adjoining room with chairs. "Would you like to sit down?" he offers affably enough. He shrugs slightly, "can I take your bag?" he adds, moving his left hand just slightly toward it.
Kylah has just asked the question about Fastolfe's location when she suddenly thinks of another for the Lieutenant. "Oh! No, wait, before I forget, sir--the transporter signatures that were discovered: How closely can you pinpoint when they occurred in comparison with one another? I am no technical engineer and I apologize for the rudimentary question. I know it is unlikely you can predict with any degree of specificity what time these transports were made. I was just wondering whether they were simultaneous--or nearly so--or if one was definitely initiated after the other?"
"Yes, yes he did," replies Rangin who sits back down in the chair as he struggles to contain the emotions and questions in him. How did Mr Hsu manage to put it into a report if it was not reported and no-one else mentioned it.
There were certain details of the crime known only to the person who committed it, was this an example of one of them. Rangin could feel that feeling of elation, of finding a solution to a problem, but this was more than just another science test, this was someone's life at stake. And he could still be wrong, he didn't have all the data and wouldn't find out until Kylah got back to him with the answer.
Yes, they had reported it and it was just another mistake someone had made somewhere, further muddying the waters of this case. No, they hadn't and someone was showing perfect knowledge of the case that they had no right to know...
...and it painted a large target right on Mr Hsu's back.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Kjaerstad nods. "The transporter traces were both, it appears, left in the past three to six days, based on Gh-particle decay analysis. They're very faint, and we can't tell more exactly, or if one came before the other. There are no others in the house but these. As for Fastolfe, miss, we have him right through here." The Norwegian man shows Kylah back into the second-floor sitting room, where Fastolfe and Miss Adjetey are waiting. They do not look happy. Dobson stands impassively at parade rest along one wall.
Stimmons says, "I'm fine, but no, thanks, I'll keep my bag... if that's all right." He takes the chair Graham offers, though.
Remember you can ask all the questions you want in one post, then follow up based on his answers.
About to leave, Kylah hesitates, putting a hand to her forehead to massage it as she thinks. "Three to six days? The Fastolfe party has barely even been here a full three days. Are you certain it cannot be less than that?" First we arrived here, Wilson was murdered that evening, we worked through the next day, then there was yesterday... I suppose it must almost be three days. But that is cutting it very fine. Once Kjaerstad confirms or corrects her, Kylah thanks him and walks into the room.
She sees the unhappy faces of the rock star and attorney, nods a quick greeting to Dobson, and then says, "Please excuse us, Crewman? I believe waiting just outside in the hallway should be sufficient for now. These two are not under arrest, and I wish for some privacy."
She waits for Dobson to leave, assuming the other woman listens to her, and takes a step closer to Fastolfe. "I am sorry," she says bluntly. "I know I cannot be a welcome sight to you. My questions seem to be multiplying like tribbles. But some new information has been brought to my attention and I... I am afraid I made a stupid mistake the other day when we first learned about your missing knives. I failed to ask the appropriate follow-up questions. We should have asked you to look around to see if anything else had been taken.
"I will rectify that now, Lord Fastolfe. Can you please tell me: since you arrived here, has anything else gone missing? And it need not be something you would think stolen. You might have assumed it was simply... misplaced. Or you failed to pack it. Or you could have assumed it was moved, perhaps, by one of the housecleaning staff. Anything--I need to know even if it is just a matter of your having run out of some... some trivial item like cologne or skin lotion... earlier than expected." Kylah kneels down so that she is eye-to-eye with Fastolfe. "Has anything like this occurred?"
She pauses. "If you have not noticed anything like this, I would ask that you accompany me into your bedroom and take a second look to make sure." Turning her concentration on him full-force, Kylah suddenly asks: "And finally: did you send Mr. Stimmons on some personal errand this morning?"
"Well, first things first," Graham says soothingly (for him, at least) to Stimmons. "Are you carrying any weapons, anything at all that might be a danger to me or the other officers searching the house?"
"How long have you worked for Lord Fastolfe?"
"Do you enjoy it?"
"What have you heard about the murder?"
Kjaerstad frowns, looks at his tricorder again, and adjusts the controls. He says slowly, "I suppose it could've been two days ago. Unlikely, but possible. It's not an exact science, unfortunately. I was meaning to run it by a transporter tech from the ship anyway."
Dobson leaves the room at once. Fastfolfe looks at Adjetey, who nods slightly. He says calmly, "Nothing has gone missing but my knives. I haven't run out of anything. I didn't send Stimmons out on any errand. I'll come with you to the master bedroom only if Miss Adjetey can come with me."
Stimmons chuckles nervously, and says to Graham, "Uh, no, no weapons, nothing dangerous. I've worked for Lord Fastfolfe for almost three years. I like my job very much. I heard, uh, well, that the resort manager was stabbed last night, no, the night before last, in the park outside, and that His Lordship is a suspect."
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 26 Aug 2014 at 08:36 PM.
Kylah's chest tightens in growing irritation. "Of course, Ms. Adjetey should join us," she says, unable to prevent an accusatory look at Fastolfe. She murmurs quietly as she straightens: "I would not dream of entering a bedroom alone with you. I might accidentally 'bewitch' you again."
With a graceful arm gesture to the door, Kylah waits for the pair to join her on the way to the bedroom. "I take it, then," she says conversationally, although she is almost slamming her empathic abilities into Fastolfe's brain, "that Mr. Stimmons's early morning shopping trip was likely his own personal excursion?"
When they arrive in the bedroom Kylah will watch both Adjetey and Fastolfe to see where their eyes go first.
Fastolfe shrugs unconcernedly. "I don't know why he went. I don't keep track of what my staff does in their off-hours." He looks at the bed first when you enter the bedroom; Adjetey looks from left to right, sweeping the room, and not at anything in particular that Kylah notices.
Kylah walks slowly over to the bed table and examines it before shifting her gaze to Lord Fastolfe. "What do you usually keep here, Lord Fastolfe? One might expect to find items that are particularly personal or useful, things one wishes to keep close at hand before you go to bed, or when you first get up. Is everything here as it should be?"
She keeps watching him but addresses Ms. Adjetey as well now. "And before I forget, about those missing knives. Once we discovered they were gone, did you ever mention them to anyone on the hotel staff, perhaps for the purposes of putting in a claim?"
Graham nods and leans forward slightly. "Did you know Wilson, the resort manager? Any other resort staff?"
That night--were you with Lord Fastolfe?
When weren't you?
Where else did you go that night?
Did you notice anything out of place or unusual at the house, here?
Fastolfe says, "I usually keep a datapad or two by my bed for nighttime reading and notetaking, and here's the one that I remember. I don't think I had anything else by the bed since our first night here. Everything in the room appears to be pretty much as I left it, except, I suppose, for dirty laundry and the like."
Adjetey says thoughtfully, "I believe I did mention the missing knives to the head of resort security. Since it seemed likely to be connected to the murder investigation, we didn't report them stolen, as such, or apply for compensation." She looks at her boss, who nods curtly in agreement.
Stimmons replies to Graham, "I don't know any of the resort staff personally. I did go with His Lordship and Miss Adjetey to the Starfire nightclub. I was there with them the entire time, and we came back here to the house together, as well. I went nowhere else that night. I noticed nothing out of place or unusual when we returned, or during the night. I heard about Mr... Wilson, was it? Mr. Wilson's death later the next day."
Kylah tosses a brief look at Adjetey in acknowledgement of her response. She walks up to Fastolfe slowly. "Just a datapad, you say. No weapon? No medication or other... recreational personal items? I only ask because Mr. Stimmons has been to the pharmacy, and seemed in quite a hurry to bring his purchase upstairs. I thought perhaps he might have borrowed something." The thought occurs to her that if it was a sexual device of some kind, she would very much prefer not to know. She isn't sure whether to laugh or grimace at the notion.
Tilting her head, she glances around. "If you are convinced everything is in its proper place, you are a more organized person than I have ever met. Certainly far more organized than I. Over the past few days and nights that I have been on this planet, I have barely been in my own quarters except to sleep, and brought very few personal items. But one cursory look would not reassure me that nothing could have been taken. And I suspect I have far less 'dirty laundry' than you."
After measuring every inch of his face with her gaze, Kylah darts out a finger to point at the bedtable, saying bluntly: "A second transporter signature has been found. Right there. So I am afraid to tell you that something was beamed either out of or into this room--likely at the same time as the knives--at a spot located just inches from where you rest your head."
She raises an eyebrow even as she lowers her voice. "I would rather not frighten you, Lord Fastolfe. But you should realize that if something can be beamed in or out of here so easily, so can someone. And quite possibly faster than you would be able to reach those knives of yours, or for Mr. Hotchkiss to burst in to protect you."
Kylah stares up at him and tries desperately to read what might be going on inside that ego-swollen mind of his. "If you care nothing about justice, do you not care about your own safety? I do. And unlike others, it is not because I idolize some character you have created--or because I am on your payroll. Please, Lord Fastolfe--tell me what you think about this news. Tell me what you think someone might have transported in or out of this room."
Last edited by choie; 28 Aug 2014 at 12:32 AM.
Fastolfe says, "No medication, and nothing else by the side of the table since we got here. Stimmons hasn't borrowed anything from me, and he never would without my permission. I have no idea what might have been beamed into or out of here other than my knives." He seems to be getting a little angry. "Moreover, with this whole search-warrant fiasco, I don't...."
Adjetey puts his hand on his arm and he looks at her questioningly. She meets Kylah's gaze and says, "My client has nothing else to say."
Kylah ignores Adjetey and focuses on Fastolfe dispassionately. "Yes. I see you still have your priorities in order. I wish you luck with them. I also hope, probably in vain, that you have been considering the advice I gave to you regarding being alone with your staff." She reaches over and picks up the datapad, at this point no longer caring whether it angers him or not. "If there is a password or encryption to this thing, kindly unlock it so I may examine it more carefully. If this is the only item that has been on this table, perhaps it is the object someone beamed in, or out, or both."
While holding the pad with one hand, she picks up her communicator. "Kylah to Lt. Kjaerstad? If possible, could you please return to the master bedroom, or see that one of the other security officers is stationed here as well? I will be leaving and do not wish to leave the scene unguarded."
Next she walks to the entrance and looks for Dobson in the hallway. "Dobson, please accompany Lord Fastolfe and Ms. Adjetey back to the sitting room or wherever their next destination is. As long as we have permission to be in this house, I would like to ensure his lordship is not left alone." With a glance back at Fastolfe, she adds, "If you will not heed my warning, sir, I will have to enforce these precautions on you as long as I am able. It is clearly all the power I can exercise at this point--protecting you from your own bad judgment. And advice."
Last edited by choie; 28 Aug 2014 at 02:40 PM.
"Well," Graham says, leaning back and slapping his hands on his legs. "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Stimmons. I'll just have a look in that bag and then hopefully I won't have to impinge on your time any further."
Fastolfe curtly tells Kylah the passcode for the datapad. She sees that it contains several novels, including Nakemura's recent bestseller A Silence Unheard, Trofimov's comedy Alone on Earth Again, and Fitzgerald's classic The Great Gatsby.
Stimmons looks a little alarmed. "Is that really necessary? I'm sorry, it's just that... well, this is personal. What I bought."
"Thank you. Quite an array of literature, Lord Fastolfe. I remember reading this Great Gatsby book at the Academy. It is about a wealthy libertine who leads a glamorous but ultimately unfulfilling life with little regard for others or even himself. And he ends up murdered, does he not? Not a pleasant conclusion to his tale--but given his decisions, somewhat inevitable." Kylah smiles coolly and tosses the pad on the bed. "My apologies if I ruined the ending for you. Forewarned is forearmed."
Once Dobson has arrived to escort Fastolfe and Adjetey away, and the Lieutenant or one of the other security team is in place to guard the bedroom, Kylah will leave the bedroom and head back downstairs to see how Graham is doing with Stimmons. While walking, she also makes a mental note to check the datapads that Graham has already examined. Fastolfe must have financial data somewhere, and she would like to view it.
Last edited by choie; 28 Aug 2014 at 09:17 PM.
Graham shrugs. "Well, a judge went out of his way to sign a search warrant for this premises and persons in it for the purpose of investigating a homicide, and me being a Security officer...so, yes. But look at this way, Mr. Stimmons. Right now it's just you and me. Assuming whatever-it-is isn't related to the murder, I really don't care and have other priorities than embarrassing an innocent man." He gestures with his left hand. "It's got to happen one way or another, so let's just get it done, shall we?"
Rangin sits in the chair in the security office, deep in thought, waiting for some inspiration.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
"I've read Gatsby before, Ensign," Fastolfe says, shaking his head, "but thank you for trying to spoil the ending for me. That is about what I would expect from 'Starfleet's finest' - petty and immature by nature."
Dobson leads him and Adjetey back to the sitting room.
Stimmons blushes crimson and hands Graham his pharmacy shopping bag. In it is some candy, toothpaste, and a vial of Umitril, a prescription skin cream that the Security officer is not familiar with.
It's your untimely ending I'm trying to spoil, you arrogant reprobate, though I can hardly remember why, Kylah thinks as she watches them leave. The sincere efforts she has wasted trying to help Fastolfe only make her angrier.
Since none of the security team has arrived yet, Kylah realizes she is stuck here. With nothing else to do, and bearing in mind the pharmacy bag Stimmons was holding, Kylah decides to take a journey to Fastolfe's bathroom, closets and dressers to see what, if anything, might be of interest. The security team has certainly checked adequately, but her own curiosity leads her to conduct her own more personal search.
Bending over an open drawer, she suddenly remembers to contact Velir. "Kylah to Rangin," she says tersely into her communicator, instantly regretting her tone and softening it. She does not mean to show her frustration to Velir. "Fastolfe's attorney claims they spoke with Mr. Hsu about the knives having been stolen. And by the way, despite the transporter signature, Fastolfe says nothing is missing from his bedtable. All he keeps there, allegedly, is a datapad with some night-time reading." Her tone turns bitter. "Perhaps we have been using the wrong form of pressure on him. Instead of threatening him with arrest, I wonder if he would be more disgraced if his fans knew he spends his evenings alone with a book.
"In any event, the only member of his staff who has not been questioned is the one who was not in the nightclub with the rest--Paula Goldman. If you have any suggestions on what I might ask her, I would greatly appreciate it."
Dr. T'Var calls Graham on his communicator. "I have finished speaking with Dr. Halsey; where shall I go next, Ensign?"
It is now 1002 hours.
Graham keeps his face scrupulously neutral as he hands the bag and its contents back to Stimmons--which is not hard since he has no idea what Stimmons is embarrassed about.
"See," he offers, as his communicator beeps, with a slight shrug. "Painless." He pulls out his communicator and asks Stimmons to remain seated for just a moment while he take the hail.
He steps into the other room and says quietly "Uh, well first Doc, can you tell me what 'Umitril' is for?"
Kjaerstad locks the main bedroom and assures Kylah it will remain secure.
Dr. T'Var says, "It is a topical antifungal, a very powerful one, as I recall. It is part of the standard treatment for Ithacan epidermal fungus, commonly known as the 'Ithaca Itch.'" She pauses. "Do you require a prescription, Ensign?"
Rangin answers Kylah on the communicator. "Thank you, it ties up with the reports here, I just wanted to make sure. Hmm, Paula Goldman, the usual questions I guess, what was she doing on the day? Had she met Mr Wilson? What were her dealings with the resort. What time did Fastolfe and co leave? What did she do while they were away? What time did they get back? Did she notice anything unusual in the house or hear anything unusual outside at any time?"
"You know, I'm not sure why I'm asking that one seeing as it looks as though Mr Wilson was transported there after this death, but its probably worth asking anyway, although there is one thing we never did look at. How old the bloodstains were at each site...if he was killed away from the square and moved there afterwards, do the times that blood will spilt match up at all? Thanks Kylah, you just gave me something else to go and check. I've got the readings, so a timestamp analysis from the stains based on oxidisation in the differing atmospheres between outside and the air-conditioned room and the cellular decay caused by death will help to provide a guide as to when the blood was spilled in each area compared to the other, and of course, I wonder if the blood sample will have kept a trace of the fact it was transported or whether the bloodstains in the garden were new. Some spectropic analysis should show if there is any wave residue remaining and show it either way. We never looked for it at the time, but now we know what we are looking for...Kylah, you're a genius. Rangin out."
Rangin gets up with a smile. "Officer Peters, thank you for everything. If you have any sparks of inspiration, let me know. If you will excuse me, I have some science to do."
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Once Velir signs off, Kylah looks down at her communicator, not entirely certain what prompted this brainstorm. A genius, she thinks dryly as she puts the device away. I could not even decipher half of what he said.
She walks past Stimmons with a disinterested nod of acknowledgment, more interested in hearing Graham's report on their conversation than in initiating one of her own with the man. Then she swivels back to him, saying bluntly. "Excuse me, Mr. Stimmons. You are Lord Fastolfe's personal assistant and must know his possessions fairly well. Something appears to have gone missing from the bed table in his room. Do you have any idea what it might be?"
Kylah found nothing of interest in Fastfolfe's bathroom, closets and dressers, although she sees that he doesn't pack light, having brought clothes for virtually every kind of occasion. Also, one drawer in the dresser is full of erotic gadgets, the functions of some of which she can only guess at.
Stimmons looks puzzled. "No, I don't know of anything that's gone missing, other than the knives."
Peters grunts and goes to get a cup of coffee.
Oh great, Graham thinks, now the Doc thinks I have cooties.
"Uh, no...uh, thanks, Doc...just...curious." He pauses. "Rendezvous with Mr. Rangin. I'd like the two of you to compare notes and let us know if we're at the end of our rope in terms of scientific and medical analysis, or if there is anything else we...er, the two of you...could try."
Graham shakes his head as he stows his communicator, then notices Kylah is questioning Stimmons: he's ready to let Stimmons go, but returns to the room and waits before saying until he can figure out what's going on.
"I see," Kylah says to Stimmons without much inflection. "Thank you."
Graham has approached by now, and Kylah looks expectantly at him. "I have asked for Fastolfe's room to be locked and guarded, sir. Dobson is with him and Adjetey now. I can report further if you are done with Mr. Stimmons here. I have nothing to learn from him myself--unless he knows of the whereabouts of Ms. Goldman, who I believe was the only person who was not in the nightclub the night Mr. Wilson was killed." Her hands are crossed over her chest and she is aggravated, hiding it poorly.
Last edited by choie; 30 Aug 2014 at 08:24 PM.
Dr. T'Var calls Rangin by communicator. "I have left the Infirmary, Mr. Rangin, and Mr. Graham has asked me to meet with you. Where are you?"
Rangin answers the call.
"Hello Sir. I am heading for the CP to run some tests on the the blood samples we found. I'm going to see if it is possible to narrow down how soon after Mr Wilson was killed that he was transported to the park square. Also my guess is he was transported directly from the room next door instead of being moved. I just want to prove that theory as well. Also, before I forget Lt. Garcia is currently decoding some encrypted files from the Terminal in Mr Wilson's office. Is there anything you need me to do, Sir?"
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Graham nods to Stimmons. "If you know Ms. Goldman's location, or think of anything else that might help with the investigation, please let us know...otherwise you're free to go, Mr. Stimmons. Thank you for your cooperation."
Graham feels a bit of sympathy for the guy: he didn't seem to be an asshole, he's got some kind of alien clap plus he works for Fastolfe to boot. He resists shaking his head and instead gestures for Kylah to step into the other room with him.
"Ah, a report is fine, Mr. Kylah," he says gently. "But are you all right?" He spreads his hands and takes a deep breath himself. "Why don't you just take a second to regroup."
"I am fine, thank you, sir," Kylah says, her voice on edge. "Fastolfe said nothing has gone missing other than the knives, and when we went into the bedroom he said he found nothing wrong. But I wonder if the fact that there are two transporter signatures in his room, yet he claims nothing other than the knives were taken, might be enough probable cause to add his ship to the warrant. It certainly indicates that he might have been the one to beam the item away, whatever it is."
She shakes her head irritably. "Nothing I said or did would get him to talk to me. I made a mistake in judgment with him when we were alone, but I never thought he would react like this." Sighing, she looks up. "What was in Mr. Stimmons's bag, Mr. Graham?"
"No, thank you, Mr. Rangin," Dr. T'Var says. "I will meet you in the CP shortly."
Stimmons tells Graham, "I think Paula is in the resort's spa," before he scurries away.
Lt. JG Kjaerstad comes downstairs moments later and reports, "We've found nothing else suspicious or incriminating in the house or its occupants, Mr. Graham. The transporter signatures both match those of the resort's transporter. I had Lt. JG Ferguson, a transporter tech, take a closer look at our readings, and he believes that the traces were left sometime in the last two to four days. Interpreting these kinds of very faint readings is as much an art as a science, though, he said."
"Understood sir, I will meet you there." Rangin replies as he makes the short journey from the Security Office to the CP.
Once inside, he starts the analysis on the blood samples they have, looking for any teleport traces and for the differences which might point to when the blood was split in the separate locations. He's actually quite glad that Dr T'Var is coming to the CP. Her knowledge is far greater than his in this area and she would have a far better chance of making the correct call on the results than he would.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Graham replies to Kjaerstad. "Good work - then if we're done here, please assign and rotate the Security team onsite as you see fit to keep an eye on things--maybe send somebody to keep Delaney company."
After ensuring Stimmons is out of earshot, he replies to Kylah. "Ah, something called 'Umitril.' Mr. Stimmons seems to have a..ah...skin condition," he says.
He's not sure what she means by a "mistake in judgment" and he wonders if he wants to know...he lets it lie for the moment.
"Look, don't take it personally Mr. Kylah, if he was uncooperative." He shrugs. "He's an asshole," he adds, mentally assigning Fastolfe to a very clear category in his taxonomy of the universe. "In any event, sounds like the spa is our next stop."
He tries gamely to lighten her mood. "After all, Ms. Goldman might be in the womens' private area and what with my charming appearance and diplomatic skills, on my own I'd probably cause a galactic incident if I barged in there..."
Again Kylah has to avoid reacting to Ferguson's name. She focuses on Kjaerstad's report, noting the signals seem to have been confirmed as originating from the resort's transporter.
As she considers this, she hears Graham's comments about Fastolfe and she can hardly disagree. Still, the fault was hers. "I take every failure personally, sir," she says matter-of-factly. "How can I not? It is my doing. I do not see how one can avoid future errors if one does not take responsibility."
She ignores Graham's comment about entering the women's locker rooms or whatever salacious joke he was attempting. It seems in bad taste for a Starfleet officer. But it is par for the course considering what she expects from most men.
"I am glad that Ferg--that the transporter technician says the traces are connected to the resort's transporter, although that does give us no better rationale for seeking a search warrant for the Chariot. I was beginning to fear Lord Fastolfe might be implicated after all. I do not want my feelings about him proven incorrect." She walks toward the entrance, still in thought. "You said Umitril," she says after a pause. She has heard this name before. Back at the Academy... sniggers about one of the popular male cadets. "That is an antifungal cream, is it not? I don't suppose... It could have nothing to do with the spores, could it? Are the spores fungal in nature? There is probably no relation--I cannot imagine the pharmacy would sell such an item if it put the spore therapy in jeopardy--but still, I am curious. What do you think?"
Once they are outside, Kylah hesitates and looks over to Graham, somewhat warily. "Now I remember. You wanted to speak to me about something before Stimmons arrived. What was it?"
Last edited by choie; 02 Sep 2014 at 02:16 AM.
T'Var meets Rangin in the murder investigation's Command Post. She helps the young Coridanite xenobiologist with his analysis of trace blood evidence from the conference room adjoining the resort's transporter room, in the park where Wilson's body was found, and from the autopsy of the corpse which she conducted aboard the Yorktown. It was definitely Wilson's blood in each case, but even after a level-1 quantum resonance scan, it is impossible to determine when, exactly, the blood was left in the conference room or the park. There was little of it, and it was fully congealed, in both places. There are faint transporter traces in both places, and on Wilson's body itself, and all are consistent with the resort's transporter signature.
Kjaerstad says to Graham, "Yes, sir. We'll leave the Fastolfe guest house and redeploy, then."
Graham and Kylah have just a few minutes' walk to reach the spa, and may talk on the way.
Graham clears his throat and squares his shoulders. Well, she sort of opened the door to this conversation, he thinks hopefully.
"Well, while we're on the topic of avoiding future errors..." He glances at her and then turns back to look ahead as they walk. "Look, your, ah, devotion to duty is obvious and commendable. And I gather things are done differently on Elas. But...I--from what I've observed, I think you need to be more, ah, judicious about boundaries..." He pauses. "With men" comes to mind given what he saw with Fastolfe and this Jan character, and maybe Ferguson too although the jury was still out. But he hopes not to go there yet. He glances back at her. "For the sake of your well-bring, and your Starfleet career."
Kylah keeps walking but stares at Graham in confusion and not a little annoyance. "Things are done differently on Elas," she repeats hollowly. "What in particular--what has my planet to do with anything? What have I done wrong? You just told me not to take things personally, but now..." His words about her well-being and career almost sound like a threat, but she cannot fathom what he means. Why bring this up now? What led to him wanting to talk to her? She had just finished the Hotchkiss interview, then they spoke to Velir, and then Graham suddenly asked to talk to her in private. Kylah is at a loss to understand what could have spurred this on.
"I am sorry, I just do not understand." Her stomach tightens and her voice turns sharp. "I wish you would speak plainly, sir."
"Well, it certainly confirms the transporter as the means of moving the body from one site of the other. He was killed somewhere between midnight and 12:30 from the autopsy and the fact he would have been seen on the cameras if he had left any earlier. Mr Delaney has already given us the details of when the transporter was used last night, so it would have to be at one of those times. You know, I'm surprised, we didn't find any blood spatters in the transporter room, stabbing someone usually leaves traces. Do you think there are likely to be at least two people were involved in the killing? Other than that, I'm not sure where to go looking next myself. Even if we assume the blood samples from the room were crested at 12:30, it's looking unlikely we can tell how long after the body was moved."
Rangin sighs disappointedy., "Oh well, another good idea while it lasted. I think I will check with Lts Garcia and Delaney, to see how far they have got. Hopefully they will have some better news for us."
Rangin contacts each of them to find out if they have any good news.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
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