Star Trek RPG - Mission #3: "Some Other Side of Paradise"

"Mr Hsu" Collins asks as they walk "Did Wilson have any enemies? Anyone with whom he's recently had a dispute?"

Graham acknowledges Collins' response with a nod and some relief. At the end of the day the only person entitled to get pissed off because folks aren't doing it their way is the mission commander. It's not like you didn't "earn" your current rank fair and square, Booker he thinks. Collins' question immediately makes him think of Fastolfe: he assumes that's where she's going with it. He'd have already asked Mr. Hsu to have somebody throw his ass in a holding cell, but, on second thought, thinks differently.

"Hey Doc, Rangin," he asks. "If adrenaline pops you out of Sporetown, I've got think stabbing somebody would do the trick. Could you tell, medically, if a guest was no longer under their influence?" He pauses a second; Kylah's still speaking to the resort's doctor, so he doesn't interrupt her. "Or--Kylah's, ah...interacted...more with a guest under the influence than anyone. Maybe she could suss it out in an interview."

He's thinking before word gets out the Doc or Kylah or both ought to just happen to bump into Fastolfe, low-key style. He chuckles to himself. If I suggest this to Collins, I might convince Rangin I'm capable of walking upright for sustained periods.

Kylah maintains her sympathetic gaze on Halsey, although in the back of her mind she is aware that his prior excitement could simply be that of someone thrilled by the prospect of working on a difficult case at last--not unlike her own feelings when walking onto the Yorktown bridge for the first time. Or, for that matter, her own feelings now: she is very glad to have something to distract her from her own problems.

Another explanation for his earlier happiness could be that he genuinely disliked Wilson; an emotion such as that by itself does not make him a murderer.

Nevertheless, Halsey's reaction is an anomaly and she wants to make certain there is nothing behind it. "Then this should be especially challenging for you, Doctor--attending your first homicide when the victim is a colleague. Were you and Mr. Wilson close?"

Rangin looks at Graham and nods in acknowledgement.

"Although spores users are inclined towards more peaceful behaviour, they are still capable of violence, certainly if provoked. But any violent act like that will remove the effect of the spores from the person until are re-introduced to them again. In terms of seeing the effect, yes you can. The person's biosystems return to a normal pattern instead of enhanced, euphoric or heightened state."

Rangin considers further.

"If true, then if it was someone under spore therapy the only way they could hide it would be to have a second supply of the spore to take after the event. But the only sources of the spore locally are locked in the resort and the research station under controlled access. Also if someone did have a plant, it could be discovered, would cover an area and should be noticeable. But you would also have to consider what, or possibly who, would provoke a spore user to that kind of anger."

"In short, its unlikely to be a spore user, without a third party being involved."

Dr. Halsey shakes his head vigorously and says, "I don't think a person under the influence of the spores would be capable of murder. Very unlikely. The spores tend to suppress aggression of any kind."

Mr. Hsu says, "I don't know of anyone who'd recently had a dispute with Mr. Wilson." Only T'Var is looking right at Hsu as he says this, and notices his eyes flicker for the briefest of moments towards Dr. Halsey. He goes on, "Sensors would not pick up a stabbing, as such, although the space where the, er, body was found was out in the open and would have been under continuous audiovisual surveillance. I've already given orders that the records be safeguarded." He makes a note on his data pad. "I'll see that two officers attend to that, as Mr. Graham suggests, and will upload the security logs to the Yorktown."

Kylah does not turn to look at Velir when he responds to Graham, but his confident yet non-grandstanding intelligence makes her both proud and sad. Proud because his expertise is of great use here and deserves to be acknowledged--and sad because while he is exactly the sort of man she most admires, her behavior has ruined everything between them. He is too fine, and she too degraded, for them to have any chance.

When Halsey at last speaks, Kylah does not miss the fact that Halsey has not answered her question about his relationship with Mr. Wilson. However, she cannot think of a way to ask again without placing undue emphasis on her interest.

His emotions remain unusual--he is doing his best to hide his happiness and excitement--but not necessarily suspicious. A doctor at a resort where spores do most of the healing could very well be excited to have a case like this on his hands, especially if he was not particularly close to Wilson.

Nevertheless, she will continue to monitor Halsey and look for an opportunity to learn more about him. At last there is a legitimate use for my ability, she realizes with a sudden jolt of confidence. If the cold air and terrible news about Wilson hadn't already woken her up, this realization certainly does the trick.

T'Var notices Hsu's brief glance at Halsey. Definitely a suspect, she thinks. Those under the influence of spores would be less inclined to act aggressively, so the guests at the resort would be least likely to have murdered Wilson.

The doctor whispers to Graham, "We should be able to tell whether someone is still using the spores or not. However, I believe those not using spores -- and those who knew Mr. Wilson -- are probably the prime suspects in his murder."

"Wilson's assistant, what was her name?" Collins says "We'll want to talk to her first."






if I have the gender wrong, please fix it without fuss - thanks

Mrs. Hsu blanches. "Do you mean me?"

"I thought there was someone else working with him," Collins covers "but since you're here, where were you all night?"

Both Hsus stop in their tracks, and thus so does everyone else. "For God's sake," Mr. Hsu flares, "you haven't even seen the crime scene yet, and you're already asking my wife questions?"

Rangin sighs and wishes he had bought two cups of coffee and not just the one.

"Perhaps, I may point out the following." he begins as if speaking to an audience, "It is currently just gone half past four in the morning. I doubt anyone has truly woken up and yet we have to deal with a crime and tragedy unfolding. I would not be surprised if people were not at their best at this time in the morning, especially given the circumstances, and things might be said that could, in another light, be misconstrued."

Slightly aware that most people are looking at him, he continues onward. "It would probably be better for some of us to gain an idea of the crime scene before beginning any questioning in order to gain some facts about what has occurred and allow us to to prepare any questions we may wish to ask above and beyond those that might be expected."

Turning to the Hsu's. "Please, how far is the crime scene? We have been walking for a while and as a result we have little to do but ask questions and speculate on what might have occurred without knowing what has occurred."

and to no-one in particular, "and I really need another coffee."

For the first time in what feels like eons, Kylah nearly smiles at both Collins's embarrassing error and Rangin's adroit handling of the gaffe. Usually Kylah herself is the one trying to clean up messes in diplomacy, but she's been too preoccupied--and, admittedly, bitter--to be willing to smooth feathers invariably ruffled by the pair of security officers. It is a miracle that they have survived this long without getting a phaser blast to their skulls after one of their tactless questions.

But their behavior is typical of people in their position, she knows; on Elas, on Earth, on Qo'noS. There is a human saying that applies to both Graham and Collins: When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And that is clearly what the problem is here -- to them, people are but nails to be pounded into mercy.

She cannot help glancing back at Rangin with a flicker of appreciation in her eyes before quickly returning her gaze forward again.

Graham nods acknowledgement of T'Var's tactfulluy whispered comment, which he agrees with: most murders, are, after all, by people who know each other.

But while he agrees with the concept, he's shocked by Collins leaping into the third-degree on Hsu. Not that we shouldn't consider her as a suspect, he thinks, but if she were guilty she'd have to be a hundred kinds of stupid to give us something that trips her up when we don't know anything about the murder yet and don't have an interrogation strategy...

Rangin, thankfully, does a little diplomatic song and dance that might smooth things over.

He grimaces a little. I guess I can't claim I haven't tried unorthodox approaches before but I hope the lieutenant knows what she's doing...maybe I should have encouraged her a bit more strongly to write I-D-E-A on her palm ...

Mrs. Hsu looks shaken, and Mr. Hsu still looks angry, but he exchanges a look with his wife and then nods. "This way, please," he says, a little stiffly.

The Yorktown landing party and the others pass through a hallway and then out into the open air (it has only taken about two minutes to walk from the resort's lobby to here). It is still dark. You are now standing in a park, which is square and about a hundred meters or so on a side. Small post-mounted lights, each about a half-meter tall, illuminate the paths that bisect it. Around each side of the square are the guest houses, twelve of them, each two or three stories tall, and each built in a different architectural style. There is a fountain in the park, its waters quietly trickling, and benches here and there. Trees and bushes of various heights are spotted throughout the park, as well as in the yards of the smaller houses.

It is a beautiful area, empty of people at the moment, and spoiled only by the silent presence of a body under a sheet in one corner of the park. A tall man in WR&R Security uniform stands by it.

"Over here," says Mr. Hsu, rather unnecessarily.

Graham takes out his tricorder and starts a program to take take and save continuous wide-scan readings: layout of the area, life signs in the buildings, video and audio of the immediate surroundings, and so forth.

He approaches Collins. "Ah, if you want my input, ma'am," he says softly, "I'd put T'Var on examining the body for sure, Rangin scanning the hell out of the area in expanding circles--I'd bet he knows more tricks with a tricorder than we do--and I'd include Kylah on any interviews. And one of us checking out the body and then the area, or doing twenty questions with the officer who found Wilson." He pauses and clears his throat. "Anyway--that's my two cents."

Collins nods and smiles at Graham "Doctor T'Var, would you please take care of the body? Even though the COD looks obvious, perhaps an autopsy will reveal some secrets? Mr Delaney and Mr Rangin, please do a scan of the scene, start with the immediate scene and work outwards to the surrounding area. There may be traces of blood or footprints not visible to the naked eye. Ensign Kylah, you and Ensign Graham will conduct the interviews; I'll keep feeding the updates to the Yorktown and hopefully we can get to the bottom of things before too long."

Graham gives Collins a quick thumbs up.

"Looks like we're a team," he says quietly to Kylah. He leans in close to her and lowers his voice further. "For the record, I know you're good at talking to people, Mr. Kylah. Fact is, probably a lot better than me. But I'm good at hunting killers, so roll with things, sometimes, rather than jumping straight to the conclusion I don't care what you think or appreciate what you can do, please?"

Before he does anything else, he waits until the sheet is lifted off Wilson. The guy got on my nerves, but sure as hell didn't deserve to die, he thinks. Ought to show a little respect. Plus, I trust the Doc but want to see the entry wounds first hand.

He rubs his jaw and says to the Hsus--Mrs. Hsu in particular--"Look, I'm not much of a grief counselor, but for what it's worth, and before we get into the nitty-gritty of investigation...I'm sorry."

Kylah is somewhat surprised to be assigned to interviewing people, but her concern at being paired with Graham makes her stomach tighten. Sure enough, he comes near her and speaks very closely. It is all she can do not to jerk backwards away from him. He certainly is not an expert on reading people, or he would know just how much she cannot bear to be crowded right now.

She waits for him to finish his request and tries not to flinch due to his proximity. When he's done, she just nods dully. She can hardly do otherwise; her judgment is clearly impaired and her instincts not to be trusted. Her only use will be her empathic abiliities, and she cannot even reveal them to Graham.

And that is when she realizes her wish to deal only with the staff cannot come true. They will certainly have to speak with some guests, Lord Fastolfe included. A ripple of nausea goes through her. Kylah has been hoping to avoid anyone affected by the spores as much as possible. That, clearly, can no longer be the case.

Swallowing, she holds her arms across her waist and waits for poor Mr. Wilson's body to be revealed.

T'Var kneels down to examine the body. She gestures for Graham to join her.

"We should transport Mr. Wilson's remains to the medical center," she says.

Grateful that the tension seems to have eased slightly, Rangin hears Collins orders, puts everything else out of his mind to concentrate on the task at hand before going across to Delaney to start working out what to do.

"Sir, can I suggest you take the technical side, changes to the environment, position of cameras, could this scene by viewed from any of the houses and I'll take the biological, footprints, blood stains, scents and such like."

Rangin changes his tricorder to look specifically for certain things, as well as the broad scan. He remembers using chemicals in a lab to highlight various things, but the tricorder would be much better at picking out the trace iron elements in Wilson's human blood that he would expect to be scattered across the site from a stabbing. That would be a good start. In fact with a blood sample, he could probably scan and track down Wilson's blood where ever it was on the site. It's not like it was freely given away. Stabbings were always messy, it would be somewhere.

Also, while everyone was looking, he would be doing like the animals he loved and would use his nose. If there were creatures who could follow a scent from a scene like this, he would be doing the same with a tricorder. It was all a matter of knowing what to look for.

What would be more worrying, Rangin muses, would be if nothing of the sort was there. That would be a real mystery.

Mrs. Hsu hears Graham's condolences and says, "Thank you." She musters a small smile of gratitude.

The WR&R Security officer, Gary Adelman, stands by.

Dr. T'Var crouches and lifts the sheet from the body. Anthony Wilson is sprawled on his back on the grass, his right arm over his head and his left sticking out slightly from his side. His legs are parted and his left knee slightly lifted. His right hip is slightly elevated. His eyes are closed and his mouth slightly agape. He is wearing the same dark suit he had on when you last saw him. There are two visible stab wounds, both in his left upper torso, and a lot of blood across his tunic's front and, from what you can see without moving him, beneath him, too. Dr. T'Var notes a visible bruise on his right wrist. A knife, apparently identical to the one confiscated from Lord Fastolfe yesterday, is a meter away from Wilson's right hip, pointing away from him, its blade covered in blood.

Delaney and Rangin begin their tricorder scans. The blood is all Wilson's. The paths around and through the park are poured thermocrete, too hard to take the imprint of a footstep. There are quite a few footprints on the grass, perhaps as many as two dozen. They are not, by their pattern, centered around the body.

Graham looks over Dr. T'Var's shoulder. "Right, Doc, right after we get photos and readings here."

Partly to the Doctor and those around him, partly to his own tricorder log, he thinks out loud: "Looks like some sign of resistance. No sign of flight. When you're ready to move him, Doc, I'd be interested if there is an entry would in the back. Wounds are fatal--obviously--reasonably well-placed, not overboard. If these is a wound in the back, placement near the kidneys or other vulnerable spot would suggest someone who knew what they were doing. Knife matches description of one we saw earlier--need to confirm that weapon is still secure. Wilson wasn't too happy when I showed that knife earlier: did he have prior history with Argelians or Argelian knives? Knife is a meter way from his right hip: unless our killer was a lefty, it probably means they moved off in that direction."

Graham stands up and frowns. "Well, I'll leave it to you, Doc. Are you ready, Mr. Kylah?" He turns to Adelman. "You're Officer Gary Adelman, I presume? I'm Ensign Graham, Starfleet Security. My Colleague Ensign Kylah is a communications officer. I'm sure you know the drill - we're going to ask you some questions. All business, nothing personal, officer."

Rangin stops taking measurements for a moment and scratches the side of his head. Something seems wrong. Footprints around, but nowhere near the body which should show signs of struggles. It was an open area, anything that took place here would be too obvious. He stores the data for the footprints anyway.

But the scent trail Rangin was expecting to see of Mr Wilson didn't appear to be there either. If he had been assaulted here, there should be some trace of it leading off down one of the paths.

While recalibrating his tricorder to try again, he goes across to Delaney and asks very quietly, "Excuse me Sir, could you tell me if there have been any teleport signatures in this area. I'm wondering if Mr Wilson wasn't necessarily killed here."

Adelman nods. "Of course. Ask away, Ens. Graham."

Delaney scans with his tricorder. "You're right, I'm picking up muons and vuliri particles. There's a very faint transporter signature." He makes an adjustment. "Looks like it's at least two hours old."

Kylah looks with pity at Mr. Wilson. She's seen dead bodies before--not just on the Sakathian station, but back home, when her parents had their accident. But it is not something to which she is immune; she wonders if, as she gets older, she'll become like the rest of her crewmates--apparently unmoved by the sight of death, or at least better able to hide it than she is now.

Perhaps it is especially difficult because, looking at Wilson, she gets... nothing. No empathic sense whatsoever. It is like staring into a statue, an inanimate object. She has yet to encounter a living being she cannot read. Only the dead and lifeless.

She kneels down to him and touches his left hand, wishing to make some last connection with him. After a moment she looks at T'Var. "Excuse me, doctor," she says quietly. "May I see if there is anything in his pockets--a communicator, for example? We might be able to see with whom he last spoke. Perhaps someone contacted him and arranged a meeting."

"We should have sterile gloves beamed down from the ship," Delaney says.

"I brought some with me," Dr. Halsey says, reaching into his pocket.

"Thank you," Kylah says, glancing back at Dr. Halsey with gratitude, reaching for the gloves. She might as well stay polite to him, even if he is still oddly excited. There is no way of telling whether it might simply be this professional novelty, or if he feels--or felt--some animus toward Wilson.

When she puts the gloves on, she reaches to check all of Wilson's pockets to determine their contents.

Graham wonders what Kylah is doing with the body and almost says something, then chides himself and remains silent.

For god's sake Booker, how old is she--how many dead bodies could she have seen? His jaw tightens a little. Well, hopefully it's not many. Plus, she's obviously been distracted and worked up about some...stuff, maybe multiple things...on this mission, but that doesn't mean she isn't competent. She's just as likely to have a good idea as anybody else. Well except maybe Rangin, he thinks.

Collins opens her communicator and calls in a report to the Yorktown, letting the Captain and Vargas know what each of the crew is doing, and the theories they are exploring.

For all subsequent reports, please include exactly what she is saying, as dialogue. Is she calling the ship within earshot of the others?

"What theories are those, Mr. Collins?" the Captain asks.

Kylah finds a small WR&R-issue communicator/PDA, a handkerchief and a penknife in Wilson's pockets.

"We're looking into possible disputes Wilson may have had with someone," Collins tells the Captain, "And that he may have been stabbed elsewhere and transported here, as we have not yet found foot prints or drag marks."

Please note my question in post 1431.

"We found footprints, Jeri," Delaney murmurs, too quietly to be heard over the channel, "we just haven't identified them."

Kylah stands up and turns to Graham. "He had his own knife," she says almost to herself, frowning. "Yet, despite signs of a struggle, it was still in his pocket. Of course, a small knife like this is no match for the apparent murder weapon, but I would think Mr. Wilson would have at least tried to reach for it. The attack may have been too quick. Or," she adds with a sudden glance at Wilson's right hand, "perhaps the killer saw him reach for his knife and grabbed his hand to prevent it.

"But that is mere speculation, and I suppose it would require that the other person knew or at least suspected he had some weapon of his own." She gives an apologetic shrug, knowing she is probably wrong. Looking down at the objects in her hand, Kylah asks quietly, "Do you think it worthwhile for me to attempt to access the communicator now, Mr. Graham?"

The fact that he had Kylah's traditional Elasian knife so recently pressed against his vulnerable areas provides some context for her ruminations. He's tempted to explain--because he understands where she's coming from, culturally--that a knife that small would almost certainly be more of a liability than an asset in a real life-and-death situation. But that would be more appropriate for an Academy self-defense class, he thinks.

And she asked what to do as if I were a superior officer, he reminds himself. That's either a gesture of respect, or manifestation of an inferiority complex, so don't be a jerk, Booker...

He smiles a little. "Don't sell yourself short, Mr. Kylah. You're the communications specialist. You tell me - if you have what you need, and you think this is the right time, I'll start with Officer Adelman and you join in when you're done."

He pauses a second. "And good initiative. The Doc is obviously most qualified to examine the body, but other than maybe Delaney, nobody here knows more about hacking a communicator than you."

Kylah pauses, turning the communicator over in thought. She might be useful during the interview even if she does not know what to ask; if someone's emotions are noteworthy--although it would hardly be unusual to be upset or nervous during such a situation no matter how innocent--she might be able to discern whether it's normal fear/grief, or something more nuanced.

"I should be able to get into the communicator without a problem, unless it is password-protected; even so, I--or Lt. Delaney--can work past that." She holds the objects carefully and keeps them close to her. "I should also get them scanned by Mr. Rangin for fingerprints or other biological signs that do not belong to Mr. Wilson. It is a very slim chance, but the killer may have searched his pockets if he or she were looking for something. Robbery seems extremely unlikely as a motive, but there may have been some other object..." She shakes her head. "But it can wait until after the interview. Please forgive me for interrupting."

"You don't need to apologize," Graham says softly and gently. Then he shrugs. "Not to me--and not for this anyway. But that's another discussion. Let's not keep Officer Adelman waiting then."

Rangin mutters quietly to Delaney while adjusting his tricorder. "Sir, is she always so imprecise? Anyway, about those footprints lets start eliminating them from the equation. If Wilson was killed here, I would expect to see three or four sets of footprints to and from the crime scene. Wilson's, the murderer's, Officer Adelmann's and who ever bought the cover for the body which could be a second set the for the Officer. Scans of their footwear will be most telling. But all we have seen are normal footprints. If he was killed here you would expect a scuffle, if not, then he would have to be moved here, carrying would deepen any impression of the footprint. But not here and I don't think we will find Wilson's leading to this post either."

Rangin doesn't mention that he knows Wilson didn't make it to this point due to the lack of scent trail he was looking for.

Rangin looks around the area. "Another thing to consider, this is an open area with a lot of houses around. If someone attacked you, wouldn't you scream and try to get as much attention as possible. And yet, how much attention has this little gathering gained. Little to nothing. He has a bruise on the right wrist and stab wounds on the left showing both hands of the attacker in use. Nothing to stop Wilson from shouting at all. Think anyone heard anything? or was there a second attacker to stop it. But that's yet another set of footprints, which would have three people in a very small area and as we can see that isn't so from our scans. In fact the scans don't show two people in a very small area."

Rangin pauses slightly, "There is one other option worth eliminating actually, but I wonder if there would still be a trace. If Wilson had been under the effect of spores at the time he was killed, he would be much easier to kill but the act of the violence might remove the spores from his system. Worth checking his clothes for traces, although I would expect them to be removed as we were shown earlier."

Rangin looks at Delaney, "A question for you Sir. Ask yourself, why would anyone teleport to or from this area in the middle of the night. And if you found the teleport pad that was used, could you determine what was transported? There is a teleport pad here at the resort by the hospital, perhaps a good place to start looking. If you will excuse me, I have some extra scans to get."

If allowed Rangin will get scans of Wilson's and Officer Adelmann's footwear to compare against the footprints. He will also scan Wilson for any signs of spores, both in the body and on his clothes to match up against what he already has stored from previous scans of the spores.

On a whim, he will also scan Wilson's left hand. It appears it was free during the attack, so is anything foreign there?

T'Var puts on the sterile gloves, then gently moves Wilson's body so that she can examine his back.

"Mr. Graham, if you'd like to take a look," the doctor says.

Adelman allows his shoes to be scanned, but says, "I haven't stepped on the grass." He is still waiting for any questions by Graham and Kylah.

Rangin scans Wilson's shoes, too. Comparing both of those scans to the faint footprints on the grass - and Rangin notes that the ground is hard, underneath the grass - indicates no match to either man. Wilson's body and clothing show no sign of Omicron spores, either visually or to Rangin's tricorder scan, although an autopsy may reveal more.

Delaney insists on photographing the body from several angles with his tricorder before T'Var moves it. She and Graham then see no wounds and nothing on Wilson's back, other than some stray blades of grass and a few particles of dirt.

"Thank you Mr Adelman and I'm sure I'm about to prove it as well.", says Rangin trying to put the security guard at ease.

Having scanned for what he was looking for and certain he has found nothing, he walks across to Delaney to get a second opinion and make sure he hasn't missed anything obvious. "Sir, it appears my theory was correct, if you would like to confirm. Mr Wilson has no footprints to this point, there's no trace of a struggle, no trace of spores, but I wasn't really expecting to find those. Now, it may be that someone transported in with Mr Wilson, put him down and left, either on foot or by transporter, or someone just transported him in, its not easy to say from the foot marks remaining."

Rangin stops and thinks for a moment trying to work through what he knew and what was speculation before deciding on what might be the best course of action.

"Sir, if your scan was correct and there was a transport into this area, and my scan is correct and Mr Wilson did not get here under his own volition, then it leaves two questions to be answered. Where did any transport take place from and if Mr Wilson did not make his own way here, where did he go instead?"

Let's not keep Adelman waiting. Kylah is surprised by Graham's comment. Does he mean for her to ask the questions? That seems unlike him. Nevertheless, Mr. Adelman is indeed waiting and someone should ask something of the poor man. She turns to him and says softly, "I apologize for the delay, sir. I understand you were on your regular rounds when you found Mr. Wilson. This was at... 03:50? Can you tell us please what exactly alerted you to the body? Did you hear anything at all unusual earlier in your rounds, even before you approached this area? And--I do not know if this would be something you would know, but are all these cottages occupied? Were they all dark, with no lights on?" She glances around the houses. The darkness does not help her discern different colors, and while they're different styles, none seems to stand out as unusual. "These are not all the guest houses, are they?" She pauses to consider. "When you found him, what exactly was your next step? I mean, did you test his pulse, call for help, look around, see anything unusual... whatever may have occurred to you at the time?"

Graham's somewhat pleased that Kylah takes the initiative to start asking questions. And doesn't do a bad job at all getting things started, he thinks. Half the time we've interacted she's been shaken by something, the other half--well, really angry with me, for reasons I don't fully get. But if this group is going to function as a team--he corrects himself, turn into a functioning team--she'll need to get her feet under her, and one way or another we'll have to get along.

Graham takes a position just behind her, partially behind her right shoulder, listening attentively and waiting to follow up as needed on Adelman's answers. And I can be bad cop, if needed. Heh - unless she gets up close and personal and threatens to stab the guy with her hidden Elasian knife, he thinks, almost laughing. In that case, I'm good cop.

T'Var gently lays the body flat again.

Delaney rubs his chin and says to Rangin, "Well, it looks like there was transporter activity, true, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Wilson was beamed here, either alive or dead. He might've been on the paths the entire time, leaving no footprints, until he died and fell onto the grass. He's close enough to have done so. Although it does seem risky for the killer or killers to attack him here, taking the chance that no one would walk by or look out of one of these houses and see them here."

Adelman answers Kylah's questions in a calm, professional manner, as Graham listens. "I went on duty at 3am and started my rounds a few minutes later. I found Mr. Wilson here at 3:50am, as you said. Nothing really alerted me to the body, I just saw it here. At first I thought it might be someone who'd passed out drunk or had some medical issue; that happens now and then. When I got closer I saw it was him, and he didn't respond when I spoke to him or nudged him. I saw his stab wounds at pretty much that instant. I checked his pulse and found none; his body was already cool to the touch. I called for help and Mr. Hsu was here within five minutes. I didn't see or hear anything else unusual. I don't know exactly how many of the guest houses are occupied at the moment, but I believe most of them are. Most were dark, as you see them now, other than lights at their front doors, but I think just one had other interior lights on - that one right there," he says, pointing to what appears to be a dark red house of Neo-Victorian design with white trim, which is three doors down. "Yes, these are all the guest houses. There's a proposal to build more, I've heard, but for now, this is it."

Kylah follows Adelman's gesture to look at the Victorian house, then takes another look around. "Thank you, sir," she says, trying not to be obvious while she attempts to figure out the colors of the houses surrounding them. Which are the hotly contested blue and yellow houses? None of them looks especially remarkable. She continues: "So that was the only light that was on. But it is dark now. I understand you may have been busy guarding the body, but did you happen to notice when the interior light was turned off?"

She hesitates, thinking about his recitation. "Oh, and I beg your pardon, I may have missed something. I do not recall your mentioning noticing the knife. Did you see it when you arrived?"

Kylah glances quickly back at Graham. "I am sure Mr. Graham has more questions I am forgetting."

Adelman thinks for a moment and says, "The light probably was turned off right after Mr. Hsu arrived, but I wasn't particularly keeping track of it. I did see the knife when I got closer and noticed his wounds. Just to make it clear, I haven't touched it or the body."

Dr. Halsey is now crouching near the body, scanning it. He stands and asks T'Var, "Would you like to do the autopsy, or shall I?"

"You were very thorough, Mr. Kylah," Graham replies to Kylah. "As were you, Officer Adelman, much appreciated. When you say 'your rounds'--do you have a set pattern you follow that would put you in this area about that time each shift? And did you notice anything unusual on your rounds before finding the body, even a small thing?"

The WR&R officer says, "I don't have a set pattern for my route; I was trained not to. I do always come by this park at least once in any watch, though - sometimes in the first hour, sometimes later." He thinks again. "Sorry, but I didn't notice anything unusual before I got here. Pretty boring patrol, actually, up to that point."

Kylah nods as if he were responding to her, and lightly focuses on Adelman's emotions, although she is fairly convinced he is telling the truth.

Assuming he is:

She thanks him and then turns to Mr. Graham, speaking very softly. "Despite the lateness of the hour, we must speak to everyone who lives in these quarters, do you not agree? And--I fear we may get some disagreement from the staff, but I believe we should have the houses guarded so that no one can leave or enter before we speak with everyone. There may be a witness here. And clearly the first we should speak to would be Lord Fastolfe, although--"

Kylah shuts her mouth and shakes her head at her own words. There is no need to go into her suspicions yet, not in public. Even when it comes to believing someone innocent.

"What do you think, sir--I mean, Mr. Graham?"

T'Var considers Halsey a possible suspect. It would be a good idea to keep him close at hand to observe his behavior.

"Perhaps we can perform the autopsy together," she tells him. "Your assistance would be greatly appreciated."

Kylah gets the sense from Adelman that he is calm, straightforward, and believes what he is saying. He seems to be telling the truth - but she cannot detect "lying," as such, with any degree of certainty sufficient to convince, for example, a Federation court of law. She is an empath but, as with polygraphs on 21st century Earth, some people may seem to be lying when they're not, and some people are very skilled and convincing liars.

Dr. Halsey nods. "I could do the autopsy here in the Infirmary, but I suspect your ship has better facilities for it."

"I agree," T'Var replies.

The doctor stands, then addresses Collins. "Permission to contact Dr. Villa regarding the autopsy of Mr. Wilson."

Kylah overhears this conversation and, after excusing herself from Graham's side for a moment, moves to T'Var. "You are to take the body so soon?" she asks as she absently removes her gloves, providing cover for what she really wishes to impart to the Vulcan. She lightly brushes T'Var's wrist and concentrates hard. Doctor. Regarding Dr. Halsey, I have sensed that he has been hiding his excitement and almost happiness ever since he joined us on the way to his dead colleague--which is possibly telling. However, it may be nothing more than professional interest; as you see, he does not seem unduly concerned that he is not performing the autopsy. I thought you should know before you left with him.

She pretends to nod respectfully at Wilson's body, as if it is some Elasian rite of death, and moves smoothly away from the doctor to return to Graham.

"Varying your timing, but maintaining consistent coverage--I'd expect no less." Graham says to Adelman, nodding approvingly. "Thanks --we'll contact you f we have any other questions."

When Kylah returns her attention to him smiles, albeit grimly. "All these houses--exactly right, we need to speak with everybody, and nobody slips through the net. Mr. Hsu will play ball, if we handle it right. "He can't help but glance at Collins: OK, so we just need to not get his hackles up hassling his wife, at least until absolutely necessary... " Fastolfe.." He pauses. "Mr. Rangin probably expects me to drag him from his bead and beat a confession out of him, but that's not how we should play it..." He shakes his head.

"Belay what I just said, Rangin can speak for himself." He rubs his chin. "But we should be strategic about how we first engage him, to rule him in--or out."

"We cordon the area," he says with more focus and confidence, "talk to the people in each house, and put a plan in place for first contact with Fastolfe. Your instincts are good, Mr. Kylah, if you want to become a security grunt."

"On that note--no need to call me 'sir.' Delaney, Collins and T'Var are sirs, I'm just Graham, Booker if you're feeling friendly. Um..." he pauses again. "If you need some time to... talk to.... T'Var," he gestures toward Collins. "I'll run interference, do...what you need to do, OK?"

Chronologically this occurs before Kylah goes to T'Var

Kylah's exhaustion is beginning to catch up with her but the moment Graham mentions Rangin in a somewhat disparaging way, her eyes blink and she feels her cheeks begin to burn. But the security officer seems to understand the inappropriate nature of his remarks and she, rather fortunately, does not have to rise to Rangin's defense. She doubts her defense would be any more appropriate than Graham's sarcasm--who is she to defend anyone, least of all Velir?

When he corrects her gently about the "sir," Kylah lifts a tired hand. "I know, thank you, it just... slipped out. I was reporting and... it has been an extraordinarily long day and I have had almost no sleep..." She is practically mumbling the last words when she hears T'Var talking to Halsey about the autopsy. That wakes her up a second time. And just as she realizes she needs to impart the information she sensed from Halsey, Graham rouses her completely by giving her leave to talk to T'Var, if she 'needs to.'

How on earth could he have known that was her intention? He could not know. But then what did he mean by needing to speak to T'Var? She casts a surprised and curious glance at him. "Why would I--?" But she is really too weary to even finish the question. "Actually I do need to speak to her, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Adelman. Please excuse me," she says finally to Graham, but she is already on the way to speak with T'Var. Since the doctor is so close to Halsey, Kylah knows she must do so through touch telepathy. She starts to remove her gloves.

There, now we're all chronological again! :)

Hearing his name mentioned, Rangin decides not to respond, now is not the time, but he can't help thinking: No, Mr. Graham, I expect you to be an upstanding Starfleet security officer, and yet you keep proving me wrong and acting like a knuckle-dragging Orion Syndicate goon.

Rangin taps away on his tricorder again and looks slightly confused by some of the readings he was getting. Looking at the results, he's not sure if he managed to calibrate it all correctly.

Earlier he had been looking for scents in the area, specifically, the complex chemicals that would have been emitted by Mr Wilson as he moved through the area. It should not have been too hard and the absence of any results had surprised him leading to asking about the teleport signal.

True the signal had occurred, but looking at his tricorder again, Rangin is not so sure that he did it right. Fortunately he has a technical tricorder genius next to him and given what he managed to do on the Sakathian Space station, turning the tricorder into an automatic timer, getting it to scan for a specific set and concentration of chemicals should not be a problem for him.

Rangin decides to ask for some help from Delaney. "Sir, could I ask for some assistance in recalibrating this tricorder. I'm trying to track down a set of complex airborne chemical chains that would have come from Mr Wilson. We should be able to track their concentration and so be able to follow Mr Wilson's footsteps as he arrived at this point. However, I can't find any other than at the point Mr Wilson was found. It's why I asked earlier about the teleport signal. But looking at it again I'm just not sure I have calibrated it correctly to find the right chemical signature. Either way, I would just like to prove whether he did walk up the path or not. Would you be able to help?"

Looking at Delaney comprehending it, Rangin also goes for the short version.
"Long story short Sir, I'm trying to track Mr Wilson's steps by his body odour and want to convert my tricorder into an electronic dog to do it. I mean, how hard can it be with both of us working on it?"

T'Var has sensed the same emotions from Halsey. What those emotions mean are not clear at this point. The doctor sighs as she awaits Collins permission to contact Dr. Villa, report on this situation and find out what would be the best course of action regarding the autopsy.

Graham's seriously curious about what Rangin and Delaney are doing hunkered over a tricorder, but decides to speak to Collins first.

"L-T, I think," he says, and the gestures toward Kylah, "--well Ensign Kylah correctly suggested this too--we should ask Hsu's people to help us cordon off these houses in order to ensure we interview all guests that were there overnight,one at a time. At least of them, according to Officer Adelman, had a light on when he discovered the body. Then, before word gets out--once we put the team's heads together on what we've found so far and have an interview strategy, clearly we ought to talk to Fastolfe."

He pauses and lower's his voice. "Ah, you know, we are going to need to talk to Mrs. Hsu, but, ah, perhaps I could extend a bit of an olive branch and let her go get some coffee or whatever and we can catch up with her later?" He shrugs and tries to look supportive. "Maybe I'll be 'good cop' on this one..." he rubs his chin. "Guess I should've shaved..."

Delaney looks puzzled at first, but then nods and takes Rangin's tricorder from him. He opens the tricorder's back and works briefly on the sensor calibration panel with a small tool he selects from his Engineering kit. "That should do it, Ensign," he says after two minutes or so, closing the instrument and handing it back to the xenobiologist. "As it was set before, you couldn't do that. You have to decide what 'complex airborne chemical chains' you want to scan for, and then recalibrate for that. The tricorder is a useful gadget, but it can't do everything."

"Thank you sir," replies Rangin conversationally, "I guess this is another one of those times that an animal would be better than technology, but I guess I'll have to make do."

Rangin takes the tricorder back and turns it on again, checking it over to see the changes Delaney has made. "Wish me luck sir." There is a nod of Rangin's head in appreciation and he heads across to the area where Mr Wilson is still lying to get another sample before running the same sweep again to see what he can find.

He's hoping this time he can find something.

While Graham talks to Collins, Kylah looks down at Wilson's belongings, then searches automatically for Velir. When she finds him, she sees he has a specific aim in mind and does not wish to disturb him--well, not disturb him any more than she already has tonight. Swallowing back her feelings, she turns away and, when she spots Delaney, walks over to him.

"Excuse me, sir," she says tentatively. "When you have a chance... I found these objects in Mr. Wilson's pockets." Kylah carefully unfolds the handkerchief to reveal the communicator and pocket knife. "I know it is unlikely, but I thought it might be possible that whoever killed Wilson may have been searching for something. At least, I would not want to assume otherwise and not check. When you have a moment, could you please scan them to see if there are more than one set of fingerprints on them? I suppose it would be more telling if there were no fingerprints at all," she adds, musing, before finishing: "I will try to access the communicator once it has been scanned. I may need help there, too, if it is protected by a password."

Kylah finds herself saddened by the few small objects cradled in her hand. Wilson would never know that others are examining such items, which he probably used every day without giving a thought to them. And now they are mere evidence that, once scanned and checked, will be tossed away or given to his family. It is a waste.

"See to it" Collins tells Graham regarding the cordoning off. "As for Mrs Hsu, accompany her to coffee, and 'good cop' the heck out of her"

Rangin can find no indication from his scan that there is any trace of Wilson for at least twenty meters in any direction from the body. He realizes that a gust of wind may have blown away any scent, and as the slain man is wearing shoes, he would not necessarily have left any traces in the park if he simply walked there and touched nothing nearby.

Delaney adjusts his tricorder to scan Wilson's fingertips, and compares those readings to the fingerprints on the items from Wilson's pockets. He shows Kylah that there are no fingerprints other than Wilson's on them.

"I assume you'll want to lead questioning the folks in the houses then? Kylah's not bad at all as a partner, for someone without Security training," Graham says to Collins, nodding to acknowledge her and then moving away to talk to the Hsus.

Graham approaches Mr. Hsu. "I suspect you won't be thrilled about this, but we'd like to cordon off these houses here in order to interview any guests one by one." He gestures toward the red Victorian identified by Adelman. "Starting with that one--your officer indicated it may have had a light on at the time he discovered the body. If one of your people could be on point to make sure nobody foes anywhere, they can coordinate the interviews with Lieutenant Collins." He rubs his jaw. "For what it's worth, I don't think we want to roust people out of their beds or upset anybody...let's let 'em wake up, but we don't want anyone wandering off before we ask if they heard or saw anything last night."

"And, ah..." he turns toward Mrs. Hsu. "Look, now that you're in charge, I'm sure you're going to have a hell of a day. Above and beyond how it's gone already. But I guess you know one of us is going to need to talk you about Wilson and...well, stuff." He shrugs. "Can I, uh, buy you a coffee and we can take care of that?" he asks her. He holds up his hands. "And, ah, for the record, I'm not planning on 'thumbscrews and third-degree'," he says, first looking at Mrs. Hsu and then turning to her husband.

"Thank you, sir," Kylah says, and turns away slightly to pick up the communicator. She tries to determine if there's a way of identifying either whom Wilson last contacted, or whose call he most recently received. The time of the calls would also be useful, if possible.

Seriously i have no idea if this is possible, but geeze, it's possible with cellphones now, so it's hard to believe we'd lose the technology in 200 years...

"For all her," Collins pauses briefly, "quirks" she tells Graham, "Ensign Kylah does know how to talk to people, a skill I still need to hone." She waits until he's gone to talk to the Hsus, then turns to Kylah "You have the lead. I'll be beside you looking official and taking notes."

Mr. Hsu says, "I'll have my security officers cordon off the park. I can bring in additional off-duty, non-security staff, if necessary. I agree about rousting people. We'll have the folks in the guest houses stopped and made available for interviews as they emerge to start the day."

Mrs. Hsu still looks upset. She says, "Given the hour, none of the restaurants are open, but there's a staff lounge we could go to, if you wish, Ens. Graham."

Kylah finds that the communicator is password-protected. She thinks she can probably crack it with the Yorktown main computer's cryptographic program.

T'Var addresses Collins again, this time in a slightly irritated manner. "I would like to contact Dr.Villa so that the Medical Department can prepare for Mr. Wilson's autopsy." The doctor frowns, then sighs. "With your permission."

"Yes, of course" Collins says apologetically "Make it so"

Rangin wanders back to Delaney with his tricorder. "Thank you for the adjustments to the tricorder sir and it came up blank. No sign of any scent trail I can find within twenty metres of the body."

He pauses and thinks further, "There may be some reasons as to why I can't find any, mainly as I'm not an expert, but I'm still surprised not to find any." before turning to Delaney again, "What do you think sir?"

Kylah is busy mentally cursing the invention of passwords when she hears Collins address her. Turning her head warily, she takes in the other woman's order. Unable to meet her gaze, Kylah gives a quick nod and a murmured "aye, sir" before looking back at the communicator in her hand.

She's surprised to be given the lead, but obviously not disappointed. She can only imagine how Collins would address Fastolfe. The security officer has almost certainly leapt to the obvious conclusion that the man is guilty, and she would not be able to hide her dislike for him. Meanwhile, Kylah is almost equally certain of the man's innocence, for a variety of reasons. Even if she weren't, she knows how to flatter and lie to such an egotistical monstrocity--he is no worse than most of the royal family on Elas.

Out of the corner of her eye she sees Rangin moving closer to Delaney, and thus nearer to Kylah as well. He does not seem to see her. Or perhaps he has now properly relegated her to being beneath his notice. He is doing his duty, she tells herself as her heart sinks. And I am the one who rejected him, besides. I should expect no less.

If he can do his duty, so must she. She waits for Rangin to finish his conversation with Delaney, and then asks quietly: "Mr. Rangin, may I ask, did you find any fingerprints on the knife?" With a brief glance at Collins, she adds, "I was thinking, sir, that perhaps it would be prudent to have one of us, or someone on the security staff from the Yorktown, double-check to see if Lord Fastolfe's knife is still in the safe. I know this appears to be the knife we saw earlier, but we should make certain."

Caught up in his conversation with Delaney and thinking about the scans he had taken, Rangin is caught off guards by Kylah's presence and question. He had known she was around, but was trying to concentrate on the task at hand.

Rangin looks up, as parts of last night start to enter his consciousness, his concentration broken. His eyes widen slightly even as his face doesn't move, before taking a breath before answering. "The knife, no I didn't scan the knife, Mr Kylah. I've been scanning around the area. If no-one else has, perhaps I should. Excellent suggestion."

He nods at her politely with an open smile and heads across to the knife to scan it. As he turns and moves away, he wonders if he should hold out an olive branch, ask if she wants to compare findings, perhaps just ask how she is doing, the toll of what occurred showing in her sleep deprived demeanour. But, she wanted it this way. Just colleagues, Rangin reminds himself, just colleagues.

Delaney says, "If you didn't find any scent trail in the immediate area, I doubt there was any left by Wilson to begin with." He frowns. "It's possible I didn't do the reset as well as I should have, but I don't think so. If anything was there, you ought to have picked it up."

Rangin takes Dr. Halsey's last pair of sterile gloves, thanks him, then lifts and scans the knife. There are at least seven whole or partial fingerprints on it, all on the handle. None are Wilson's. Rangin will need to access the Federation's central fingerprint database, or those of any particular world if necessary, to determine whose they are. He will need to either return to the ship, or upload the data via subspace link from one of the resort's computer terminals, to do so.

Having taken the fingerprints from the knife, Rangin carefully heads across to Mr Hsu. "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to have any sterile bags that this knife could be put in do you. There are several fingerprints on it I have taken scans of, but it would be best to keep this as is."

Rangin considers the clauses that WR&R have about the guests, but given its a murder case and could help find someone quicker, "Also, I know there is a confidentiality clause between WR&R and the guests,but given that all the guests are using fingerprints for most things, I sure any help would be appreciated in solving this crime. Perhaps you could let Lt. Collins know what would be required if we did need to gain access to that data."

Before there is a response, Rangin continues, "I will be sending the data to the Yorktown to see what they can match, but any advice on who we would be best to look for would also be appreciated."

Kylah overhears Rangin's remarks about the fingerprints, and, after girding herself, moves to him. "Excuse me," she murmurs awkwardly, looking down at the knife rather than Rangin's face. "I believe there should be a minimum of two sets of prints on the weapon, assuming this is the same knife confiscated from Lord Fastolfe: Fastolfe's and Mr. Graham's. Indeed, Graham's should be more prominent than Fastolfe's, since Graham was the last one--aside from the murderer--to hold it. You... perhaps you might want to compare Graham's fingerprints first, to eliminate them. And if his fingerprints are not there, that too is significant." She glances up at Rangin very quickly. "Do you not think so?"

Mr. Hsu says, "There's a law-enforcement exception to our guests' confidentiality agreements, so you're welcome to access our fingerprint database. I don't know who else we ought to be looking at, although Fastolfe is an obvious suspect, given his earlier confrontation with Mr. Wilson." He uses his own communicator, similar to Wilson's, to ask another security officer to bring sterile evidence bags to the crime scene.

Rangin wonders who to respond to first, before inwardly smiling to himself, duty before pleasure

First to Mr Hsu, "Thank you, I'll let the Lieutenant know, I'm sure she will be grateful for the assistance. Just let me know when someone will be available to take the scans."

He then turns and smilies at Kylah, "It does look similar to the knife Mr Graham confiscated, but I thought that one had been safely, and securely, stored in a locker somewhere. But if you are correct, and to be honest I hope you are, because it means someone had to liberate from that secure locker, then you are right, Ens. Graham's fingerprints should be on it, along with Falstofe's."

He looks back at Kylah meeting her gaze is she wishes, "You are quite right, it would be worth comparing Graham's fingerprints to this now. Their appearance being important or not, well that depends on whether the knife is still in its secure locker."

Rangin looks at the knife he is holding, across at Ens. Graham about to leave and then back to Kylah. "Kylah, could you do me a favour please. Could you obtain Ens. Graham's fingerprints before he leaves? I would head across, but I'm still holding this knife carefully and the evidence bags have not yet arrived."

Rangin wonders if she will notice he dropped the Mr, or if she will decline and head off to whatever other task Collins has assigned her and waits to see what her reaction is.

Kylah is weary and her heart bears a tangled knot of emotions that cannot--and must not--be unraveled right now. But simply being near Rangin's calm, soothing presence is like being wrapped by a comforting blanket. If she did not feel, in the very pit of her being, as if her touch would taint him, she would wish herself in his arms.

Her wits are slow and it takes her a moment to digest his words. "Yes," she says softly, "I had the same thought... that we must ascertain whether Fastolfe's knife is indeed in the safe. Fingerprints should be taken there, too. I will ask Graham for a sample. But I am not as skilled with a tricorder as you." Kylah hesitates and looks away. She must not compliment him, she must not do anything to make this interaction personal or friendly. He called her Kylah, and he may do as he wishes, but she herself has forfeited the right to his friendship. "Or--or as skilled as other more experienced officers. Will my tricorder be able to scan his hands to identify the prints, or must I get a physical sample?"

Though he will not show it on his face, Kylah's response hurts Rangin. He was hoping, perhaps, to some semblance of friendship again, but it seems that she is not of the same mind. Just colleagues it is and if that was the case, she probably didn't want to stay around him at the moment.

"A tricorder scan would be fine, but perhaps I should do it with mine. I have all the other data stored in it, and it would make matching easier with it all in one place. Perhaps if he comes across for a few seconds instead. Thank you for your input Mr Kylah."

At that point, Kylah could leave or stay, Rangin had given her the option and he would respect her decision, just as she had asked him to do last night.

Turning to face, in his direction, Rangin calls across. "Mr Graham, could I borrow you for a moment, please?"

Remaining in place, Kylah keeps her gaze on the ground. She will ask Graham about the idea of making certain the apparent murder weapon is indeed the same as Fastolfe's. But the ground seems to dip and sway as her mental and physical exhaustion threaten to topple her off-balance. She inhales deeply of the cool early-morning air, hoping to rouse herself.

Rangin's own coolness is palpable without her having to reach out to his mind--his return to using "Mr" is proof enough of it. Kylah does not blame him. But she feels diminished again. Perhaps I should tell T'Var what happened after all. She will relieve me of duty and I may return to the ship, and perhaps resign, and return to Elas, and live out my days as if Starfleet and Collins and Jan and Velir and above all my foolish, stupid transgression never existed.

The whim lasts only seconds. She takes another deep breath to clear her mind and looks up to find Graham, to see if he is coming over.

Graham nods to Hsu. "Lead the way, ma'am..." Then he hears his name. "Uh, sorry, excuse me for one moment, though."

He turns back and moves toward Kylah. "You needed me for something, Mr. Kylah?"

Kylah lifts her head, feeling as if all the blood has left it, and takes another strengthening breath. "It was Mr. Rangin, actually, but... I did have a couple of suggestions. First, that one of us might go to the safe area and determine whether Lord Fastolfe's knife is, indeed, missing. And if it is, to look for fingerprints or any other signs of who last accessed the area. Second..."

She doesn't dare look at Rangin but indicates him with her hand. "Mr. Rangin has found fingerprints on the handle of the murder-- the apparent murder weapon. But if this is Fastolfe's knife, your fingerprints should also be on it as well, since you both handled it. I suggested, and Mr. Rangin agrees, that samples of your prints should be obtained to differentiate between yours and whatever others may be on the knife."

She drops her hand down to her side, where it hangs limply. "If your fingerprints are not there, then... I think that may be important."

Graham smiles. "Heh, you could've told me Mr. Rangin thinks I should be treated as a suspect, I just might have believed that." He holds out his hands. "Right on all counts--all up, before we talk to Fastolfe we need to interview all the folks in these houses, confirm the other knife is still secure, and check the prints on this weapon." He gestures with a tilt of his head. "Collins asked me to chat with Mrs. Hsu right now. If no one else is able to take care of it, I can swing by the storage boxes after than and check on that knife."

Graham furrows his brow. "Are you doing, OK? Look, personally if I could do yesterday over again, differently, I'd pay good money to make it happen. I suspect you're in the same boat." He shakes his head. "But unless you killed somebody, a couple mistakes aren't going to blow your career." He pauses and adds, quietly. "You can trust me on that. I've made a lot of day-to-day mistakes...and...killed somebody."

His own feelings are conflicted: looking back, on this mission, he's keenly rueing the loss of his previous rank more than he has in a long time. But at the same time--what matters most, looking ahead, is keeping at finding the right people to kill, he thinks.

He clears his throat. "Look, anyway, you're asking good questions, keep at it."

Listening as attentively as she can to Graham while he discusses their mission, Kylah nods and is about to go to Collins when Graham suddenly asks her if she's all right. Although her left hand still holds the folded handkerchief with Wilson's belongings, her right automatically squeezes into a fist. It is not a defiant gesture; it is one of control. She will not react in tears or flushes. She will not give herself that indulgence.

Unless you killed somebody, a couple mistakes aren't going to blow your career.

He pays her a compliment after that, but Kylah hardly hears it. She looks up at Graham. "My career?" she says--almost whispers, in wonder. She shakes her head slightly. How wrong his guess is. But that is not his fault. He cannot know why she is sickened by herself. "Yes. Yes, you are right. I have not ruined my career and I did not kill anyone. All will be well." With another shake of her head she stops her murmured words and pulls herself together. "Thank you, Mr. Graham. I shall do my best."

Graham nods to Kylah and hurries back to Mrs. Hsu. While they walk toward the staff lounge, he starts to ask her questions. "For what it's worth, we will find whoever did this. It's a good--" he almost says "team" but that wouldn't be totally accurate--"crew...and I've done it before." Too many times, he thinks.

He softens his voice. "It seemed to me you were pretty upset by Mr. Wilson's--Tony, you called him--his death. To be honest, it doesn't mean I won't try suss out whether you're a suspect too. But I think you're smart enough to know that."

He clears his throat. "How long did you work for Mr. Wilson?
Did you know him well?
Was there anyone, any reason someone from his past would want to harm him?
Current guests? WR&R, its competitors, other staff, anybody?
Where would he have been, this past night, if he'd kept to his normal habits?
Is there any reason he'd be out in the park?"

One of Mr. Hsu's security officers brings the sterile evidence bags, and the knife goes in one. He adds, "Our database includes all-hand scans of staff, that is, for all of their fingers, but only both thumbs - or the non-Human equivalent - of visitors. Guests don't need more than a thumbprint for identification, billing, opening doors and so on."

Mrs. Hsu leads Ens. Graham away from the park, down a different hallway and into a spartan staff lounge. She gets coffee from a wall dispenser and offers Graham a cup. She is pale and drawn. She answers his questions in a quiet, somewhat unsteady voice: "I worked with Tony for two years. I knew him pretty well, although he was a private person. I'd say we had a very good working relationship. Although he wasn't beloved by all of the staff, I don't know of anyone who disliked him enough to kill him. I don't know of any of the guests or anyone else, no one at all, who would wish him harm, really. If he'd kept to his normal habits, he would probably have been at his desk until late in the evening. He would often walk around a little before going to bed; he liked to make sure that all was well before turning in, and he said a little walk before bed would help clear his head and focus him." She begins to puddle up but then gets a grip on herself. She blows her nose, takes a deep breath and says more calmly, "I don't know any particular reason he might have come to the park, but there's no reason he wouldn't have, either. He was in charge of the entire resort, and he took that responsibility very seriously. He got around to everywhere, sooner or later, and he paid attention to every last detail."

Kylah asks Hsu's security crew member for another evidence bag, and will place the communicator, handkerchief and penknife within it when he gives it to her.

With a nod to Collins, she begins toward the dark-red cottage. She pats her belt for her phaser, just for security's sake. Although Collins is certainly a better shot than she is--almost everyone at the Academy was a better shot than Kylah was, so an actual security officer must be light years ahead of her--the weapon at her side is a comfort.

When she turns the corner to the front of the house, she looks around to see if the WR&R security team members have already been placed in front of each cottage. If they are in place, she will walk up to the red cottage and ring the bell to be admitted.

Rangin stands in calm silence as he takes Graham's fingerprints with is tricorder. He says nothing about the fact he called him over, but the only response from Graham was to Kylah. Rangin realises he is being blanked but decides its not worth raising at this time in the morning. If Graham wants to act so childishly, that's his perogative.

While Rangin listens, Graham's comments about Kylah's state are accurate, she does look in bad shape, but his comment about killing and a career just highlights the difference between Graham and Kylah. Rangin wonders if he should fill Graham in on what happened at the Sakathian Station. Maybe he attitude to the rest of the group may change slightly, given what happened. Then again, knowing Graham, he would probably have a bigger and better story of how he single handedly fought off an entire battalion of Klingons armed only with a spoon and then expect to us to bow down in awe and amazement.

As for Kylah, Rangin can guess at what she is going through from her confirmation of what happened the previous day. Her career would be the last part of it, her feelings towards herself, well that was a different matter. I have ruined everything, she had said. Rangin wishes that she would at least talk to someone instead of continually self-flagellating, but he held out little hope she would be that sensible. He would give it a little while and see if she did. Otherwise even if she was only a colleague, he didn't want to see her waste what opportunities she did have and she was well on the way to doing that.

Once they had left, and the knife has bagged, Rangin asks Mr Hsu, "Do you mind if I use your security office, to start running checks on the fingerprints and upload data to the Yorktown for further analysis. And more importantly, get another coffee. If so, I'll let Lt. Delaney know where I am going, we can check for the knife in storage on the way and probably add that to the small amount of evidence we already have."

T'Var contacts the ship and discusses the situation with Dr. Villa.

"Dr. Halsey will be assisting me with the autopsy," she tells the CMO. "With your permission, of course."

Kylah separately bags each of the items removed from Wilson's pockets.

Mr. Hsu doesn't have a big enough staff to post someone outside of every single one of the guest houses, but one on each corner of the park can see all of the houses on that row, and they have now taken up their positions. There is no answer to Kylah's ringing of the red house's door chime.

Mr. Hsu says to Rangin, "Yes, Officer Peters will take you there." Peters, a heavyset man with short-cropped hair, leads Rangin to the Security Office, a few minutes' walk away. Once there, Rangin is able to establish a secure subspace link to the ship without any problem. "Ready for inquiry," the Yorktown's Library Computer responds.

Dr. Villa tells Dr. T'Var, "Yes, of course. I'll have an examination room ready for you momentarily."

Kylah frowns at the lack of response but does not hesitate long. There has been a murder. We are entitled to interrupt their sleep.

About to try again, she murmurs to Collins without facing her, "If this does not work, could we ask Mr. Hsu or one of his security crew to open the door for us? There is a killer on the loose. I believe we can safely say this is an emergency situation and must at least ensure that all guests are safe."

Her tired eyes widen at her own words, and she suddenly turns to her commanding officer. "Why have none of us have thought of this? We must check on the Admiral--and all the other guests! It is perhaps probable Mr. Wilson was specifically targeted and no one else is in danger, but that is an assumption we make at great risk to the lives of every single person at this resort. With respect, I believe we will be remiss if we do not ask the Yorktown to send down a larger security presence to knock on every guest door and ensure that everyone is all right. Do you not agree? "

During her final question she rings the chime again and bangs her fist on the door.

Rangin uploads the fingerprint data he has gathered from his tricorder and the thumbprint data he has been provided.

"Computer, identify any matches between the knife exhibit one fingerprints and WR&R thumbprint data. Also Compare knife exhibit one fingerprints against Ensign Graham and Lord Falstofe."

Rangin sits back and waits to see what comes back.

He turns to Officer Peters and asks hopefully, "Any coffee in the office?"

Kylah and Collins hear someone moving around inside. "Just a minute," they can barely hear a male voice say.

"Working," says the Library Computer to Rangin. It whirrs briefly. "Authorization for search of classified and/or privacy-protected records already provided by Vargas, Cmdr. Pablo, Chief of Security, USS Yorktown. Fingerprint scan results: The knife has four whole and three partial fingerprints. All are on the handle." More whirring. "Comparison and matching. Accessing WR&R staff and guest database. No matches. Accessing Starfleet personnel database." Still more whirring. "No matches to Graham, Ens. Booker, Security Department, USS Yorktown. Accessing Federation Security criminal fingerprint database." There is a longer delay, and then a beep. "The four whole fingerprints, right hand, little finger through index finger, match those of Fastolfe, Lord Ugren, of Proxima Centauri, with 78% probability. The three partial fingerprints show no matches in that database." A pause. "Specify if any planetary or other databases should be queried."

Officer Peters, who has been listening with interest, hands Rangin a cup of coffee. It's strong and has a somewhat metallic taste.

Graham nods patient acknowledgment of Hsu's responses. "Attention to detail," he thinks. Sometimes that means you discover something somebody doesn't want you to know...

"Well, I'd say 'if you don't mind,' before I ask this, but I know that the answer is that you are going to mind, because I suspect it will be a very painful moment for you--but it is the right thing to do for the investigation. So I won't try to soften the blow here: if you would take me to Mr. Wilson's office, we might find some clues as to what happened and why there."

Mrs. Hsu seems to brace herself and says, "Of course."

She puts down her coffee and leads Graham along several hallways and back to the main lobby, then through the door behind the main reception desk to the warren of narrow corridors and offices behind it. Graham sees the door to the resort's vault, where Lord Fastolfe's knife was locked away the day before. The Security officer notes that Mrs. Hsu's office is next door to Wilson's. The late resort director's office is almost the size of the Yorktown's Bridge, and is both modern and immaculate. The walls are bare but for a single somewhat amateurish watercolor of a mountain lake; several datapads are arrayed on the large, highly-polished desk. Mrs. Hsu turns on all the lights and gestures wordlessly towards the desk before her face clouds over. She slumps into one of the four dark leather chairs arrayed before the desk and her shoulders tremble.

Graham notices several photographs on the credenza behind the desk, showing Wilson and a good-looking, middle-aged woman and four children, a boy and three girls. Two of the girls appear to be twins.

After a single sip of the coffee, Rangin resists the urge to grimace and he carefully places the cup on the desk. Peters may be a good security officer, but his culinary skills are lousy. What on earth had he put in his coffee to make it taste so bad, or maybe it is just a terrible blend. But with Officer Peters there, there is no way Rangin can dispose of it without offending him.

He turns his attention back to the computer results and Rangin switches between talking to Peters and the computer.

"Interesting. four fingerprints for Lord Falstofe, but then that would be expected as it appears to be his knife and that would match with him wrapping his hand around the hilt. Thumb over fingers. Then again, who knew he had a criminal record. Ok, lets start with the obvious."

"Computer, please cross-reference partial fingerprints against Proxima Centauri fingerprints records."

"Let's see if it's someone in Falstofe's entourage, actually 78% is actually a pretty lousy match."

"Computer, can you identify order that fingerprints were placed on knife exhibit."

"We may have to ask Lord Falstofe who else has been playing with his knives."

"Computer, based off size and shape of partial fingerprints, identify likely species and digits that will fit a single hand to match the placement of the three partial fingerprints."

"Could you do me a favour. Could you check that Lord Falstofe's knife is still in custody. I believe it was placed in one of your secure areas near the main offices, just for confirmation. Actually, that's a good point."

"Computer, please find any reference to the exhibit knife being one of pair or multiple set."

"You never know. Well, I'll just wait here for the answers."

Rangin is hoping that Peters will give him a couple of minutes alone, checking on the knife. Rangin can't exactly leave the terminal but with Peters out the way, he can do something about the coffee. Actually, Rangin knew someone he might like to try this coffee on, maybe he should ask Graham around and see if he wanted one.

"Acknowledged," T'Var says to Villa. "Thank you."

T'Var gives Dr. Halsey a reassuring nod. "Hopefully, the autopsy will provide us with some much-needed answers to Mr. Wilson's murder."

Peters says, "If the knife's in the vault, I don't have authorization to open it. I'll check with Mr. Hsu." He steps out of the room.

The Library Computer whirrs again. The disembodied female voice says, "Partial fingerprints have no matches in Proxima Centauri records. Unable to determine order in which fingerprints were placed on knife. Partial fingerprints appear to be of Human origin, or closely-related species. Accessing weapons database. Knife is an Argelian dagger, 31 cms long, of a design associated with the craftsmen of the Belukan tribe. Such daggers have been made for approximately 450 years, and are traditionally produced in sets of three."

A few minutes later, Dr. Villa calls T'Var from the Yorktown. "We're ready here. Stand by to beam up."

"Thanks kindly," cheers Rangin after him. The instant he is gone, Rangin starts looking round for somewhere to dump the coffee, and try to find where Peters got the last coffee from. It should be somewhere nearby, although Rangin is not going to leave the console unguarded or unwatched.

Another thought does strike Rangin. Although full hand scans of the staff and Federation personnel had been, wait no they hadn't. The computer had only reported on Graham, not the research station and the guests didn't have hand scans. "Computer, For each guest thumbprint supplied by WR&R resort, find the associated fingerprints for each person if available and match against the partial fingerprints on the knife. Also, compare partial fingerprints against Starfleet records for personnel on Omicron Ceti III. Also send copies of all current findings to Cmdr. Vargas and Lt (JG) Collins of USS Yorktown"

"There", Rangin mutters to himself, "an easy way to eliminate a lot of people in one go and I don't want the Chief of Security to think I'm abusing the privilege given. Now where is that coffee?"

Rangin finds the Security Office's kitchenette just down the hall and dumps his coffee in the sink, running the water a little to erase all sign of it. A pot of coffee is steaming away on the stained counter. He can see that Hsu's staff is not the tidiest in the galaxy.

The Coridanite takes his empty mug back to the squad room and hears the computer say, "No match of partial fingerprints on knife with any individual in either WR&R or Starfleet records." It beeps. "Results to date sent via secure subspace link to comm accounts of Cmdr. Vargas and Collins, Lt. JG Jeremi, Security Department, USS Yorktown."

Rangin hears the news from the computer and scratches his head. Nothing matches and there isn't anywhere really left to search. Well, the only other place to search who could possibly have been around were the ships in orbit, but that would involve someone getting up and down from them...well there had been that teleport signal. Oh why not...last one really. After this, he would have to ask the others from some ideas.

"Computer, access available crew rosters for all ships in orbit, find crew fingerprints and compare to partial fingerprints for match." Rangin eyes roll up to the ceiling, "Good Luck" he whispers.

He sits back and idly drums his fingers on the worktop waiting for the likely response of no matches and for Officer Peters to return.

Officer Peters comes back and says, "OK, we can check in the vault if you want. I got clearance." He notices Rangin's mug. "Refill?"

The computer says, "No matches to fingerprint records of crew rosters or passenger manifests of any vessel now in orbit of Omicron Ceti III." Rangin knows that such manifests are not always entirely accurate, and that not everyone would necessarily have fingerprints on file anyway.

After a minute or so, the door of the dark red guest house opens, and Collins and Kylah see Fellim Palver, the Rhaandarite tycoon whom they met yesterday afternoon, standing there barefoot in a thick, quilted robe, rubbing his eyes. He yawns. "Ah, the Starfleet ladies. Not the usual calling hours, I suppose. To what do I owe the pleasure...?"

"Er, no thanks on the refill. I'll pass." Rangin replies. "and no luck on matching those partial fingerprints. I guess Lord Falstofe is going to have explain a little further. "

Rangin makes sure all his fingerprint data has been uploaded to the Yorktown,to allow them to continue searching and then shuts the computer link down, judging that his luck in long shots has always been terrible.

Picking everything up, he looks back at Peters, "Ok, let's go have a look at the vault."

Kylah nods her head respectfully in return greeting. "I fear there is no pleasure in our visit, Mr. Palver, and I apologize for waking you at this hour." She looks at him as carefully as possible without staring. "This is Lieutenant JG Collins, and I am Ensign Kylah. There has been a terrible crime committed not far from here--just outside in the park, as a matter of fact--and we wish to ensure your safety and ask if you might have heard or seen anything that could help. May we please come in, sir?"

Peters leads Rangin to the resort offices; they hear Graham and Mrs. Hsu in Wilson's office and look in.

Palver's eyes snap more widely open. "Yes, of course, come in, come in." The two Starfleet women go inside to see a nicely-appointed front hall, with an equally pleasant living room beyond. "Please, have a seat," he says. "May I offer you something to drink?"

Kylah glances at Collins and returns to face Palver. "No, thank you, Mr. Palver. I should mention that we are here working with the resort's own security. There is no direct Starfleet connection to this unfortunate situation." She glances around to notice if anything seems out of place. "May I ask if you are here alone, sir? If anyone is with you, can you please make sure they're all right?"

She waits and finally says: "I know you must be curious, but I'd like to ask your indulgence for a moment. Could you tell me what time you went to sleep, sir?" When he answers, she will add: "You see, yours was the only light seen by the security guard in the park at around half-past three. If you were still awake at that hour, do you remember looking outside at all?

"The reason this is so important, sir, is that... well, I am afraid to say that someone was found dead in the courtyard outside, the one bordered by all these houses." Kylah gestures in the direction of the little square park outside. "The security guard making his usual rounds discovered the body, and while he was waiting for help to arrive, he noticed that every other house was dark except yours. So if you were up that late, we were hoping that perhaps you might tell us if you saw or heard anything, anything at all, that was unusual or noteworthy."

Kylah sees nothing out of place.

"Yes, I'm here alone," the billionaire says. He looks off into the distance. "Let's see. I went to bed around 10pm, after checking the latest stock market reports - New York, Carolus Prime and Deneva, my usual routine - but I didn't fall asleep for at least half an hour or so. Not good news on the markets lately, I'm afraid. I woke up again at three or so, maybe a little earlier, I suppose, and couldn't fall back asleep. I came back downstairs here to check the computer ticker again." He gestures to a sophisticated-looking computer screen and control panel. "This maintains a continuous subspace link; I must have it for my work. I don't remember hearing anything outside; everything was very quiet. I know I didn't look outside. I still wasn't really tired so I kept working. You say someone's died? I'm so sorry." His eyes widen again. "Great Holon. Was it a murder?"

Keeping her face neutral as he speaks, Kylah tries to gauge his emotions. At his question, she gives a sympathetic tilt of her head. "We cannot be sure until the autopsy. It was not due to natural causes, but more than that, I do not know. Such a horrible thing to happen. Thank you so much for giving us your time. I know this is no hour to be woken up with such unfortunate news, and it is kind of you to help us. I forget, sir, is this your first visit to the resort? Do you know the staff well? Oh! And I hope you will forgive my curiosity, this has nothing to do with this situation, but I have wondered this since we were first introduced: are you at all related to a Lt. Palver at the nearby research station?"

"This is my first time here," Palver says, sinking down into an overstuffed chair. "I'd heard so much about it from a business associate last year, I knew I had to try it. I'm also looking into some investment opportunities in the resort and hotel trades, and wanted to get a first-hand look at the place. I don't much about the staff. The few I've spoken to have been very friendly and helpful, though." He rubs his chin. "I don't think I'm related to any Lt. Palver, or anyone in Starfleet, although it's not an uncommon name among Rhaandarites. But who has died, if you're allowed to tell me?"

Rhaandarites are harder to read than Humans, but he seems straightforward and direct, tired and a little upset to Kylah. She suddenly also realizes that he does not seem under the influence of the spores anymore.

Her mouth dry, Kylah has to make a quick decision. She moves closer to him and keeps her voice gentle. "Thank you, sir. You have been so helpful... of course I shall tell you. It is the resort's administrator, Mr. Wilson. I believe you met him before you were introduced to the spores?" While she's talking, she absently plays with the evidence bag. "Now that you have tried the spores, what do you think of them? I fear I have not had the pleasure of--"

Kylah feels a wave of nausea lurching inside her at the lie, which brings a host of memories she has to clamp down on before continuing. "--Of trying the treatment. Have--have you found it helpful? Oh! How stupid of me." She has turned the plastic bag upside down, and the communicator has fallen at Palver's feet. "I am sorry, could you please...?"

Palver seems a little taken aback by Kylah's forwardness. He looks down at the communicator, then back at her, and frowns. He does not reach for it. "Of course I remember Mr. Wilson," he says somberly. "I'm sorry to hear he's died. As for the spores, I liked them, but they seem to have lost their hold on me. Sometime while I was sleeping they... wore off, or something. I don't know why. I hope to be re-exposed, reintroduced, in the morning."

"I am sorry to hear that, Mr. Palver," Kylah says quietly. "I have never heard of someone having their exposure wear off so quickly. But you mentioned having received bad news about the markets? Since it seems to have distressed you enough to interrupt your sleep, perhaps that was enough to break their effect. I am sure the resort will be able to rectify it. Your people may need a different level of exposure for it to last."

Kylah kneels for the communicator, pen knife and the handkerchief, looks at them, and shakes her head in annoyance. "I am actually glad I was so clumsy, for I nearly forgot to ask you about these objects. We found them on the ground near your house and wondered if you might remember having seen them, or anyone holding them. It would be extremely helpful for us to know if they were out there earlier tonight, or if they might have been left after everyone went to bed. Could you please take a look and see if you recognize any of the items?" She holds them out toward Palver's hand.

Graham takes out his tricorder and takes pictures of the painting, the desk, and the photographs. He pauses, looking at the photos. Son of a bitch, he thinks. Wilson got on my nerves, but if he meant a damn to these kids, someone needs to be held to account. "This is...was...Mr. Wilsons' family?" he asks Hsu. "Did you know them? Are they here?"

Rangin knocks on the door to Wilson's office before opening it and stepping through into the office.

Nodding to the pair of them, he acknowledges Mrs Hsu first. "Mrs Hsu, I'm sorry for what has happened. We will do everything we can." Rangin speaks quietly

Rangin decides to put his personal thoughts about Graham to one side and looks across at him, "Mr Graham, we have been given authorisation to access the vault. Officer Peters and I will be confirming whether Lord Falstofe's knife is still there. Is there anything else I can do to help?"

Palver says, "My portfolio has had its ups and downs recently, and I have to admit I've been a little stressed, but not enough to dispel the spores' effects, I would've thought. I understood from my orientation yesterday that there'd have to be a major adrenaline surge for that." He looks at the objects Kylah holds but doesn't touch them. "No, I don't recognize any of them, sorry."

Mrs. Hsu seems haunted as she says, "His wife and kids remained on Rigel IV. They visited here once, the whole family, and I met them then. My understanding was that they stayed on Rigel IV so that the childrens' education wouldn't be interrupted. He visited them a couple of times a year." She thanks Rangin for his kind wishes.

Lt. JG Mark Ferguson calls Dr. T'Var from the Yorktown's Transporter Room 1. "Would you and the resort's doctor please stand near the body? I'll beam all three of you up."

"If you are ready to release Mr. Wilson's remains," T'Var says to Collins, "Dr. Halsey and I will beam up with the body and begin the autopsy."

T'Var gives Halsey a confirming nod. "I will keep you posted, Lt. Collins."

Kylah nods and casually tosses the objects back in the bag. "Thank you, Mr. Palver, I appreciate your looking these over. That helps us a great deal--it is likely they were dropped after you entered the house for the evening." Very well. The cleaning service will undoubtedly have access to items he has handled. "What time did you get in, sir? Knowing this will help determine a window when the items might have been lost. And did you happen to see Mr. Wilson at all today, after the introduction? We are trying to pin down his movements and anything anyone can tell us would be appreciated."

Collins is with Kylah in Palver's guest house - see posts 1487, 1491, 1493 etc. - and is not still outside near the body.

Mr. Hsu says to Dr. T'Var, "Go ahead and beam up. I'll tell Lt. Collins you've left."

She flips open her communicator. "T'Var to Yorktown. Beam us up, please." She, Dr. Halsey and the late Mr. Wilson disappear into the transporter beam. They are met in the transporter room by Dr. Villa and a Medical team. Wilson's body is carefully put into a body bag and lifted onto an antigrav gurney. Dr. Villa takes you through the ship's corridors to the examination room in the Sickbay complex.

Palver tells Kylah, "After dinner I took a long walk. I was back here by 8:45pm or so, and didn't go out again. I don't think I saw Wilson again after my introduction to the spores, which was when I met you and the other Starfleet crew."

Kylah takes a final mental peek into Palver's emotions while she thanks him for his patience, backing away. The fact that he is not "on" the spores is something of a relief to her, as curious and suspicious a coincidence as it may be.

"You have been extraordinarily helpful, sir, and I do not wish to discommodate you further. I should mention there will likely be an increased security presence around the resort and everything will be done to ensure everyone's safety; this may mean some restrictions of activities, but I doubt you will be greatly inconvenienced."

She turns to Collins with a glance and bids Palver a good night. "My apologies for disturbing you this late. We will leave you so that you may try to get back to sleep--unless Lt. Collins wishes to ask anything further?"

Graham nods to Rangin. "Sounds good, Mr. Rangin. I'm going to start looking to see if there's any useful information here if you'd like to join me after checking on that knife." Just for the hell of it, he scans the photographs for fingerprints with his tricorder.

He glances back at Rangin. "By the way--find anything interesting out about that other knife?" Oh shit, Graham thinks, reminded of Rangin scanning his hands earlier: I completely gave the guy the silent treatment while I was trying to help Kylah get her feet under her. Well, he's probably just thriled about the idea of joining me--I'll have to remember to get in an apology before the next time I do something intentional that will most likely piss him off.

Then he returns to the desk and scans its handles, surfaces, and the daatpads for fingerprints before touching anything. Once he's done that he starts to examine the datapads and the contents of the drawers.

Graham is able to recover several fingerprints with his scan of the photographs and other surfaces in Wilson's office. The datapads are all thumbprint- or password-protected. The drawers have nothing of interest - mostly office supplies, some vacsealed snacks, and WR&R budgeting, personnel and publicity printouts.

In the tycoon's guest house, Collins says, "Thank you, Ensign. Yes, I do have a question or two. Mr. Palver, you mentioned your investments. Do you own stock in any company that directly competes with WR&R?"

He looks at her and purses his lips. "Yes, I do."

"Do you have a controlling interest in any such company?"

"Nearly so, yes."

"What is that company, please?"

"Interstellar Leisure Group, Ltd."

"ILG? I think I've heard of it. Tell me, is the company interested in bidding for the franchise here if WR&R loses it?"

"Yes," says Palver, clearly reluctantly. "But that has nothing to do with why I'm here."

She nods. "I see. Thank you, sir. Any other questions, Mr. Kylah?"

Kylah shakes her head. She was going to ask Graham for a background check on Palver anyway, but this gives them a head start. "Thank you again, sir," she says, and she opens the door to let her superior officer leave first.

When the door closes, she says quietly, "A suspect on the first try. That seems rather fortunate. His being a competitor is an unusual coincidence, as is his losing the spore effects. Yet I wonder if a well-known billionaire would be willing to put himself in such personal jeopardy by performing a murder on his own. Especially when he's known to be staying twenty feet away."

She tilts her head toward Collins. "Nevertheless, Sir, perhaps we might call Graham and have him perform a further background check on Mr. Palver? If his finances are in grave jeopardy he might be desperate enough to try such a gambit. And we should request that the hotel staff take extra care when cleaning anything with which he might have come in contact--a drinking glass, for example. We will need his prints to make a comparison."

Before they move to the next house, Kylah adds: "With respect, Lieutenant, have you given thought to my suggestion about requesting extra security personnel? It seems very risky not to perform a lockdown and search of all the guests' rooms as soon as possible. There is a murderer somewhere on this planet, likely within these grounds. At the very least we must secure the Vice Admiral's safety."

Collins says, "Yes, Graham should do that. Let him know, please. I've been thinking about the Vice Admiral and Lt. Cmdr. Ebling, too. Given the low profile we're supposed to keep, and our lack of any clear motive, a lockdown would be too extreme. I don't want to cause undue alarm, and yet... well, better safe than sorry." She pulls out her communicator. "Collins to Yorktown."

"Vargas here. Go ahead."

"Sir, I request that four plainclothes Security officers beam down, two each to guard the Vice Admiral and his aide."

There is a brief pause. "Request approved. They'll be down shortly. Please report on your investigation so far."

Collins does so, and answers the Chief of Security's few questions. "Very well," he finally says. "Thank you, Mr. Collins. Carry on. Vargas out."

Kylah keeps her face neutral and lifts her communicator. But she doesn't believe for a minute that Collins has been thinking of the Vice Admiral and his aide. Neither she nor Graham have said a single word about securing the man's safety since learning about the murder.

"Kylah to Graham," she says quietly into her communicator as she moves away from the house. "Mr. Graham. We have just finished an interview with Fellim Palver, the Rhaandarite businessman we met earlier today. There are a few issues that cropped up during questioning. First, I noticed--I mean, he told us that the effects of the spores spontaneously wore off in the middle of the night. Second, he was up at the time of the murder. Third, he is an investor in one of WR&R's competitors regarding the contract. And fourth, he was cagey, to put it mildly, and avoided any attempts to get his fingerprints. I suggested--Lieutenant Collins has asked me to ask you to perform a background check on Mr. Palver, from his finances to his fingerprints, if you can find them. I was thinking perhaps you might ask Mrs. Hsu if she can have the cleaning staff be very careful with any glasses or other objects they take from his house, just in case we can get any prints from them."

Kylah's head suddenly starts to pound; the lack of food, drink and sleep is now a pressing liabiilty. "I... oh, and I should inform you that the Yorktown will be sending four security personnel to guard Vice Admiral Hardin. I was hoping for a lockdown as the killer is roaming the resort, but... but Lt. Collins believes we should maintain the secrecy of the mission." Kylah, with her back to Collins, is free to roll her eyes at the short-sightedness of this decision, and she does but it only makes her head hurt further.

Kylah tries to focus on the house in front of them. "I suppose it might be pertinent to find out from the medical staff whether their experience with Rhaandarites indicates a propensity for the treatment to wear off so suddenly... At any rate. We shall move to the next house now. Do you have any recommendations as we go forward, Mr. Graham? Have you anything you wish me to report to Lt. Collins?"

Rangin wanders across to Graham and speaks quietly.

"Not as much information as I would like. Seven prints, four for Lord Falstofe and three unknown, but you will be glad to know your prints on not on it. I've sent the preliminary details to Collins and Vargas to keep them informed. One thing of note, looks like they are two parts of a matching Argellian dagger set of three. Has the Lieutenant said when we will be meeting up to discuss next steps, oh and you might want to consider asking Mrs Hsu, delicately, if we can get a secure room or office somewhere. I'll be back shortly with details of the other knife, to lend a hand."

Rangin heads for the door to go and check the vault with Officer Peters.

Rangin and Peters go to the resort's vault.

A large, heavy door slides aside after the WR&R officer's voiceprint is confirmed. As before, several dozen polished-steel drawers of various sizes line the vault, a large cubical space about five meters on a side. Each drawer has a small fingerprint or voiceprint sensor pad. Small lights glow on several occupied drawers; the others are all dark. Peters says, "Mr. Hsu said the dagger was in drawer #78." He touches it and says, "Computer, security override, Peters Alpha One, enable. Open drawer #78."

The drawer beeps and slides open. Rangin sees a dagger there, apparently identical to the one with which Lord Fastolfe threatened Wilson yesterday afternoon.

"And there we go, a matching knife. Let's see if it is the same as the one from yesterday." Rangin comments to Officer Peters

Rangin runs his tricorder over the knife for fingerprints, expecting at least two sets from Lord Falstofe and Ensign Graham. He also takes an analysis of the knife for chemical composition to compare to the other knife to see if they are a match.

Rangin does indeed find fingerprints for both Lord Fastolfe and Ens. Graham on the knife's handle. There are two other partial fingerprints, probably too smudged to be identified as anyone's in particular. The metallurgical composition of the knife is identical to that found with Wilson's body.

"Excellent, right where it was expected to be. Ok, you can shut it up again and leave it right there." Rangin says to Officer Peters.

Once Peters locks the vault again, Rangin says, "Right, I'm going to go back and see how I can assist Officer Graham. If you want to join me, you're welcome, but if Mr Hsu has another job for you, you're free to go and do that. Regardless, thank for you your help, it has been appreciated."

Peters closes and relocks the drawer, then nods. "I'd better get back to the park. Glad to help; call if you need me again." He leaves.

Rangin smiles in acknowledgement before heading back to Wilson's office.

At the office, he walks in and goes over to Graham. "The knife is still there, just as it was left with all expected fingerprints on. So, what can I do to help and any word from the others?"

Graham listens to Kylah. "Glad we have eyes on the Admiral" he replies. "I appreciate your instincts to lock everything down, but at least my hunch at this point is this was personal. Mr. Rangin is checking on Fastolfe's confiscated knife." I'm in Mr. Wilson's office with Mrs. Hsu. No big breakthroughs here." He pauses and glances briefly at Mrs. Hsu. He softens his voice a bit. "Well, I've seen a picture of Wilson's family. Some folks to whom we owe some justice."

He pauses and frowns for a moment. "We need to get set up with a command center--eh, and a white board--and start mapping out the game plan. As I see it, Fastolfe is suspect number one. So we finish the interviews at interviews, some combination of me and Rangin try to get access Wilson's correspondence and review security surveillance logs, and T'Var completes the autopsy. Then we all put our heads together on the interview strategy for him. We find a smoking gun or he confesses, high fives all around. If not...we look at Palver further, and keep digging...I'll let you know when I secure a location for us to work out of. Oh yeah - good catch on this Palver character."

He just finishes saying "Graham out" when Rangin asks what he can do.

"Not sure how much you heard," Graham says. He repeats what we has told basically verbatim. "You're right, we need a command center. And after you and I try to check Wilson's correspondence and the surveillance records, we assemble and come up with our game plan for Fastolfe, who I'd call suspect number one."

He turns toward Mrs. Hsu. "I'm sorry to be talking as if you weren't here. We'll find out what happened...it won't bring him back but..." he looks at the pictures of Wilson's family and his voice lowers. "If we hold someone to account, some people find that, at least, means something..." He clears his throat. "To that end...a secure room we can work out of would really help, as would access to Mr. Wilson's files."

Kylah stares at her communicator. She presses the buttons again. "Kylah to Graham," she says tersely. "I beg your pardon, I should have made it clearer that Lieutenant Collins, our mission commander and the Assistant Security Officer, wishes you to look into Palver's background. I do not believe she intended that to be a mere alternative if your own theory does not pan out.

"However, regarding Lord Fastolfe, if I may be so bold to suggest another area that I don't believe has been considered: his ship is hovering in orbit and could beam him away at any moment. The same goes for the two other ships we saw earlier today, although I do not know to whom they belong or if they are still there. What should we we do about making certain none of those ships leave the vicinity?"

Graham takes a deep breath and rubs his head while Kylah lectures him. "What we need to very quickly," he says slowly and evenly, trying to get back in the mindset of his teaching days at Starfleet Academy, "is to get enough on Fastolfe, including by coming up with a good plan to get him to incriminate himself by something he says so we can take him into custody or at the least officially identified as a person of interest with enough meat to back it up so the Yorktown will have a solid legal basis for detaining him until this investigation is complete if he tries to leave, since is clearly the type who will lawyer up in a picosecond."

He pauses. "It's a very good suggestion, though, Mr. Kylah that we ought to find out whether those ships are still there and if so who they belong to. That would make those folks a priority. We'll check that out. Assuming one of those ship's isn't Palver's, my recommendation on sequencing these activities to our mission-commander-and-Assistant-Chief-Security- Officer would be that we attend to getting Fastolfe on ice first, then turn our attention on him."

He tries to avoid sounding annoyed as he's actually glad she spoke up rather than remaining silent and assuming no one cared what she thought.

Mrs. Hsu says, "Of course. I'll arrange for one of our large conference rooms to be made available to you, with access to the resort's computer system, and a direct subspace link to your ship." She pulls out a small data pad and begins writing.

Graham and Kylah recall that, at least as of yesterday, when the USS Yorktown arrived at Omicron Ceti III, there were three other ships in orbit: the starliner Empress of Berengaria and two private yachts, the Trimalchio and the Fastolfe’s Chariot.

See post 439.

Kylah feels as if she is drowning again, except this time it is not her body being lost to someone else's will but her mind. Again a man is ignoring her words.

"Very well, Ensign, I will tell Lt. Collins that you do not agree with her orders. However, do you not think it prudent that we go directly to Fastolfe before he has time to beam away? Indeed, do we even know that he is still on the planet?" Another thing I'll wager neither you nor Collins thought of. By the flames on the Southern Continent, I wish the Elasian police were here to supervise this investigation!

Graham nods in appreciation to Hsu. He's a bit taken aback by Kylah's response: well, you were encouraging her to believe her opinion was valued, he thinks. No good deed goes unpunished...

"My, uh...fellow ensign.." he replies, quietly and evenly. "If Fastolfe intended to flee, he could have done so at any time, including before the body was discovered. If he has done so, the only thing we can do is build a case for an arrest warrant, and people other than us will be the ones who track him down. If he has not fled--with one reason being that it would look like a sign of guilt, but in his case the more likely one being that he's arrogant enough to believe he can get away with it because we're a bunch of stupid peasants--then our first contact is our best chance to trip him up with something we've discovered that he doesn't know we know."

He glances at Rangin. "Contrary to what some may believe about my law enforcement sensibilities, I operate from the premise that if we don't have a solid basis to detain someone, there's not a damn thing we can do. And given his wealth...if he were some two-bit hood I'd say we go grab his ass based on what we have, but he'll have counsel so slick they could get a slam-dunk conviction overturned on the slightest technicality, so we need to dot all the i's and cross all the t's."

"Anyway...your...thoroughness is commendable, Kylah," he says, sincerely and trying to sound it. "If you would like me to ask Mr. Hsu to confirm Fastolfe's location for you, I'll do that right now. Stand by."

He switches channels on his communicator. "Graham to Mr. Hsu. Two questions, if I may: one, is there any record of Lord Fastolfe leaving the planet? And if not: can your people determine his location? No contact--I just want to know where he is. Thanks."

Ah to hell with it, he thinks. "Graham to Yorktown. Request Security perform a background check on Fellim Palver, a Rhaandarite, guest at the resort. Potential person of interest. Please transmit results to me, Lt. Collins--and Ensign Kylah. Thank you."

"Thank you. Kylah out," Kylah says hoarsely. She shuts the communicator. She trudges to the next house while fully expecting the woman behind her to be even more disgusted with her than usual for either failing to fulfill the lieutenant's wishes, or conversely for arguing with Graham, since after all, he is a fellow security officer and a human, and thus supercedes Kylah's status regardless of his actual rank. "I suppose we are to continue with the interviews," she murmurs, more to herself than Collins.

After a second she shakes her head. "No, wait--excuse me, sir. Just a moment. There is something I do not believe Mr. Graham will follow up on." She lifts the communicator and, after an internal debate, speaks into it. "Kylah to Rangin. As I just told Mr. Graham, we just spoke with Mr. Palver, a Rhaandarite. He was one of the guests introduced to the spores yesterday. However, the treatment wore off some time in the middle of the night. He claims it was while he was sleeping. I thought... I thought you might be able to check with the medical staff to learn if Rhaandarites normally lose the influence of the spores so quickly. I--I only ask because I know you understand the biological aspects of the spores better than anyone, and I..." She lowers her voice. "I trust that you are less likely than others to be singularly focused on one suspect. I hope you do not mind my... my presumption?"

It is easy enough to follow Graham's conversation through his communicator with Kylah, he really doesn't seem that interested in keeping it private.

He rolls his eyes at Graham's comment which was obviously about Rangin. Graham really had poor ideas about how to work as a team in a situation like this. He was probably expecting to have Lord Falstofe locked up, the case solved with a jump back to Junior Grade as a bonus for being so clever. Besides when did lack of proof ever stop Graham from doing something unofficial. Rangin's cheeks burned slightly, as he remembered Graham's use of the cameras in the resort.

As Rangin's communicator goes, he moves away from Graham who seems to be struggling to cope and to give himself some privacy. He listens to Kylah as she relays her concerns.

"Thank you Kylah, that is interesting news and I'll check with the research station on that. Mild stress is not normally enough to remove the effects of the spores, but it is definitely worth checking out. As for suspects, every guest is a suspect, you haven't presumed anything. I'm currently just helping Graham here, if there is anything else you need, let me know. If you want to keep Lt. (JG) Collins occupied, I've sent her the preliminary fingerprint searches from the alleged murder weapon. It's pair is still in the vault. And Kylah, good luck with the interviews."

"I'll tell Lt. Collins. Thank you, Velir," Kylah murmurs before shutting her communicator. She then inhales sharply when she realizes what she's called him. We can be friends, at least, she thinks, rubbing the communicator with her thumb absently as if touching his hand through it. Even just saying his name comforts her.

"Lieutenant, Mr. Rangin has sent you the fingerprints off the knife," she says without looking back. She also appreciates that Rangin used alleged before "murder weapon." It is a pleasure to work with someone who does not jump to conclusions.

She heads to the door of the next house and rings the chime.

Graham's shoulders slump for a moment. Obviously, she's not getting enough coaching. But obviously I'm not providing it, either, he thinks. And we're not in sync as a team--but I'm too wrapped up in my head to be part of the solution, instead I'm part of the problem....

He takes and exhales a deep breath. "Mrs. Hsu, thanks for setting up the room." He gestures toward the datapads. "It would also be vital to access Mr. Wilson's files and correspondence. If we're...well, lucky's a strange word to use at a time like this, but if we are, we might find a threat or evidence of a motive..."

And we need to dig into those financial records, too, he thinks. Money's a tried-and-true motive...

He shakes his head slightly, tick tock...we're wasting too much time. "Excuse me, he says to Mrs. Hsu," and he steps away a bit and re-opens his communicator. "Graham to Yorktown. One more request for assistance: there were ships in orbit when we arrived. Are they still there? If not, when did each leave? And we'd appreciate a run of their owners and passenger manifests against the guest list. And please inform Lt. Collins and me if any others arrive." He pauses for a moment. "And please inform Cmdr. Vargas--one of those ships belonged to Lord Fastolfe, our most likely candidate for prime suspect at the moment. If he decides to leave, interdicting that ship might be the right thing to do--but at the moment if I speak freely I think his lawyers would have a field day at our expense. We're working on building our case."

Mr. Hsu tells Graham, "There's no record of anyone leaving the planet since the Empress left yesterday afternoon at 5pm - before Wilson died, obviously. She'd dropped off her passengers, taken aboard those who'd finished their stay here, and was heading for Cochrane V as part of her regular route in this sector. As to Lord Fastolfe, he didn't leave on the starliner, I know that for sure. I've asked around, and he was last seen in the nightclub just before midnight. As far as I know, he's in his guest house. You said you don't want us to make contact... did you want us to scan the house from outside? I'm, uh, not sure about the privacy issues there."

Soon after, Security Lt. JG Ryan Jones reports to Graham, Collins and Kylah by communicator. "Fellim Palver, age 57, Rhaandarite billionaire. No spouse, no children. Very successful, obviously. Has interests in mining, real estate, electronics, foods, interstellar transport and computers. No criminal record. He's been investigated several times by the Federation, the Rhaandarite Republic and United Earth for suspected fraud and insider trading, but never charged. Considered somewhat reclusive and tends not to seek the limelight." He adds, "Those two yachts are still up here. I've passed along your message to the First Officer."

Dr. Lucy Anderson, woken at the research station by Rangin's call, groggily says, "We haven't had many Rhaandarites undergo the spore treatment, or be test subjects here, but I'm not aware that they'd shake off the spores' effect unusually easily. Their physiology is quite similar to Humans' in many ways."

Collins says, "Good work, Mr. Kylah." The door of the next guest house opens after a long delay. An older, frumpy-looking woman stands there in a robe and nightgown. "Yes?" she asks, eyeing you skeptically.

Drs. Halsey and T'Var are on the Yorktown, preparing for the autopsy.

After speaking with the research station, Rangin looks back at the communicator in his hand. Velir, Kylah had called him again. What was she playing at? Last night, it was I never want to be around again, then it was Ensign Rangin and now it was back to Velir. Collegues, friends, no, it was too early to try and figure it out. He could do so later, but first Graham.

Rangin heads across to the Graham and speaks quietly to him "A quick word, Booker. Remember what I said last night about a truce, let's keep it that way. We may not get on, but for the sake of what's happened, let's work like a team shall we? By the way, I'd suggest taking five, go grab a coffee and gather your thoughts. Less haste, more speed and all that. You haven't stopped since you got the comms call."

Rangin offers a hand out to Graham in offer of, if not friendship, at least of collaboration.

Graham replies to Hsu. "Thanks for the offer, but if anybody's going to get into trouble, we'll take the hit. If your folks could keep surveillance on the house assuming he's inside and let us know if he leaves, that'd be fine."

When Rangin approaches him he stares dumbly at the Coridanite while he speaks and extends his hand. He blinks and belatedly extends his own. "Uh...yeah, sure...is there anyth--" he replies in a similarly low voice. "Oh...shit, I'm sorry about the silent treatment before. I was distracted--worried about--Ensign Kylah. Something's not quite right." He frowns. "Not I seem to be any help. Look--as far as I'm concerned, you're a stand-up guy even if we disagree about some things." Finishing the handshake he rubs his head.

"OK, coffee's a good idea - I'll head to our new command center, start reviewing surveillance tapes, meet you there."

He turns to Mrs. Hsu. "Thanks for all your help - one more thing - ...I'd like to borrow one of the pictures of Mr. Wilson's family, stand it up in the conference room. To remind us all why what we're doing matters. If you don't mind, of course."

Mrs. Hsu hesitates and says, "No, that would be all right, I suppose. I'm sure his family would like it back eventually, though. Your 'command center' won't be ready for half an hour or so. Perhaps you'd all like to get breakfast in the meantime?"

Delaney has found his way to Wilson's office, now that its original occupant has been removed from the park and taken to the ship. He overhears Mrs. Hsu's suggestion. "Breakfast sounds great," he says. "Can't run an engine without fuel. I always think better after a meal."

It is now 0520. Graham can see the first hint of dawn in the office windows.

Graham nods and says softly, partly in response to Hsu, partly to himself, "We'll take good care of it."

Holding a photo in his hands, he more-or-less grunts in response to Delaney's endorsement of breakfast, and, noticing the light coming through the windows, for whatever reason wanders over to look at the paining.

Kylah takes a quick measure of the woman's mood, although the look she's giving them makes it fairly obvious. Even on spores one can probably get annoyed by being woken up so early.

"We are very sorry to bother you at this hour," she says gently. "I am Ensign Kylah and this is Lieutenant Collins of the U.S.S. Yorktown. I am afraid there has been a--an unfortunate incident, just outside in the courtyard, involving a loss of life. And we must check on everyone to ensure you are all safe, as well as ask you if you might have heard or seen anything unusual. Please, may I ask your name, and come in to ask you a few questions? It will not take long."

"Check with the resort if you want to know who I am. I've got nothing to say to you," she says firmly, closing the door at once.

Kylah steps back in surprise. She has met no one under the influence of the spores who has displayed this level of rudeness. After a second or two of staring at the door, a scowl lowers her brow and she lifts her communicator to contact Mrs. Hsu. "I beg your pardon, Mrs. Hsu. We have been operating at a disadvantage. Could you please give me the names of each primary registered guest staying in each cottage, starting with the one next to Mr. Palver's?"

What was Kylah's impression of the woman's emotions when she checked in my last post?

Mrs. Hsu gives you the list within a minute. Nine of the twelve guest houses are now occupied. The lady who answered the door is Mrs. Belinda Webb, of Luna City, on Earth's Moon. Her emotions were annoyance and mild anger.

Remember that Sandoval and Kirk's own crew could be quite immovable and rude when the good Captain asked them to do things they didn't want to do in TOS "This Side of Paradise."

Yes but Kylah doesn't know that. :)

Thanking Mrs. Hsu, Kylah steps forward and rings the chime again, adding a sharp knock on the door. "Mrs. Webb? Please let us speak to you. This is a matter of life and death--and your safety could be at stake. Will you not consider your own life, even if you do not wish to help us?"

Collins is actually a little proud of Kylah for the way she's handling things, which surprises her.

After Graham has finished, Rangin shakes his hand. "Accepted".

As Mrs Hsu and Delaney mention breakfast, Rangin responds "Little bit early for breakfast isn't it, sir, besides,I don't think the ladies would appreciate us heading off for breakfast while they are still out interviewing."

Rangin looks at Graham and Delaney, "Who would like to call them, considering they are about to start a new interview", he nods at Mrs Hsu giving details over the comms, "If not, I have one last thing to try and track down. Lord Falstofe's third knife. Those things to to come in sets of three, so I was going to go walking with a tricorder and see if I could pick up a general trace on it."

Mrs. Webb says loudly, "Go away!"

Delaney says, "I know it's early, but I'm starving."

"Then I suggest making Lt Collins and Ensign Kylah aware of that, sir.", replies Rangin

Like one of her crystal zither strings that's ready to snap between clumsy fingers, Kylah feels tight and stretched to the limit of her endurance. She has the wild, instinctive desire to blast the door with her phaser. Instead she grits her teeth and calls out: "Mrs. Webb. I will not bother you further at this moment. But we have to talk to you, and it will be soon. This is being considered a criminal investigation, and whether you answer our questions or not, we must and will ask them. Do you wish to get this over with now, or later?"

Stepping back from the door, Kylah is suddenly aware of how weak she feels. She takes a deep breath of the morning air, hoping to wake herself up or at least to keep herself from losing consciousness. Finally she turns reluctantly to Collins. "What do you recommend, sir? Shall we try the next house or do you believe Mrs. Webb is hiding something, and we should press further?"

Kylah thinks about the list of guests that Mrs. Hsu sent her, wondering if they should be going in house order or if there is any benefit in a different pattern.

This is my oh-so-subtle way of asking for the list of names/houses that Mrs. Hsu gave Kylah, please?

Delaney looks taken aback, and then smiles. "I guess I am the ranking officer among the three of us, aren't I? See, engineers just don't think that way. Breakfast it is!" He calls Collins on his communicator and suggests a pause for breakfast. Since the resort's restaurants are still closed at this hour, Mrs. Hsu suggests you make use of the replicator in the staff lounge, just down the hall.

Mrs. Webb does not respond to Kylah's call. The lights inside her house go out. Kylah sighs and reviews the list of guest houses:

1 - currently vacant
2 - Fellim Palver, Rhaandaran
3 - Mrs. Webb, Luna
4 - The Ettoo-Oms, a family of Aurelians (perhaps those seen last night in the lobby), Pacifica
5 - Lord Fastolfe, Proxima Centauri
6 - Samuel and Bella Gold, both businesspeople, Earth
7 - currently vacant
8 - Prolun Jaxo, a top Hwuen government official
9 - Rosemary Calvin, author
10 - currently vacant
11 - Terrance and Claire Hutchinson, retirees, Earth
12 - Sylvia Aubrey, an actress, Cochrane V

Kylah looks ruefully at the door in front of her again. If this were the house Fastolfe wanted, she wouldn't blame Wilson for not wanting to argue with this woman. Although right now Kylah thinks she might have sided with Fastolfe just to spite Webb. Even on spores, the woman is odious.

"Yes sir, you are the current ranking member here" responds Rangin quietly while waiting to see what response Delaney gets from Collins.

Collins responds to Delaney "Good idea. I could use a break." To Kylah she says "Breakfast meeting in the spa staff lounge. Shall we?"

"The staff lounge... in the spa," Kylah repeats slowly, knowing she sounds like an imbecile but unable to help herself. She has a dread of returning to the main building. It has been daunting enough to face the guests one at a time: the prospect of being among many people on the spore treatment worries her--and the thought of seeing Jan again terrifies her completely. But when she looks at her chronometer and confirms that is still very early, she takes a calming breath. There is little chance that guests will be around at such an hour, and besides, she suspects the staff lounge is quite separate from any public areas.

She murmurs "Yes, sir" and follows Collins.

"So, breakfast it is then", says Rangin noticing Delaney on the communicator. "I could do with something more filling than usual, I have a feeling we have a long day ahead of us."

Rangin looks at Graham, "Odds on everyone will want to talk, instead of eating and saving it for the meeting room afterwards once its set up."

"Well sir, lead on to the canteen", Rangin calls out to Delaney.

Graham nods acknowledgment of Rangin's comment, takes one last look at the painting and follows along.

Remember that the spa is just a part of the larger OC3 resort. And "canteen" is a synonym for "cafeteria" and not "staff lounge," I thought...?

Mrs. Hsu shows you to the staff lounge and activates the replicator for you, and then leaves to attend to some other business, including notifying WR&R what has happened. Delaney orders eggs, bacon and coffee.

It is, Rangin is just tired...honest.

Rangin orders up a Cordas breakfast platter with all the trimmings. To anyone looking at it, it looks similar to a full English Breakfast, with most of the components replaced by their Coridan equivalent and a large mug of black coffee, with extra sugar. As he sits down to enjoy it, he remembers all the times one of these used to last him all day. He has a feeling he is going to need it.

He sits down opposite Delaney, "Ok, sir, this is a good idea."

Before Collins sits with the team, she selects a large coffee and a bowl of high protein oatmeal.

T'Var introduces Dr. Halsey to the ship's CMO, then shows him around Sickbay.

"I must apologize to you, Doctor," the Vulcan says. "I am sure this is most difficult for you. The loss of Mr. Wilson in such a violent manner. A co-worker murdered is a traumatic experience -- even if you are a physician and expected to handle these situations in a professional manner."

T'Var observes Halsey closely to monitor his response. She still feels he is a prime suspect.

Graham secures a plate of black pudding and fried eggs and a cup of coffee and joins the others at the table.

Kylah enters the lounge warily and takes a furtive glance at the table to see who is here before moving to the replicator. She's so ravenous that it's tempting to order almost anything she can think of. Finally she chooses scrambled eggs, toast, and a fruit salad, as well as her beloved hot chocolate.

On her way to the table she has a dizzy spell and nearly loses her balance, but she manages not to stumble. Her knuckles are white as she keeps an iron grip on the tray. Before she drops it, she hurries to set it down on the table and does so with a clatter of silverware and dishes. The clumsiness makses her cringe but she is careful not to look at the crew. She trusts the others are too preoccupied with their own thoughts on the murder to notice.

At last Kylah takes a seat at the end and focuses on not wolfing down everything in sight.

Delaney notices and asks, "Are you OK, Kylah?"

Halsey says, "Thank you. It is very upsetting, but we have a job to do, and I guess we ought to be about it." He seems sincere, although T'Var still senses a suppressed excitement or sense of pleasure; it is somewhat unsettling.

After scrub and sterilization-ray prep, they begin the autopsy. Dr. Miriam Villa and Nurse Sarah Perry assist them. T'Var follows the standard Starfleet Medical pathology protocol.

The subject, Anthony Wilson, is a well-nourished, apparently previously healthy, Human male, Caucasian, approximately age 50. After a full exterior and interior medscan, T'Var closely examines the entire body, noting two puncture wounds in the chest, one of which, the deeper one, fully pierced the heart, causing rapid exsanguination into the chest cavity and death. Wilson had small birthmarks on the right hip and the top of the right foot. The skin, digits, extremities and genitalia are otherwise typical; there are are no other visible wounds or injuries, other than the bruise on his right wrist which T'Var saw earlier. She extracts or collects blood, urine, marrow, semen, hair, skin, fingernail and saliva samples, and asks Dr. Villa to run a full battery of toxicology scans and tests. The CMO, in doing so, finds no indication of any foreign substance, drug, disease, cancer, poison, spore (OC3 or otherwise), mold, pathogen or other toxin of any kind. Opening of the chest cavity and brain, and physical examination and scans of their contents, reveals unremarkable (other than the heart) and undiseased organs. Roughly two-thirds of the expected volume of blood for a person of this age and stature is collected from the chest cavity.

Collins greets everyone, and lets them eat quietly, once Kylah has settled down.. She finishes her coffee, gets another cup full, and finishes about half of it before speaking.
"Okay. Shall we recap the last few hours before proceeding? Delaney, please bring us up to speed."

Concentrating more on his food than anything else, Rangin hears something on the edge but doesn't place it amongst the clatter of cutlery. He looks round and sees everyone sat down and eating away, shrugs and gets back to his own food. He then notices Delaney ask Kylah and looks round to see how she responds.

When Collins starts speaking, Rangin nudges Graham surreptitiously, "Told you so." as he decides to interrupt. "My apologies sir, but perhaps this conversation would be better off held in the private meeting room we have set up instead of this public staff room. It should be ready in fifteen minutes or so."

At Delaney's question, Kylah nods and murmurs, "Yes, thank you sir. I am sorry, I slipped on something; perhaps the floor is wet."

While she does her best to eat as slowly as she can, she still finishes everything but the hot chocolate in a matter of minutes. She then wraps her hands around the mug and sips. The warm sweetness soothes her until Collins begins to talk. She has not shifted her gaze from her tray since she sat down, but when Rangin interrupts Collins, her eyes flicker for a moment to take in Velir Rangin, just to see how he looks. He seems tired but otherwise he is still Velir. Attractive, unassuming, and confident.

Kylah quickly looks back at her drink and notices that last night during her agitated and fruitless attempts to get to sleep, she's bitten her nails almost to the quick. Embarrassed, she curls her fingers under so they cannot be seen around the mug.

Delaney doesn't say anything, but looks expectantly at Collins.

Graham clears his throat and piggy-backs on Rangin's suggestion. "Ah, yeah, good idea, and uh...and Hsu has set us up with access to the resort's systems in the conference room, so in addition to having privacy we'll be able to patch in real-time as we discuss anything, if it's useful to do so."

"Fine," concedes Collins. "We'll wait til then." Having finished her second cup of coffee, she goes for a third.

The Yorktown landing party finishes its breakfast, and each member has the chance to make use of the adjoining bathrooms.

Mrs. Hsu returns and says the conference room is ready. She leads you to a large room, about half again as big as the conference room in which you met with her and Wilson the day before. A large wooden table dominates the room. There are six WR&R computer terminals on the table, and display screens of varying sizes on the walls. Mrs. Hsu codes the single door, which opens onto a nondescript hallway, to only open to voice commands or thumbprints from the five of you and Dr. T'Var. This room, too, has adjoining bathrooms, and a replicator. "I hope this will be useful...?" she asks.

"Mrs Hsu, this will be excellent. Thank you very much indeed." Rangin looks around the room and nods appreciatively. "This will more than help us in trying to solve this and if there is anything we can do in return..."

He looks round a bit further before asking, "...actually, would it be possible to get some storage boxes for anything we find, please?"

"Thank you, Mrs Hsu." Collins echoes. She wants more coffee, but will wait a while before she gets any.

Graham sets the picture of Wilson's family at the head of the table.

And then regrets again he's not the senior officer on the mission, because if he were he wouldn't hesitate to help himself to a shot of whiskey from the replicator once Hsu leaves.

T'Var was hoping for a concrete clue or clues to help them learn something useful from the autopsy. Other than the knife wound, there is nothing. The doctor sighs. She takes a closer look at the two puncture wounds and the heart itself. Has she missed anything important?

T'Var also watches Dr. Halsey carefully. Why is he so excited? What pleasure could he have from Wilson's death? If he truly is a professional, an autopsy should not merit these feelings. However, a murder investigation and his chance to participate, might cause him to react in such a way.

The doctor sighs again. She glances at Wilson's body, then fixes her gaze on Dr. Halsey. Most disturbing, indeed.

Kylah sits at the table without a word. When Graham places the portrait at the head of the table she looks at it and feels a brief moment of sympathy, but it is quickly replaced by a strange resentment.

Why must we see that? Does he think we will not work to solve the murder without Wilson's family to remind us? What if Wilson had no family to mourn him--would Graham not do his best to find the killer?

She shifts her gaze to the terminal in front of her. Probably he wouldn't. He had contempt for Wilson. People are to be sorted and judged. A person is worthy of respect because he is a law officer, or because she is young and sinless. A mere administrator is to be mocked and intimidated, a harlot is to be used as bait. Good. Bad. Such easy distinctions to make.

Kylah shakes her head infinitesimally and rubs her tired, burning eyes.

"I'll see that some storage boxes are brought here," Mrs. Hsu says. "I'm assigning Hal Parker, one of our staff assistants, to help you. I have some other things I have to do, so please call Hal for any other issues or requests - otherwise, you're welcome to call me, of course, especially if Hal can't oblige you."

Dr. T'Var can sense no change in Dr. Halsey's mood during the autopsy. "Anything else we should do?" he asks.

Remembering that she is still holding the few belongings found in Wilson's pockets, Kylah puts the evidence bag on the table. She removes the communicator and places it beside the terminal; she hopes to create a connection to the Yorktown's computer, and then to the communicator, so she can run the ship's cryptography program and--if possible--crack Wilson's password.

"Thank you once again, you have been most accommodating", says Rangin to Mrs Hsu, "I hope we will have some news soon."

Rangin puts the evidence bag containing the knife on the table and takes a seat opposite Kylah, while waiting for Mrs Hsu to leave and for Collins to call the meeting to order. His eyes look upwards to the head of the table and he wonders if Graham has decided to stake out his position or if he is going to let Collins sit there with the slightly gruesome memento in front of her, or if Collins would be smart enough to take the opposite end.

Collins sits at the end of the table, away from the pile of stuff Graham has laid out. "Let's get started," she says. "What do we know so far?"

Graham takes a seat alongside the table. "Ah, should we see if the Doc is through with the autopsy so she can join in, L-T?" Graham says after Collins kicks off the meeting.

"Sure," Collins says as she opens her communicator "Collins to T'Var. Anything worth sharing yet?" She then places the communicator on the table so that all can hear the response.

Mrs. Hsu says hurriedly, "I'd better go. Good luck to you all." She leaves, and the door whisks shut behind her.

Deciding that there is no reason to wait since she can work and listen while the others talk, Kylah silently connects with the Yorktown computer via the keyboard and begins the process of identifying herself via her own password--so the Yorktown security is not alerted by an outsider trying to access its mainframe--explaining what she is doing, and seeking assistance on how to decrypt Wilson's communicator.

Perhaps his password on the WR&R system will be the same, she thinks hopefully. Seeing his stored messages might help us learn more about the relationships between Wilson and others, either staff members or guests.

Rangin waits idly for the conversation to come round to him again and looks round to see what the others are doing.

The lack of response from the communicator seems to imply Doctor T'Var is unavailable and of the others, only Kylah has started doing anything. Rangin looks across at her typing away and wonders what is running through her mind. In the brighter internal lights, she looks as if she hasn't slept and only just keeping it together. At this point asking what she wanted, would be futile, best let her concentrate on her duties for now.

In fact, looking round again, everyone looks tired, and if anyone looks at him, he thought, it would probably be the same story.

Getting no answer, Collins closes the communicator. "We'll call her again in a while. So, who would like to go first?" She looks around the table.

Noting the lack of enthusiasm from the others, Rangin sighs.

"OK, results of my scans from the area. Blood stains found around the body all belonged to Mr Wilson. There are footprints in the area, but none of the centred around the body. It is difficult to say anything about the thermocrete paths, including those Mr Wilson was found next to. Shoes don't leave any impressions on them. Also, there were no signs of any struggle in the areas around Mr Wilson. If one did occur at that point, it would have to have happened on the path. I couldn't find any sign of how Mr Wilson came to get to this spot. I did ask Mr Delaney to reconfigure my tricorder to try and pick up any scent trail that Mr Wilson might have left, but I was unsuccessful in finding anything. Whether that was because there was nothing to find or it was never there, I'm not totally sure. "

Rangin takes a breath before continuing

"The other thing I had was fingerprints from the alleged murder weapon. Seven prints, four clean, three partial. The four belong to Lord Falstofe as I guess anyone would expect, the other three remain unidentified. I have compared against the Staff records for the resort, thumbprint records for the guests, crossmatched if any of them have a criminal records with Federation records. Also no match against any Federation staff in the research station and no match against any crews of the ships currently in orbit if they had records on file."

"Also, I did check that the knife removed from Lord Falstofe is still in the vault and it is, and finally the knives normally come in a set of three, so we might be missing one somewhere."

Rangin looks back at Collins. "That's all."

T'Var shakes her head. "Cause of death is quite clear," she replies. "I do not believe there is much else we can do at this point."

The doctor notices the message from Collins and opens a channel. "Autopsy is unremarkable," she says. "The knife wound piercing Mr. Wilson's heart is the obvious cause of death."

"Thank you, Doctor." Collins replies then turns back to Rangin. "The knife we saw yesterday is still in the vault, and the one found at the crime scene has Fastolfe's prints, and there's a third one? What was he doing, juggling? Where is the third knife, do we know yet?" Collins makes some notes in her datapad. "Delaney? Anything to add?"

Delaney gives his report; everyone now knows what everyone else knows. He adds, "I have a question for Dr. T'Var. I wonder what the time of death was?"

She replies, "Judging by body cooling, lividity, cellular decay and other factors, I'd estimate it was between 2330 and 0030 hours. Drs. Villa and Halsey concur."

Collins's communicator beeps. It's Mr. Hsu, who reports, "I had one of my people check the resort's surveillance records. I can't explain it, but the system went offline at midnight throughout the resort and surrounding grounds. We have no video or audio record for anything from then until now, just static. This has never happened before."

"Well, that figures," Collins says. "Thank you Mr. Hsu. We'll try to trace the source of glitch." As she says this she nods at Delaney indicating he should start on that immediately.

Graham grimaces. "Figures is right, L-T," he says. "I was going to say, we have some good intelligence on the knives, I was hoping we'd be able to find some way to connect Fastolfe, as a likely suspect, to contact with Wilson using the surveillance records."

He pauses and scratches his chin. "Or Kylah's buddy, the Rhandaarite, who has a plausible financial motive. Maybe he's an even more plausible suspect now: I think Fastolfe's an arrogant bully, but it doesn't seem like he's got the technical expertise to act on his own to override complex systems. Or the motivation and patience to gin up a complex plot to assassinate Wilson..."

He glances at the photo of Wilson's family. "There's at least one other thing we should consider. Maybe I was wrong about Wilson. I assumed he was a tool of WR&R. Maybe instead he knew something important people there didn't want us to know. Insiders would be better able to orchestrate this series of events than a random guest who happens to be a hothead..."

Kylah, still waiting for the cryptography program to work its magic on Wilson's communicator, looks up briefly--first at Rangin, because... well, she does not know why--and then at Graham, before returning her eyes downward and murmuring: "I am hoping that he might have had contacts with people through his communicator, and we may know of them if the Yorktown program is able to crack his password. But may I ask a question of Lt. T'Var?" She raises her voice slightly to be heard. "Doctor. We saw a bruise on Mr. Wilson's right wrist, did we not? Are there any other bruises on his body? And could you tell how long before his death the bruise was made?"

"No other bruises, other than the one on his wrist," Dr. T'Var says. "I should have mentioned that."

With a nod to Collins, Delaney begins using his computer to try to trace the source of the surveillance system failure.

Kylah sets up the cryptography program on Wilson's communicator via subspace link to the Yorktown. The murder victim's gadget has standard Federation civilian encryption, and it shouldn't take more than ten minutes or so.