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."
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
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
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
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?
Last edited by choie; 08 Feb 2014 at 02:06 PM.
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.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
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.
Last edited by choie; 09 Feb 2014 at 12:04 PM.
"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.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
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.
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 09 Feb 2014 at 11:03 PM.
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."
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
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.
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 12 Feb 2014 at 05:16 PM.
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."
Last edited by anyrose; 10 Feb 2014 at 03:00 PM.
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."
Last edited by CatInASuit; 10 Feb 2014 at 03:16 PM. Reason: added nudge to Graham
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
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.
Last edited by choie; 10 Feb 2014 at 03:16 PM.
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?"
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
"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.
Last edited by CatInASuit; 12 Feb 2014 at 02:33 AM. Reason: added some hesitation
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.
Last edited by choie; 11 Feb 2014 at 11:40 AM.
"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.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
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.
Last edited by anyrose; 11 Feb 2014 at 06:18 PM.
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.
Last edited by choie; 12 Feb 2014 at 12:07 AM.
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.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
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."
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
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?"
Last edited by choie; 12 Feb 2014 at 02:49 PM.
"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.
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