Valor At Vauzlee (25 page)

"That's true, unfortunately. Since I've been unable to develop a list of likely suspects, I'm now attempting to narrow the field a bit by developing lists of ‘unlikely' and ‘highly-unlikely' suspects."

"What criteria are you using?"

"Anyone who was on duty at the time of the murder, and whose presence can be corroborated by at least two other crewmen, is being placed on the highly-unlikely list. Anyone whose presence on duty can only be corroborated by one person, is being placed on the unlikely list. The same holds true for anyone who was off-duty and whose presence is corroborated by at least two others. Almost everyone else remains on the suspect list."

"That sounds like a sensible plan."

"It was fortunate, from an investigation standpoint, that the murder occurred during the second watch. The number of personnel on third watch drops precipitously."

"Yes. And now you're here to hear my alibi?"

"Uh— yes, Captain."

"I was in my quarters. But since I was alone, I have no one to corroborate my presence there. However, my steward keeps pretty good track of my movements when I'm there, so he might vouch for my assumed presence."

"Yes, I've already spoken to him, and he did." Galont knew that he was treading dangerous ground. He couldn't make even the slightest suggestion that the ship's captain was involved, unless he had solid proof that she was. His questioning of her was a mere formality anyway. He knew that she could never have gone to the location where the murder was committed without someone seeing her along the way. Other crewmembers could wander the corridors at night without anyone paying them much attention, but the passage of the ship's captain anywhere but on A Deck at that hour would be remembered. And her steward should have known if she'd left her quarters. "Did you know Petty Officer Nichols, Captain?"

"I encountered him several times during my inspections of the ship. I only spoke with him once, though. He seemed personable and intelligent. Naturally I viewed his personnel record when I took command, as I did for every other member of the crew."

"Had you ever met him before boarding the Song, heard about him, or read anything about him?"

"No. Not to the best of my recollection."

"Thank you, Captain. Since your steward corroborates your alibi and you've only been aboard the ship for a short time, and an incredibly busy time at that, I'm placing you on the ‘highly unlikely' list."

"How many crewmembers do you have on the ‘unlikely' and ‘highly-unlikely' lists?"

"Thirteen-hundred-seven with your name added there."

"That's about two-thirds of the crew. You've made good progress after all, Major."

"Thank you, Captain. But it still leaves seven-hundred ninety-four on the ‘suspect' list, and you're the last to be interviewed. The murderer was quite clever. He didn't leave behind a single clue that we could zero in on."

"Don't get discouraged. Criminals always slip up somewhere. Something will turn up."

"Aye, Captain. I just hope we catch him before he strikes again."

"Again?"

"Yes, ma'am. I originally thought that the murder might have occurred because third watch was about to begin and the murderer had to leave, either before the game was over, or perhaps over a dispute about credits owed when it was time to settle up."

"But you no longer think that?"

"No ma'am. I changed my opinion once I'd had time for a thorough examination of the facts. The playing cards scattered around the body made it appear that they had fallen during a struggle. But I discovered later, when his body was removed, that there were no cards beneath it, indicating that they had been scattered around the body after Nichols was down. It's possible that he wasn't even playing cards. And then there's the murder weapon. Nothing stored in that room could have made the wounds to Nichols' arm and head. The murderer must have brought the weapon with him. That suggests premeditation. While almost anyone can kill during a period of high emotion or stress, only someone who has come to grips with the moral aspects of cold-blooded murder, and found themselves able to ignore them, can kill with premeditation. That person, having once done the deed and not gotten caught, will have less aversion to killing again."

"What's your next step?"

"Frankly, Captain, I'm not sure how to proceed from this point. We seem to have exhausted all our leads."

"Are all of the senior officers on your ‘highly unlikely' list?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then perhaps we should have a meeting to discuss the case. I'm not trying to usurp your authority, but perhaps together we might come up with a suggestion you might find useful."

"Okay, Captain. Maybe someone will have an idea that I haven't thought of."

"Good. We'll meet in the conference room on this deck at 1500 hours. I'll have Lt. Ashraf notify the senior staff while you arrange for whomever you wish to bring from your staff."

"Aye, Captain. I'll do it immediately."

After Galont left, Jenetta leaned back in her chair and thought about the crime. She had no training in criminology, and didn't think for a second that she could handle the case better than the professionals. Still, Marine Captain Galont seemed to need some help. So how do you ascertain who the killer is when you have seven-hundred ninety-four suspects and no evidence?

At 1500 Jenetta welcomed the group in the conference room. In addition to Marine Captain Galont's senior staff, the meeting was attended by the XO (Lt. Ashraf), the Song's second officer (Lt. Elizi), the chief engineer (Lt. Cmdr Rodriquez), and the chief medical officer (Lt. Cmdr O'Neil).

"It's now been a week since Petty Officer Nichols was killed, and we still have no evidence pointing to the identity of the killer," Jenetta said. "Our goal here today is to see if we can suggest a course of action that will lead to unmasking him or her. I invite you to speak freely, voicing any questions you have or any recommendations. Perhaps it might help if we first reviewed what we do know. Lt. Commander O'Neil, would you give us the results of the autopsy?"

"Yes, ma'am. As I suspected from the beginning, PO Nichols was struck twice with a blunt instrument by an assailant standing in front of him. Nichols must have tried to ward off the first blow, and suffered a broken right arm. The second blow, the killing blow, landed here." The chief medical officer pointed to a spot on the right side of his own head. "That blow both fractured his submaxilla and shattered vertebra in his neck. It was the killing blow." The doctor proceeded to explain in specific medical terms exactly what occurred before continuing with, "I place the time of death at 2345 hours, give or take a few minutes."

"Could the wound have been caused by someone's hand or foot?" Elizi asked.

"No, it was definitely a solid object. It appears to have been cylindrical, quite smooth, and about the diameter of a holo-magazine cylinder, but quite heavy and solid."

"Thank you, doctor," Jenetta said. "Is there anything else you can tell us? Anything that you're unsure of and so didn't include in the official record?"

"Well— I
suspect
that the attacker is most likely left-handed, and probably stands between five-foot-ten and six-foot. It would have been much more difficult for a right-handed person, or a shorter one, to deliver the killing blow."

"What if Nichols turned away and bent over in pain after his arm was broken?" Galont asked.

"That's why I didn't put my speculations into the official report. They're only accurate if Nichols remained upright and facing his attacker. While it's unlikely, the killer could be right-handed. The blows
could
possibly have been delivered back-hand, or with the less dominant limb."

"Thank you, Doctor," Jenetta said. "Major Galont, what can
you
tell us?"

"Upon discovering the body, we immediately secured the crime scene, collecting fingerprints, hair, and skin flecks. We identified all individuals represented by the evidence and determined that everyone had a valid reason for being there sometime earlier in the day. It's possible that the killer didn't leave any evidence of their presence. He or she was there for less than a minute. Although the room isn't locked, the computer keeps a log of every time the door is opened. Nichols arrived at the storage room at 2338 hours, and his ID was logged when he opened the door. The door was next opened at 23:44:06 and again at 23:44:51, but both times by the inside sensor, so no new ID was logged. The killer must have sidled up to the door, knocked, and been admitted by Nichols rather than moving into the area that would have the door's admittance sensor scan for an ID. It appears that the killer scattered a deck of cards over and around the body before he left. It's what initially made us think that Nichols might have been killed because of a gambling matter. I believe now that it was done to intentionally mislead us. We know that nothing stored in the room could have made the wounds, so the killer had to have brought the weapon with him."

"Him?" Ashraf asked.

"I use that solely in the generic sense. We don't know the sex of the killer."

"Is it possible to get fingerprints from the deck of cards?" Ashraf asked.

"The deck was almost new, and we only found Nichols prints on the face and backs of the cards. If we knew the precise order of the cards before they were dropped, we might be able to develop some partials from the edges, but Nichols had obviously shuffled the deck. We did have the computer attempt to reconstruct prints from the deck edges by arranging every possible permutation of their order, but the edges were just too smudged to get a decent print that matched up with anyone on board other than Nichols. One permutation gave us a partial that pointed to a senior engineering tech, but at the time of the murder he was working with a crew of eight other techs in the stern engineering room on Deck Three. It would have taken a minimum of eight minutes to travel to the storage room where Nichols was killed, and another eight minutes to return. Everyone confirmed his presence and swear that if he had been gone more than a couple of minutes, his absence would have been glaringly obvious since he was the lead on the repair assignment."

"What about the other door sensors in the corridors?" Rodriquez asked. "Some of them had to have recorded the passage of the killer."

"They recorded Nichols movements only. No one else passed through the corridor near the storeroom between the hours of 1854 and 0623 the following morning."

"Wait a minute," Jenetta said. "That's impossible. I'm sure you're not telling me that the murder was committed by a ghost."

"The logs only show Nichols passage through the corridor leading to the storeroom," Galont said adamantly.

"Is that possible, Commander?" Jenetta asked Rodriquez.

"If the killer used a utility tunnel to get to the storage room, it is. I'll check and see if there are any access hatchways near the storeroom."

"And if there aren't?" Ashraf asked.

"Then I would have to say that it's almost impossible to approach the storeroom without being sensed and logged. The killer could have slid against the wall, keeping so low and close that he wasn't noticed by a door's motion sensor where there is only one door, but where two doors are opposite one another, there's no way he could have avoided them both. Once a sensor detects movement near a door, the computer activates additional sensors that allow it to make a determination as to whether the individual intends to enter the room by the position and stance of the body. If the person isn't stopped and facing the door, the computer logs the sensor hit, but then cancels the door activation routine."

"Are there any vid cams in that corridor?" Jenetta asked.

"No, ma'am," Rodriquez said. "Vid cams inside the ship are limited to the bridge, AC&C, weapons control centers, the brig, launch bays and their control rooms, sensitive engineering areas, and high security areas such as the armories and secure holds, plus transport cars, lifts, and airlocks. All conference rooms have systems for creating logs of meetings, such as the one being created presently, but those systems are only activated when a request is made when the room is reserved, or by someone in the room when the meeting begins."

"Assuming that there are no access tunnels in that area, and that the killer is flesh and blood, how could he trick the sensors so that they didn't record his passing?" Jenetta asked.

"He couldn't," Rodriquez said, "unless he was wearing an E.V.A. suit helmet especially lined to prevent the computer from sensing his CT or ID chip. But anyone wearing, or even carrying, such a helmet in a corridor would be grossly out of place and therefore immediately noticed by anyone he passed. Even if he was the only one to use the corridor by the storeroom, he had to have used other corridors to get there, and somebody would have noticed someone carrying a helmet. Of course, the logs could have been altered after the fact to remove a record of his presence."

"Who has access to the logs?" Dr. O'Neil asked.

"The logs can be accessed only by authorized personnel on the bridge or in Engineering."

"No one else?" Jenetta asked.

"Well, our academies and schools graduate the best and the brightest. It's possible that someone of intelligence and superior computer skills can hack the system and alter the logs."