The Domino Pattern

“I thank you. Mr. Compton,” Givvrac said, sinking gratefully onto his knees on it in the standard Filly sitting position. He waited for the chair to reconfigure for his body, and then gestured to the chair across the table beside Bayta. “Please—sit. You as well, Mr. Kennrick.”

“Thank you,” I said, stepping around the corner of the table and sitting down in the indicated chair as Kennrick took the other empty seat beside Givvrac. “If I may be so bold, Usantra Givvrac, I’m surprised to see someone of your age so far from home.”

“With age comes experience, Mr. Compton.” Givvrac replied. “With experience comes wisdom and perspective. Or so one hopes.”

“Your people thought such wisdom and perspective would be necessary in this contract discussion?” I suggested.

“They did,” Givvrac confirmed. “And so it was. But I came here to question you, not to be questioned by you.”

“My apologies,” I said, inclining my head. “Please state your questions.”

“I’m told by Mr. Kennrick that you are an investigator,” Givvrac said. “Let us begin with a list of your credentials.”

“I’m a former agent of Earth’s Western Alliance Intelligence service.” I said. “During those years. I traveled over fairly large stretches of our end of the galaxy, and gained experience dealing with members of several of the Twelve Empires.”

“And now?”

“Now I travel the galaxy with my associate Bayta,” I said, nodding toward her. “We do odd jobs and assist with investigations for the Spiders.”

“I see,” Givvrac said, and I could see him wondering, just as Witherspoon had, what sort of investigations the Spiders might possibly need assistance with. Unlike the good doctor, though, Givvrac was too polite to ask. “Any other credentials?”

For a moment I was tempted to tell him about my brief employment with Larry Hardin, who had hired me to find a way to steal, bribe, or extort control of the Quadrail away from the Spiders. Givvrac’s reaction to such a revelation might have been interesting. “Various odd jobs when I was in school,” I said instead. “Nothing remarkable.”

Givvrac nodded, a rather awkward looking motion for that head and neck combination. Clearly, it was a gesture he’d picked up solely to use with Humans and a couple of other species. “Tell me what you’ve learned of the present situation.”

“Unfortunately, at this point I probably don’t know much more than you do,” I said. “Yesterday evening Master Colix came down with cadmium poisoning, source unknown, and quickly succumbed to it. Shortly thereafter, Master Bofiv died from the same cause. It appears now that di-Master Strinni has also been poisoned, plus he’s been dosed with a drug called printimpolivre-bioxene.”

Givvrac looked at Kennrick. “Are you familiar with this drug?”

“Dr. Witherspoon says it’s a hallucinogen,” Kennrick said. “It was apparently the reason for di-Master Strinni’s violent behavior earlier in his car.”

“I’ve not heard of this drug before,” Givvrac said, looking back at me. “Is it common?”

“It’s common enough,” I said grimly. “In the illegal drug trade, its street name is necrovri.”

Givvrac sat up a bit straighter. “Necrovri,” he murmured. “Yes, I’ve heard of it. A blight among the Shorshic and Pirkarli lower classes.” His nose blaze darkened. “But how could such a thing have drawn in one of di-Master ranking?”

“The upper ranks of any species aren’t immune to the lure of the forbidden,” I reminded him. “However, in this case, I don’t think di-Master Strinni took the drug on his own. I believe it was given to him without his knowledge, possibly to prevent us from learning something from him about the other two murders.”

“Murders,” Givvrac murmured, his blaze darkening a little more. “Mr. Kennrick said he believed the deaths were not accidental. Now you add your same opinion to his?”

“Yes. I do.” I said, diplomatically passing over the fact that Kennrick wouldn’t have had any such insight if I hadn’t taken the time to beat it into him. “Dr. Witherspoon is trying to reverse di-Master Strinni’s cadmium poisoning. If he succeeds, we should be able to question di-Master Strinni and see what he knows. If anything.”

“Do you know how this poisoning was accomplished?” Givvrac asked.

“Not yet,” I said. “Part of the problem is that we don’t have a motive for the attacks. Typically, motives for murder fall into one of three categories: passion, profit, or revenge. Passion is out—clearly, these killings were carefully planned and executed. That leaves us profit and revenge.” I raised my eyebrows in silent question.

“Clever, Mr. Compton,” Givvrac said, a touch of amusement in his voice. “So in order for you to answer my questions, I must first answer yours?”

“All investigations require questions and answers,” I pointed out. “Can you think of how anyone would profit from the deaths of Masters Colix and Bofiv?”

“No,” Givvrac said, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

“Leaving us with revenge,” I said. “Can you think—?”

“Just a minute,” Kennrick interrupted. “Your pardon, Usantra Givvrac, but there are reasons of profit that could explain these deaths.”

“No, there are not,” Givvrac repeated, giving Kennrick a warning glare. “Your next question, Mr. Compton?”

“Let me first rephrase my previous one,” I said, eyeing Givvrac closely as I thought back to his answer. I’d seen this before, usually with suspects trying to beat a polyline test by finding loopholes in the interrogator’s questions. Teenagers, I recalled from years gone by, were also adept at the technique, especially during parental cross- examinations. “Can you think of how anyone would profit from Master Colix’s death?”

Givvrac hissed out a quiet sigh. “Perhaps.” he said reluctantly. “There was some disagreement among us as to whether we would grant Pellorian Medical Systems the genetic-manipulation knowledge and equipment they seek.”

“Let me guess,” I said, watching Kennrick out of the corner of my eye. “Master Colix was against the deal?”

Kennrick’s expression didn’t even twitch. “In actual fact, Mr. Compton,” Givvrac said, “Master Colix was one of the strongest proponents for the contract.”

“Interesting,” I said. “I gather, then, that Master Bofiv was against the contract.”

“He was,” Givvrac confirmed, frowning. “Did he tell you that before he died?”

“Unfortunately, he didn’t speak to me at all,” I said. “I deduced that from your earlier statement that no one would profit by both Master Colix’s and Master Bofiv’s deaths. Ergo, they must have been on opposite sides of the disagreement, with both deaths together thus returning the contract team to its original status quo.”

“Hardly the exact status quo,” Kennrick said. “There were no more than two or possibly three of the eight in opposition to our proposal. With the unfortunate deaths of Masters Colix and Bofiv, the percentage of members favorable to Pellorian has actually increased.”

“Not precisely true, Mr. Kennrick,” Givvrac said. “In actual fact, before these deaths the contract team was evenly split on the matter: four for, and four against.”

Kennrick stared at him. “You never said—” He broke off. glancing sideways at me. “I was unaware the contract team’s feelings were running so closely.”

“It’s not a matter of your company’s expertise and learning,” Givvrac assured him. “You’ve proved that beyond doubt. The question is solely whether or not your species in general has the wisdom to use these methods properly.”

“I see,” Kennrick said, and I could sense his reflexive desire to argue the point in Pellorian’s and humanity’s defense. But this wasn’t the time or place to reopen the negotiations. “Forgive my intrusion. Please continue.”

“Thank you,” I said. “So what you’re saying, Usantra Givvrac, is that the original