The Domino Pattern

cooperation leads to the disclosure of confidential company information. But that only applies to authorities with genuine credentials, not some thrown-together posse of rent-a-cops.”

“I could probably order the Spiders to throw you off the train,” I offered. “Would that that qualify as adequate authority?”

“I’d say so,” Kennrick said. “Sorry, but murders or not, Dr. Witherspoon and I still have to cover our own rear ends here. What do you want to know?”

“Let’s start with the obvious,” I said. “Do you know of anyone who might have had it in for your contract team?”

“Or Shorshians and Filiaelians in general,” Witherspoon put in. “Don’t forget, there are two other Filiaelians being treated back there.”

I shook my head. “Collateral damage. The members of your team are clearly the targets.”

“But that’s ridiculous,” Witherspoon objected. “We’re a medical group. Why would anyone want to attack us?”

“Because you’re a medical group whose decisions will affect the distribution of millions of dollars,” I said.

“There’s your proof of Westali training,” Kennrick commented dryly. “First instinct of every government type is to assume it’s about money.”

I shrugged. “That’s because nine times out of ten it is.”

“Maybe this is the once out often that it isn’t,” Kennrick said. “Dr. Witherspoon’s right—when you’re dealing with Filiaelians and Shorshians, it’s just as likely to be about avenged honor.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Which, I’ll point out, Usantra Givvrac also mentioned.”

“Fine,” I said, giving up. To me. it was obvious this wasn’t a revenge killing. That kind of murderer usually wanted everyone to know that honor had been satisfied, which meant killing his victim in a very obvious way. Something else had to be at the root of this, though I still had no idea what.

But Kennrick and Witherspoon were clearly not yet ready to let go of the revenge straw. I might as well humor them and get it over with. “What do you know about the late members of your group?”

“Not much,” Kennrick admitted. “Doc?”

“I know that Master Colix and Asantra Dallilo have worked together on other projects in the past,” Witherspoon said. “So have Usantra Givvrac and di-Master Strinni. Maybe they managed to offend someone along the way.”

“Except that Asantra Dallilo is still alive,” I pointed out.

Kennrick grunted. “Give it a few hours.”

“He could be right,” Witherspoon rumbled. “Do you think we ought to put the rest of the contract team under guard?”

“Whose guard would you trust?” I asked. “Yours and Mr. Kennrick’s?”

“Or yours,” Witherspoon suggested.

“Or the Spiders’?” Kennrick countered.

“I doubt the Spiders have anyone to spare for escort duty,” I said, passing over the fact that they wouldn’t be much use as guards anyway. “As for me, I don’t work for you.”

“What if we hire you?” Kennrick asked.

“You couldn’t afford me,” I assured him. “Next question. I’d like your reading on where each of the recently deceased stood vis-a-vis this deal with Pellorian Medical.”

“Didn’t Usantra Givvrac give you all that earlier?” Kennrick asked, frowning.

“He gave me his take on the lineup,” I confirmed. “I want to hear yours.”

Kennrick shrugged, wincing as the movement shifted his injured ribs. “I’ve always assumed that all four Filiaelians were for the deal, along with di-Master Strinni and probably Master Colix.”

“Leaving Master Tririn and the late Master Bofiv as the only two opposed?” I asked.

“Right.” Kennrick grimaced. “But since Usantra Givvrac said it was actually four to four, I obviously miscounted somewhere.”

“So it would seem,” I agreed. “Was that the way you saw things, too, Dr. Witherspoon?”

“More or less,” he said. “I wasn’t so sure Usantra Givvrac was on our side, but I was counting on the other three Filiaelians.”

“So who else in the group is against us?” Kennrick asked.

“That’s unimportant at the moment.” I said. “So by your reckoning—”

“Why is it unimportant?” Witherspoon put in.

“Give me a minute and you’ll see,” I told him. “So by your reckoning, the victims were three for Pellorian and one against?”

“Compton—” Witherspoon began.

“Yes,” Kennrick said, holding a quieting hand toward the doctor.

“Just making sure,” I said. “Now, the important question: have either of you discussed any part of this with anyone outside Pellorian Medical since the contract team arrived on Earth?”

The light seemed to dawn in Kennrick’s eyes. “I get it,” he said, nodding. “Unfortunately, no, we haven’t. Well, I haven’t. I assume Dr. Witherspoon hasn’t, either.”

“What do you mean, unfortunately?” Witherspoon asked. “Why is it unfortunate?”

“Because if we’d told someone about the team, and that someone was relying on our count, it might show up in the pattern of killings,” Kennrick told him.

“Exactly,” I said. “It’s important to get into a murderer’s head, but sometimes it can be enough to get into his eyes. If we can figure out how he sees things, we may be able to backtrack him. So, Doctor: did you discuss the contract with anyone outside Pellorian’s walls?”

“Absolutely not,” Witherspoon said firmly.

“How about on the torchliner from Earth to Terra Station?”

“Again, no,” Kennrick said. “Ethics aside, loose talk like that can get you fired on the spot.”

“How about discussing the matter with the rest of the contract team when you thought you were in private, but where someone might possibly have been able to eavesdrop?”

“I—” Kennrick broke off, turning a suddenly uncertain look on Witherspoon. “Well, actually, I don’t really know,” he said slowly. “Torchliner acoustics aren’t as well designed as a Quadrail’s. And the four Shorshians and I did have several mealtime discussions together.”

“Did you ever take straw votes at these discussions?” I asked.

“They never did while I was present,” Kennrick said. “But they might have done so after I left. They never talked about things like that in front of me.”

“Or me,” Witherspoon seconded.

“Understandable,” I said. “I’ll try asking Master Tririn about it in the morning.”

“I’m sorry, but this still doesn’t make sense,” Witherspoon said. “If it’s about whether the contract succeeds or fails, shouldn’t the killer be eliminating only the team members who are opposing him?”

“In theory, sure,” I said. “In actual practice, focusing exclusively on his opponents would be about as clever as taking out a full-page ad announcing his intentions. He’ll need to muddy the water by killing at least one of his own side.”

“Which fits the current situation exactly,” Kennrick murmured.

“So you think he wants to defeat the contract?” Witherspoon asked.

“Possibly,” I said, eyeing Kennrick. He was gazing off into space, a thoughtful look on his face. “But we’ve got a long way to go before we start jumping at that kind of conclusion. Something else, Kennrick?”

“I don’t know.” Kennrick said slowly. “I was just wondering if Dr. Witherspoon might be right about this being a revenge thing, only the killer was only after one of the victims, not all four of them. Is it possible that he killed the others just to make his real target less apparent?”

Witherspoon hissed between his teeth. “Good God.”

“It has been done before,” I agreed. “But again, without knowing anything about the victims’ backgrounds, that theory won’t get us very far.”

“Probably not,” Kennrick conceded. “I just thought I should mention it.”

“Consider it mentioned,” I said. “Let’s switch gears a minute. Dr. Witherspoon, can you tell me anything about what happened earlier back in Osantra Qiddicoj’s coach car?”