The Domino Pattern

“Interesting timing, you being right there in the vicinity of this attack and all,” I commented. Actually, the timing struck me as more suspicious than interesting, but this wasn’t the time to go into that. “Dr. Aronobal’s part I understand, kindly physician and all that. Where exactly do you come into it?”

“To be honest, I am not entirely certain,” he said hesitantly. “I was asked to come out of retirement and accompany Dr. Aronobal to Earth as assistant and protector.”

“Someone thought she needed protecting?”

“Apparently so.” Emikai smiled suddenly. “It was apparently thought that I had the necessary skills for the position.”

“And correctly so,” I assured him, rubbing my throat. “So what kind of genetic testing are they planning for Ms. German?”

“That I also do not know,” he said. “But it must be highly urgent for us to have been hired to bring her all the way across the galaxy.”

“So it would seem,” I agreed. And that, I sensed, was all I was going to get out of him on this subject. Time to move on. “But as I was saying, my first assumption was that you were returning Master Colix’s ticket. But I know now that you stole neither the ticket nor the lozenges. Ergo, you must have come here for some other purpose.” I raised my eyebrows. “You were examining the bodies, weren’t you?”

He inclined his head. “I was attempting to do so,” he said. “You interrupted me before I could complete my investigation.”

“I presume you got far enough to notice the needle marks on the three Shorshians,” I said, mentally crossing my fingers. Ninety percent sure …“Anything interesting about them?”

He smiled tightly. “You would not ask unless you already knew,” he said. “Your unstated hunch is correct: the needle marks were made after the victims’ deaths.”

I felt my stomach tighten. “You’re absolutely sure about that?”

“I am,” he said. “I also suspect the tip of the needle is still buried within di-Master Strinni’s skin.”

“Not anymore, but it was,” I said. There it was, the last ten percent of doubt. “Thank you, Logra Emikai. I believe you’ve just helped me identify a killer.”

His eyes locked hard into mine. “Who?”

I reached into my pocket and tossed him his first-class pass. “Come to the first-class dining car tomorrow at ten o’clock,” I told him. “I’ll introduce you.”

“Thank you,” he said softly as he slid the pass into a pocket. “I will be there.”

“Good.” I gestured in the direction of the bodies. “In the meantime, I have a couple of final tests to run on the bodies. I was hoping you would assist me.”

He inclined his head. “I would be honored.”

An hour later, our tests completed, we left the baggage car. I dropped Emikai off at his seat among the sea of privacy-shielded sleepers and continued on forward. I hoped he would get a good night’s rest.

I hoped I would, too. But I still had one more task to perform.

I found Osantra Qiddicoj sleeping in the open, without his sleep canopy deployed. Qiddicoj himself was sound asleep, but the Modhri inside him was awake and alert and obviously waiting up for me. Our conversation took another hour, and when I finally dragged myself back to my own bed I had the whole, bloody story.

Back when I worked for Westali, the hours leading up to a high-profile arrest were generally cluttered with a million last-minute details. There were warrants to get, backup to arrange, logistics to plan, loopholes to anticipate, and bolt-holes to plug. If you did everything right, the arrest itself was almost anticlimactic. If you did anything wrong, the whole event was likely to blow up in your face.

But here on the Quadrail, where Spider authority was absolute and bureaucratic red tape nonexistent, none of those details was relevant. As a result, I got to spend eight of those final hours asleep. A more restful sleep than I’d had since Bayta and I had first been summoned to the second/third dispensary to watch Master Colix die. It was finally almost over.

I really should have known better.

———

It was ten minutes to ten, and Bayta and I were just finishing a light breakfast, when Emikai arrived. “I trust I’m not overly early?” he asked, glancing around the dining car as if he expected the killer to be wearing a sign announcing his identity.

“Not at all,” I told him, standing up and offering Bayta my hand. She didn’t need my help, of course, but Filly cops were genetically engineered toward courtesy, and my show of politeness toward my partner might buy me a few points when it came time to shake him down for more information. “The rest of the group should be assembled,” I added as I gestured to the entryway. “Shall we go?”

I led the way four cars to the rear. Kennrick and the three remaining contract-team Fillies were indeed there, sitting in a circle and talking earnestly. For once, there were no dealt cards sitting in front of the group. “Greetings to you, Esantra Worrbin,” I greeted the head of the group. “And to you, Asantra Muzzfor, and you, Asantra Dallilo,” I continued, nodding to each in turn. “I appreciate your giving me a few moments of your time.”

“What’s he doing here?” Kennrick growled, eyeing Emikai darkly.

“I asked him to join us,” I said.

“And he got free how?”

“It was actually pretty easy once I’d cut his ropes,” I said. “The reason I asked you all here—”

“Without consulting any of us first?” Kennrick interrupted. “Our opinions and concerns don’t matter?”

“Actually, no, they don’t,” I said. “The reason I asked you all here was so that you could bear witness to the end of the ordeal. I finally know the identity of the murderer.”

Muzzfor sat up a little straighter. “You’ve found him?” he asked, an edge to his voice. “Why did you not say so earlier?”

“Because until last night I wasn’t a hundred percent sure,” I told him. “I thought—”

“Last night?” Muzzfor echoed. “And yet you waited until now to speak? How many more of us might have died in the dark hours because of your lack of haste?”

“You aren’t in any danger,” I assured him. “Not anymore. The contract team was indeed the target, but not for the reasons we all thought.”

“A moment,” Worrbin spoke up. “If this matter concerns the contract team, all members should be present. Master Tririn and Dr. Witherspoon must be summoned.”

“He’s right,” Kennrick seconded. “And as long as you’re going to get them passed up from third, you might as well go the whole dit rec mystery route and have the rest of the suspects join us, too.”

“Which suspects are those?” I asked.

“All of his friends,” Kennrick said, nodding toward Emikai. “Dr. Aronobal and that Human girl, Terese whatever.”

“Terese German,” I said. “Actually, she’s not a suspect. Never was, really, if you think about it.”

“Why not?” Dallilo asked, gazing down his long Filly nose at Emikai.

“Because di-Master Strinni and Usantra Givvrac were killed here in first class,” I said. “Ms. German didn’t have access to this part of the train.”

“Dr. Aronobal did, though,” Kennrick persisted. “She and Dr. Witherspoon were making the rounds between here and third all the time.”

“True,” I agreed. “Still, I think we can dispense with their company for the present.” I raised my eyebrows at him. “So, Kennrick. You want to tell everyone why you killed them? Or shall I?”

NINETEEN

I’d said it so casually that for the first couple of seconds no one seemed to get it. Then, almost in unison,