The Domino Pattern

metal’s all been found and locked up. All you do then is flush them out of the system, and voila—patient’s cured. Send him home and charge his account.”

“Only here you reversed the process,” I said. “You spent the torchliner trip from Earth feeding the Shorshians bacteria that were already loaded to the gills with cadmium. You gave it a couple of weeks on the Quadrail to settle into their deep tissues, then uncorked a bottle of that really high-power antiseptic spray we found in the air filter. The bacteria die, in the process dumping their supplies of cadmium into the Shorshians’ bodies, and we’ve got three impossible murders.”

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Kennrick said, a disturbing glint in his eyes. “There are no warning symptoms because the bacteria have the metal solidly locked up. The Spiders’ sensors won’t notice anything, because the bacteria themselves are perfectly benign and the detectors aren’t keyed for anything as low-level as basic elements. You can pick your time and place—hell, you don’t even have to be anywhere near your victim when he’s supposedly poisoned. It’s the perfect crime.”

“Only if you make sure there aren’t any Fillies around,” I pointed out.

His lip twisted. “There is that,” he conceded. “I didn’t realize how potent that spray really was, or that it would go deep enough to kill off Filiaelian gleaner bacteria. Too bad about Givvrac, really. I kind of liked the old coot. He was so—I don’t know. So old-world calcified, I guess. Wanting everything to be just like it had always been.”

“As opposed to the new world order you and Hardin are trying to make?”

“Not trying to make, Compton,” he corrected me softly. “Going to make.”

“Right,” I said. “So why let Tririn live? And why steal Colix’s throat lozenges that last night, when he thought you were putting them away for him?”

“Oh, come now,” Kennrick chided. “What’s a good murder without a suspect or two? Tririn’s annoyance over Colix’s throat operation made him the perfect patsy. I figured all I had to do was make the lozenges mysteriously disappear, to make it seem like Tririn was trying to cover up what Colix had done, and you’d fall all over yourself burying him in circumstantial evidence.”

“Without nailing down the method?” I shook my head. “Not a chance.”

“It was still worth a try,” Kennrick said. “Besides, this was an experiment, remember? I wanted to see what effect distance from the antiseptic spray had on the bacteria’s demise. Apparently, Master Bofiv was right on the edge—that’s why it took him longer to croak—and Master Tririn was just past it.” He picked up his reader from beside him on the bed and held it up for me to see. “It’s all in my report,” he added, a mocking edge to his tone.

“What about Strinni?”

“What about him?” Kennrick asked. “Oh—you mean the extra necrovri-laden bacterial strain I put in his food?” He shrugged. “I thought that as long as I was at it I might as well test the bacteria that had been designed to carry more complex molecules. Strinni was the perfect candidate for that one, sitting isolated from the others up in first class and all.” He snorted gently. “Also the perfect candidate because he didn’t usually eat with the other Shorshians aboard the torchliner. Made it easy to feed him his special servings without getting it mixed in with the others’ dosages.”

“As well as making him look like a drug addict to his fellow Quadrail passengers?” I suggested.

Kennrick shrugged again. “I never liked him anyway.”

“And the thing with Logra Emikai and Osantra Qiddicoj?”

He frowned. “What thing?”

“Cutting Emikai loose and pumping Qiddicoj full of hypnotic,” I said. “How did you pull that one off?”

He frowned a little harder. “Sorry, but you’ve lost me,” he said. “But enough reminiscing. You ready to take a few orders?”

“Not yet,” I said, frowning in turn. If Kennrick hadn’t been involved with Emikai’s mysterious midnight visitor … but there was no time to worry about that now. “I want to know first what’s going to happen to Bayta,” I said. “She obviously can’t sleep sitting up in that chair.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got things rigged so that I can let her lie down on the floor later,” Kennrick assured me. “It’s going to be a little hard on her back, but there’s only one bed in here. Unless she wants to share?”

“I don’t think so,” I said, sternly forcing back a sudden surge of rage. If he so much as touched her …“Let me go get her a pillow and blanket.”

“From your compartment?” he countered. “Sorry. I’m not letting you go pick through whatever other goodies you’ve got back there and try to smuggle something in. Before you leave, you can grab a pillow and blanket from right there behind you and stuff them through the gap.”

“Good enough,” I said. Not that I had anything in my compartment that would help Bayta anyway. “What about food?”

“Not a problem,” he said. “I have enough ration bars to last me to Venidra Carvo.” He raised his eyebrows. “Sorry—did you mean food for her?”

I took a deep breath, again forcing down my anger. He was taunting me, I knew, trying to see how far he could push before I lost it.

He could just keep pushing. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. More to the point, I wasn’t going to let anger crowd out brainpower that would be better used for tactical thinking. “We’ve got plenty of other ration bars aboard,” I said. “Let me get her some.”

“In a bit,” Kennrick said. “My turn now?”

I swallowed. “Go ahead.”

“Okay,” he said. “First of all, obviously, no one is to attempt to come in here. Not you, not the Spiders, not anyone.”

“Don’t worry,” I said, eyeing the glinting wires wrapped around Bayta’s throat. “How the hell did you get all that wire past the Spiders’ sensors, anyway?”

“Ah, ah—my turn,” Kennrick said firmly. “When we get to Venidra Carvo, I get to walk free and clear without interference. Sorry—we get to walk free and clear.”

I saw the muscles in Bayta’s throat tighten, a sudden stricken look in her eyes. Apparently, she hadn’t thought past our arrival at Venidra Carvo. “You planning to take her along all the way back to Earth?” I asked Kennrick.

“Why not?” Kennrick said blandly, letting his eyes run up and down Bayta’s body. “I’m sure she’s very pleasant company.” He looked back at me and gave me a faint smile. “Relax, Compton. She stays with me only until I feel safe. At that point, I turn her loose. I promise.”

As if the promise of a murderer was worth a damn. “Fine,” I said. “Anything else?”

“Yes; the accommodations,” he said. “Rather, everyone else’s accommodations. I’m sure you’ve already made plans to isolate me by moving everyone else out of this car?”

“We thought it would help keep down the noise,” I said. “You know how neighbors can be.”

“Oh, there’s no need to convince me,” he said. “I agree completely. In fact, let’s go whole hog and move everyone out of all three compartment cars.”

I frowned. “All of them?”

“Like you said, peace and quiet. You’ve got two hours to get everyone out of here. Including you.”

“I’d like to stay, if you don’t mind,” I offered. “You might realize there’s something else you need.”

“I do mind, and I won’t need anything,” he said coolly. “More to the point, I want to know that any noises I hear in the night aren’t coming from some clumsy Shorshian falling out of bed. This way, anything I hear after the next two hours will be unauthorized.” He shifted his gaze to Bayta. “And will be dealt with accordingly.”

“I already said there wouldn’t be any intrusions.”

“This way, I’ll know you mean it,” he countered. “You’d better get going—you’ve got a lot to do in the next two hours.”

“Look, Kennrick, I understand—”

“Just go, Frank,” Bayta interrupted tautly. “You heard him. Go, and start getting it done.”

I frowned at her. There was a tightness around her eyes that hadn’t been there a minute ago. Was she suddenly worried about Kennrick’s order to move everyone out?

I didn’t know. But whatever the reason, I’d clearly run dry on hospitality here. “Okay, I’m going,” I said. “First let me get your bedding for you.”