Chapter 53
We met up in a spacious room that had as its most notable feature an oversized executive table, which we all took a seat around. Unlike last time, the table was large enough for everyone to spread out a little. As a result, no one sat right next to anyone else, but the empty chairs were a grim reminder of those who were no longer with us.
As was previously the case, I sat at the head of the table. On the left side, a few chairs down, was Static; a few chairs away from him sat Mariner. Directly across from Mariner was Rune. At the moment, however, we were missing Endow, who — as best we knew — was still getting Ursula situated. Presumably she would take a seat between me and Rune, across from Static.
Truth be told, I felt odd sitting at the head of the table. We were really here to get information from Static, so by my account it should be him at the head rather than me. However, Rune had insisted that I take that particular spot, and I hadn’t felt like arguing.
I looked around the table, trying not to appear anxious. In very short order, Endow would arrive, following which we were likely to unmask a killer. Wondering how the others felt, I reached out empathically. As always, I didn’t pick up anything from Mariner or Rune, but Static was practically on pins and needles — nervous, anxious, eager, and more. (Of course, he purportedly knew the identity of the killer, so it was only natural that he was apprehensive.)
Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Endow appeared.
“My apologies for being tardy,” she said. “You may have heard that my laamuffal suffered from injuries, so I wanted to make sure she was being well cared for before I left.”
“No problem,” I assured her. “How is Ursula, by the way?”
“Funny you should ask,” Endow replied. “She’s going to be fine and is lucky that — physically — she only suffered some minor bumps and bruises. Mentally, however, she’s in a bit of a whirlwind, so I reached out telepathically to help her. And there, on the surface of her mind, was a memory of you, Jim, in the Cosmos Corridor with my gemstone box.”
There was silence for a moment, then Rune demanded, “Jim, is this true?”
I sighed and then, attempting to keep my head high, said, “Yes.”
“What did you think you were doing?” Rune asked.
“Trying to save lives!” I retorted, then looked around at the rest of the table. “Look, my father and uncle aren’t from my world — they came there from another dimension. From everything I was told, they were going to die because of some kind of anomaly. So, yes, I helped them. Because in case you haven’t figured it out, if my father dies in that dimensional vortex, then I’m never born. And if I’m never born, then I can’t help you find the murderer.”
There was silence for a moment as my words seemed to sink in. And then Static spoke up.
“But,” he began, “you are the murderer.”
Chapter 54
I gaped at Static, almost certain my mouth had fallen open. Assuming it had, I was so stunned that no words were coming out.
“What do you mean he’s the murderer?” asked Rune, effectively reading my mind.
“I mean that I extracted his image from the gear as the person who was there when Pinion was murdered,” Static explained. “There were no other images from that event, meaning that no one else was present.”
I simply blinked, unable to believe what I was hearing. This was not going in any way, manner, or form the way I had envisioned (which basically consisted of Static naming the same person that I suspected as the killer).
“I also analyzed the essence of every person here,” Static continued. “Again, his was the only one present at the murder.”
“There has to be some mistake,” Rune insisted. “Some mix-up.”
Static shook his head. “No. I thought of that, considered that maybe I’d mixed up the sample of his essence with someone else’s. So, just to make sure, I extracted information from Pinion’s cog regarding each occasion when we had been in Pinion’s presence. All of us” — he gestured toward himself and the other Incarnates — “had contact with Pinion thousands of times, so the gear’s record for the essence of each of us goes back years — well before the murders began.” He then pointed at me, saying, “On the other hand, the gear first records his essence after the murders started.”
“So,” Mariner surmised, “there’s no confusing his sample with anyone else’s because the record of his essence is significantly shorter than everyone else’s.”
“Correct,” said Static.
“But it makes no sense,” muttered Rune. “He had never even been here until after Gamma died, and he was with Endow’s laamuffal when Reverb was murdered. How could he have killed them?”
“I’m not sure,” Static admitted, shrugging, “but I suspect he’s been under the control of an Incarnate who’s the real mastermind behind this and who may not even be here at present. Also, I’ve heard rumors he can actually be in two places at once.”
“Still, all of this is pure speculation,” Rune announced.
“Well, we could just ask him,” Static suggested. Turning to me, he said, “As you can tell, we’ve pretty much figured everything out. It will go easier on you if you simply confess.”
For a moment, I didn’t say anything. While the others had been speaking, my mind had been racing, trying to figure out how I had gotten into this situation.
There was no way I was the murderer, but if I were being honest, the issue with the killer being in my head on that one occasion had really thrown me for a loop. Was it possible that I had done things unwittingly and unwillingly? That I was someone’s puppet? It certainly wasn’t impossible, but it was damned unlikely in my opinion — even if it was
