SPINS - A BRITE Alliance mystery novel

Chapter Four

While I walked to my office I watched Chrissy and Harrison leave our area. How would this situation with Chrissy complicate our investigation?

“Got a minute, babe?” asked Jack.

I motioned him to follow me and then shut my office door. “It’s probably not a good idea to use the word babe out in public. I need to maintain my image.” I added a smile to soften my words.

“I know, babe, just trying to cheer you up. Pretty tough with Chrissy involved, eh?”

“Yeah. She’s not as ditzy as she thinks she is or as she shows the public. She has quite a brilliant brain when she decides to use it.” I sighed. “Last night wasn’t one of those times.”

Jack laughed at my description of Chrissy, but I was correct. Her IQ was high, but she didn’t often bother engaging her intellect.

“What else is upsetting you? You seem all churned up and muddy, although I don’t think Harrison noticed,” said Jack.

“You know me too well.” I paced around my office. “Of course, another murder is stressful, but it’s just that all this bowling stuff has left me a little depressed.”

“What do you mean?” Jack moved closer and wrapped his arms around me.

I thought Jack’s question was rhetorical, but I answered anyway. “Bowling is one of my passions and, every time murder and bowling are combined, I hurt. I didn’t realize there was another bowling competition going on. How out of touch is that? And, to top it off, the Tristorians didn’t invite me to be on their team, even though I helped them win the last important tournament.”

“Maybe they wanted a Tristorian on the Tristorian team, not a naturalized one?” Jack cringed after he’d uttered his words.

“They gave me citizenship, remember?” Then I shook my head. “Don’t listen to me; I’m just whining. I’m always a little depressed at the beginning of a new investigation, and then things start coming together and I cheer up. So there’s hope.”

My statement was true. My mood did swing low for a short time, and then I usually began to see the bigger picture.

Jack smiled. “Very seldom do I find you experiencing a low, and that’s what I love about you.” Jack gauged my thoughts and then said, “Well, I best get back to work. I have a few things to look into, and reports to write. My boss is such a stickler for those details.”

Boss, yeah right. I kissed him and then gave him a little push out the door. I plunged into list-making—a time-consuming business.

My com rang. “Tari, Tari, I have news.”

“Yes, Ambassador, what is it?”

“You are supposed to call me Dino, remember?”

“That’s your news?” I tried not to laugh. I loved teasing the Rheinon ambassador.

“No, no. The BRITE Police Commission has arrived on Earth. We have a meeting with them tomorrow regarding your duties.”

“I know what my duties are. I’ve been a homicide Mountie for a long time.”

“Yes, yes, of course. However, the BPC, of which you are now a member, has certain rules and regulations you must adhere to.”

“Can’t they just send me instructions or a manual? That’d be easier.” I didn’t have time for bureaucracy.

“No. We must both meet with the BPC tomorrow morning.”

“Are you a member, Dino?” A surprise to me, but alien politics often turned out to have unusual aspects.

“No, no, but I must accompany you. After all, I have been assigned to assist you.”

“Sure.” I glanced through my open doorway and spied Harrison. I knew Jack would also be close by. “Dino, we’re going over to the aquarium now. Meet us there, please.”

“On my way.” Dino hung up abruptly.

I didn’t know how he did it but Dino arrived at the aquarium before us, with his car and driver.

“Good timing, Dino. We’ll just wait for Harrison, and then we’ll start investigating. Any gossip today?”

“I cannot tell you, even if I did know details. Ambassadors must keep their mouths shut.”

We took a moment but Jack and I decided Dino had made a joke, so we had a good laugh with him.

After Harrison appeared, I said, “Let’s do this together, guys. We’ll see more possibilities that way.” Tyler had arrived, a few moments ago, to open the aquarium. I knew he wanted us out of his way, as soon as possible.

“What we first need to do is find the path of the Tristorian murder victim from where he was murdered and then where he ended up.” I glanced at my notes. “Oh, Dino, we had a chat with Chrissy and she mentioned she’d seen the body in a storeroom earlier in the evening during the banquet. And that fits in with Raj, the medical examiner, saying the body had been moved.””

“Really? Why did we not know this before?”

“Fear is the operative word, Dino. Don’t worry; Chrissy’s in a great heap of trouble. So, guys, we need to find all spots where the body, dead or alive, has been. By the way, the Tristorian’s name is Myth Soong.”

Harrison gave me a questioning glance. “Oh, I talked to the Tristorian ambassador today.”

While we wandered through the rooms of the aquarium, I have to admit I studied the life behind the glass viewing walls more than once. Such a vivid array of colors and shapes. I reminded myself to return for a visit sooner rather than later, and then admonished myself to focus on the current homicide.

“Found something,” announced Harrison. We gathered around him in the storage room.

He pointed to the bottom of a wall where one of our numbered indicators had been stuck. Obviously, a technician had thought they’d found an item of interest when they’d performed their routine data collection. Why did Harrison agree?

“We obviously can’t confirm until we get our tests back but I think this is a speck of blood from the dead Tristorian. This may have been where he was killed, and then dragged to the main area.” Harrison swore. “I need to take a sample. If the number is still here, this may have been missed.”

We all peered at the dried spot. “Certainly looks like blood. And good catch on the sample. Now let’s see if we can find any other markings that agree with your hypothesis,” I added.

Carefully studying the floors and lower walls, we found further evidence of something dragged to the main area. Tests would confirm, but I was pretty convinced we’d found the body’s path. “Assuming the Tristorian was killed, was it done in the storeroom?” I asked.

“Good question. I need another look around there,” said Jack, before he took off. I glanced at Harrison, and I knew he wanted to follow Jack. I agreed with their instincts, so we all made our way there, and then I realized I’d lost Dino.

In the storeroom, Jack motioned me over. “The splatter on the wall here makes me think this is where the Tristorian was bonked.”

“Bonked? Such a police word.” My amusement displeased Jack, which surprised me. “We’ll study the holocams of the rooms tomorrow, and see if your theory fits. However, I do think you’re right.”

“And I think he was stabbed here,” added Jack, pointing to a spot on the floor close to where we were standing in the storage room.

I saw a large amount of residue on the floor where Jack indicated.

“Why isn’t there a smear into the next room?” I asked.

“Good question,” said Harrison. “And who would be strong enough to drag a Tristorian, or lift one so there wouldn’t be a smear? They’re pretty big, actually really big, and weigh at least as much as a horse.”

“Another good question.” I thought for a moment, but before I could utter a word, Dino ran into the storage room.

“Detective Sergeant, I found something.” Both Jack and I swiveled to look at Dino, but we knew he meant me, being my sidekick and all.

“What is it, Dino?” I asked.

He thrust a towel-wrapped object toward me. I still wore gloves so I accepted his offering. Carefully, I pulled the towel edge back and a knife appeared.

“I think this is the knife that killed the Tristorian,” said Dino.

“Sure looks like it has Tristorian blood on it,” said Harrison. A green smear was obvious.

“Where did you find it?” I asked.

“In a trash can in one of the washrooms. I remembered our previous investigation, so I had a hunch.” Dino was particularly pleased with his actions.

“Hmm. Okay, show us where you found the knife.”

We gathered up the trash can where Dino had discovered the knife, and then I took another glance around the washroom. Why had this been missed?

Back in the main area, I asked, “Anything else we should check?”

“I think we should send the technicians back in. For some reason this garbage bin was missed and also the evidence tag, and who knows what else might have been,” said Jack.

“My thoughts exactly,” I replied. “Harrison, give the crew a call and get this organized for tomorrow morning.”

Tyler didn’t like the situation after we told him, but he had little recourse. He locked the door behind us after we finally removed ourselves from his building.

With the chairman gone I said, “Okay, guys. Enough for tonight. We’ll get an early start in the morning.” Jack and I watched Dino and Harrison leave in their vehicles, and then Jack said, “Let’s go home, babe.”

Home?