B1 Stoli's Work (Patreon)

Oof. Working 9 hour days makes it so much harder to write in the evenings. Who'd have guessed one little hour could matter so much?

Anyhow, I still have weekends, so here's another Executioner's Gambit chapter.

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Tori worked her way through Holly’s list of pharmacist families and spent the entire morning interviewing new suspects. Sadly, none of these interviews felt particularly promising. Though she took careful notes, not one of the suspects stood out from the rest. They seemed to dislike the victims as much as anyone else and didn’t seem any more motivated to steal poison—or help someone steal poison—than any other crew member she’d spoken with.

She couldn’t eliminate most of them, but neither did she feel inclined to dig further into their backgrounds—at this moment, at least. For now, she’d presume that the killer stole the big orange pills while a pharmacist was distracted.

After a quick lunch, Tori returned to visiting crime scenes. Most of the murders took place in public or in public offices, so access wasn’t a problem. She simply walked in and started asking questions.

Though Holly’s call was a bit of a surprise.

“Yeah, hey Tori,” said the administrator over the voice-only call. “I was wondering if you needed any more help.”

“Of course,” said Tori. She excused herself from the conversation she’d been in and took the call out to the corridor. “I’d love some help, but I don’t need any computer research done at the moment.”

Holly yarped a laugh. “No, I meant other stuff, like searching for clues!” he said. “I finished up today’s tasks and wondered if you could use an extra set of paws.”

“Uh, sure,” said Tori. She hadn’t really considered using Holly in that role, but couldn’t see the harm. After all, anyone might spot a clue that she had missed. “I’m digging into the scene of the sixth murder, a supervisor named Stoli. Want to meet me on eight—?”

“I’ll be right there!” shouted Holly before hanging up.

He didn’t even call back to ask for the address, so Tori figured he was getting better at using his administrator access to find information on the network.

“This was Stoli’s desk,” she told the lanky administrator. “He was sitting here when he died.”

Oorpu, the blonde gal at the nearest desk nodded. “I thought he’d fallen asleep, put his head down on the desk and took a nap,” she explained without looking up. “Was a few minutes before anyone realized he was face-down in his soup.”

Tori looked over the victim’s messy desk. Papers covered most of the surface and hand-written notes were scribbled across most of them. “Was anything missing?” asked Tori. “Any small items, personal items, anything belonging to the victim that might have been taken?”

Holly looked her way, so Tori explained, “I think the killer might be collecting trophies of his kills.”

His eyes went wide, but he said nothing.

“Not that I noticed,” said Oorpu, disinterested, “but he was always jotting notes. Someone could have taken half his papers, and his desk would still look just as cluttered.”

Tori frowned. “Do you remember what he was drinking?”

The blonde geroo scratched at her ruff for a moment before her eyes lit. “Water. It was water. Stoli didn’t like tea, and he felt that the fruit juices and soda were making him fat, so he’d switched to water a few days before he died.”

“Bottles of water? A mug?” asked Holly. “Do you remember what he drank out of?”

Oorpu gestured to the water fountain in the corner of the office, and he rushed to it. “Disposable cups,” said Holly, touching the stack with a pad. “Did he use one of these?”

The blonde nodded. “Yeah, everybody does. Since The Executioner started his rampage, everyone’s become real careful about not letting their drinks out of their control. Stoli would pour himself a cup, drink the whole thing, and toss it. He never let a drink sit out. He groused constantly about not having a private office with a door that locks.” She shrugged.

“That brings up a good point,” said Tori with a raised finger. “The most recent victim, Subcommander Kimoa, did have a private office with a locking door, but the killer still got to his drink somehow.”

“So, he must have had access, or the subcommander got sloppy,” said Holly.

“First things first,” said Tori. “You mentioned his soup, Oorpu. Do you recall what kind?”

The blonde nodded. “I think it was sooba soup.”

“From the market here on eight?” asked Holly.

“Nah,” said Oorpu. “I’m pretty sure it was leftovers from home. It was in a heavier, reusable container, not one of those single-use bowls they give you in the market.”

“Someone could have tampered with it before lunch,” Holly suggested, “while it was in the fridge.”

But Oorpu shook her head. “We do have a fridge in the break area, but it’s gone basically unused since the killer’s second victim. Most of us have started taking lunch in the market every day. The rest of us go back home for lunch.”

“But Stoli was eating at his desk,” said Tori.

“I remember him leaving and coming back with the container,” she said, idly fussing with the blonde fur on her cheeks. “I suppose he went home to pick it up and then heated it up in the breakroom.”

Holly looked over at Tori. “Doesn’t sound like the sort who’d leave it unattended in the microwave. So, if it was from his refrigerator at home, someone must have tampered with it there.”

Tori nodded and poked at the report on her strand some more. “Says he lived alone. I’m guessing he didn’t mention a recent break-in.”

Oorpu shook her head.

“Did Stoli have any enemies?” asked Tori.

The pained expression on Oorpu’s ears spoke volumes. “I…” she said before lapsing back into silence once more. “I never imagined that someone would actually murder him.”

# # #

Tori walked slowly down the corridor in silence, mulling the case in her mind.

Holly, however, sounded excited and energized. “So, what next?”

“I think I need to search Stoli’s apartment.”

“Great! What was his address?”

Tori grinned at him, watching from the corner of her eyes as she hobbled along. “As it’s a private apartment, I seriously doubt my strand can unlock the door,” she explained. “Security Chief Tipohee was adamant about controlling how much access I have, so I think I’ll have to go through him. Still want to come?”

Holly’s ears drooped. He didn’t need to say it.

“I’ll have more geroo to interview tomorrow. Perhaps, you’d like to come along then?” she suggested. “You asked some good questions.”

“Yeah, okay, Tori. Just give me a call,” he said, brightening back up.

Tori stopped. She leaned back against a wall and cleared her throat. “Say, Holly… Back when I had my accident and was stuck in sick bay…” He turned to look at her, but she continued staring straight ahead. “That put our administrators on the spot. They had to decide if it was a better use of the ship’s resources to treat me … or just let me go.”

Holly’s ears slicked back. He stood in silence awhile before finally saying, “I’m glad they decided to treat you, Tori.”

“They probably shouldn’t have,” she admitted. “Even now, I can’t do my original job. If it weren’t for this investigation, I don’t feel like any ship in the fleet would really need me. I think that most administrators wouldn’t have let the doctors operate.”

“Well, someone thought it was a good idea.”

Tori nodded. “Administrator O’lia. He was a friend of mine.”

Holly smiled. “You’re good at making friends. Far better at it than I am, it seems.”

“I guess, but it had me wondering… I don’t suppose you’ve had to make that decision yet, now that you’re an administrator?”

“I have, actually.” Tori’s eyes opened wide in surprise since he’d only had the job for a few days, but he explained, “So far, it’s been just a formality. I suppose med bay is required to run it by us—well, me, for the moment—whenever someone is too sick or injured to go to work. But there’s no way I’m going to recycle someone because they’ve got the flu or a sprained wrist.”

“I’d hope not,” she chuckled, “but obviously, my case is a lot more extreme.”

“I’m really not looking forward to the day when I have to make that call,” he admitted.

“And if it had been up to you when I got hurt…?”

Holly’s ears had fallen farther back as the conversation progressed, like he was a bystander helplessly watching an accident unfold, but that question pressed his ears flat against his head. “Please don’t make me answer that.”

She leaned forward and touched his arm. “But… I’d really like to know.”

He stared directly at her without blinking, one of the few times he’d actually managed it. “You promise not to hold it against me, Tori?”

“I promise.”

“Honestly, I don’t think your friend did you a favor,” he said. “I don’t care how many resources med bay had to expend to save your life or that you couldn’t work while you were laid up, but if this is the most you’re going to recover, well … it’s not how I’d want to live. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I understand,” she said. “But that decision could still be ahead of you, y’know? What if I were back in med bay tomorrow, and you could approve more down time and the use of more ship resources to give me a normal life, or you could leave me as I am now. What would you do then?”

“I’d want you to live a normal life, of course,” said Holly. He perked up. “Why? Is that a possibility?”

“It might be,” she said, turning and walking on. “Dr. Amhela thinks he could do it, but he’s very cautious. He doesn’t want to get in trouble by breaking the rules.”

“Ah,” said Holly. “And… What are the rules about getting surgery?”

Tori walked in silence for a long while. Eventually, she shared, “Well, the rules are very restrictive.”

“Ah. I see.”

She reached out and gave his paw a squeeze. “To put it on a string,” she said, using the geroo idiom for summing things up, “he wants me to get permission from the commissioner, the captain, and an administrator. The commissioner only visits the ship once every forty-seven years—”

“Every forty-seven years?” squeaked Holly.

“Apparently,” sighed Tori. “I… I don’t see how I can possibly persuade him, but next week’s inspection will undoubtedly be my one and only chance to speak with him, so I’ll have to try.”

“Wow,” Holly whispered.

“As for the captain, he’s worried about The Executioner targeting him,” said Tori. “So, if I can catch the killer, then that might be enough to win the captain’s favor.”

Holly turned, smiling. “And an administrator?” he asked.

She shrugged. “At the moment, you’re the only administrator aboard the ship. Whether I can impress the captain or not, the odds of me getting Commissioner Troykintrassa’s permission are … remote at best. But if I can—?”

“Of course, I’d give you my permission,” laughed Holly. “Don’t be silly. If the commissioner and captain were in favor of you getting surgery, then what possible objection could I ever have?”

Tori smiled. “Thanks, Holly. I appreciate it.”

“Don’t be silly. We’ll find some way to impress the commissioner.” With a wink, he added. “If not, I’ll hold him down, and you punch him. We’ll force him to approve your surgery!”

Tori snorted a really ugly, embarrassing laugh. She covered her mouth with one paw and made a fist with the other, pretending to swing it at an invisible foe.

With a wave, he turned to leave. “I’ll keep you in my prayers, Tori.”

———

Reviewer's link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EctSaWfHcpC7Ew962KEP0Sl5dy5FpIDPGWGv886FbR0/edit?usp=sharing

Thoughts?