Chapter 27
JOLAR
“I can’t believe how much room I have now,” Klora said as he got onto the elevator. “I’ve got to choose more furniture to fill up the space.” He beamed. “We get to go to work together now as I’m only two decks below you and this is the closest one.”
I smiled back at him. “How are your cats settling in?”
“Great! And they have more furniture than I do!” he laughed.Then, sobering, he said, “I didn’t get a report from Dr. Quincy, did you?”
“No, nor from Xeranos or the local field agent., which is most puzzling indeed.”
“Hmm. Most odd.”
The elevator came to a stop, opening up to reveal the corridor we needed to follow to reach the brig. To our surprise, Sachuu was leaning against the wall, as if waiting for us.
“Excellent. You’re right on time. We have had a rather interesting turn of events,” he informed us, uncrossing his arms.
“Is it someone blocking Dr. Quincy from sharing the samples and results?” Klora asked, falling into step alongside the L.T.C. as he led us away from the brig, turning down a side corridor.
Sachuu didn’t reply immediately, instead showing us to a small conference room. My eyebrows rose, spotting our Fleet commander, Gundar, seated at the table, along with Peterson and a man I did not recognize.
“Hi,” the man said, standing up and offering his hand to me to shake, then Klora. “I’m Carl Reynolds. Agent Jeffries was reassigned.”
I glanced over at Peterson who gave me a smug smile. Ah, it was like that, was it? Not that I was sad about it. Jeffries was a very unpleasant person.
“Very nice to meet you,” I said belatedly, as Klora shook his hand.
“Same,” Klora added, pumping his hand enthusiastically.
“I’m really excited to be here,” Reynolds said, as he extricated his hand. “I’ve been following the human-Mylos interactions ever since your Ambassador Tellan first arrived. Gotta say, I’ve been sorely tempted to go in and see if I’m a mate match.”
He sat back down.
“You’d have to go back to school,” Peterson reminded him.
“I know. It’s what’s held me back. I’m not sure I want to do that.”
“If you’re serious, we could accept an application for an internship here aboard ship, perhaps,” Commander Gundar suggested.
“I wouldn’t mind that myself, but I’m not a veteran and I’m not gay, so that’s me out.”
“You two are a team, so if he came, why would you not accompany him?” Gundar asked, a small smile teasing the corner of his lips.”
The two FBI agents looked at each other.
“Talk about it over lunch?” Peterson asked his new partner.
“Definitely,” Reynolds responded. Then looking around the rest of the table as Klora and I took our seats, he added, “Peterson and I have known each other since the academy.”
“Yep. “ Peterson confirmed.
“Excellent. I hope we will see you both here,” Gundar enthused. “If you decide to apply while aboard ship, we can process your application immediately.
“In the meantime,” Sachuu broke in, “Let us return to the matter at hand. Both Dr. Quincy and our agent at the mate matching center contacted me directly without copying the rest of my team after making the startling discovery that the body we found is not who we expected it to be at all. Rather, according to a DNA match in the system from prior military service, it was discovered that the body is one Jason Sato.”
I frowned. As did the two FBI agents. Klora leaned forward eagerly. “Oh, that is amazing!” he breathed.
“Isn’t that the name of her lawyer?” I asked, puzzled.
“Indeed. The man posing as Jason Sato has in the meantime disappeared, no doubt alerted by the activity that his secret was about to be exposed.”
“Do you think he’s actually Takahashi?” Peterson asked.
Sachuu shook his head. “I do not. He is the wrong height, build, and age. Takahashi would be an entire decade and half older and several pounds heavier.”
“Maybe he was also on the boat with his brother and sister-in-law,” Reynolds suggested.
“That is a possibility. I have the feeling that once we discover who our fake Jason Sato is, we’ll find the rest of the answers we seek,” Sachuu said.
“Maybe they’re both serial killers,” Klora suggested. “And the Takahashi family were convenient targets, killed for the money and house.”
Sachuu shook his head. “This isn’t like The Quiet of the Goat or another of your films. I am certain it is quite ordinary greed given despicable free rein.”
Reynolds snorted. “The Quiet of the Goat,” he murmured. Peterson elbowed him in the side.
“It’s The Silence of the Lambs, sir, “ Klora told Sachuu softly.
Sachuu waved his hand dismissively. “Whatever. It makes no noise and is a small ruminant animal. You get my point.”
“Indeed, sir.”
I nodded. I had no idea what the movie was or wasn’t about, other than it had to do with serial killers which Sachuu was adamant Linda Takahashi and fake Sato were not. I hoped that the L.T.C. was right. He usually was, but he was far from infallible.
“Right, now we have that out of the way, what’s the game plan?” Commander Gundar asked, leaning back in his chair.
“We’re having the fake Sato run through our database, hoping to get a hit on facial recognition,” Peterson informed us. “We’ve got the lab techs checking paperwork we’ve received from his office, hoping to pick up fingerprints and maybe some usable DNA.”
“I plan to interrogate Linda Takahashi again,” Sachuu stated flatly.
“I’d like for us to observe that, if possible. Could it also be recorded? I can go over it frame by frame to decipher her micro expressions,” Reynolds said. “I’m a qualified forensic psychological profiler.”
“Excellent idea,” Sachuu agreed. “Jolar can sit with you while you do that, so you can explain what you see.”
“It’ll take a few days to go over it all,” Reynolds warned.
“That’s fine. We can prepare you and Peterson guest quarters until you’re done here.”
The two agents looked surprised but didn’t argue.
“Lucky!” Klora whispered to me. “I wish I got to be the one to do it! You’ll have to share what you learn with me!”
I gave my friend a small smile. “Sure .”
The rest of the meeting was spent deciding who would update Braevan and his husband on the outcome of yesterday’s search, making arrangements for the FBI agents to obtain spare clothing and quarters, and deciding the exact questions we wanted Linda to answer and gauge her responses to.
Then it was time for lunch and I found myself more than ready to head back home to see my mate so we could eat together.
“Guess it’s time to decide about applying for that internship, maybe,” Reynolds said to his partner as we left the conference room.
He rubbed the back of his neck in agitation as he spoke.
I nodded a quick good-bye at everyone before hurtying off, but as I strode away, I heard Peterson say, “I think you should go for it.”
Perhaps the agents wouldn’t be returning to Earth at all, after all.