Chapter 4: The New Detectives

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory lounged on a resort deck overlooking a busy harbor.

"Are you the Doctor?" a voice nearby asked.

The Doctor looked up.

"Yes, I am. Hello."

"I am Ivan Roablo, the lead detective for this jurisdiction."

"This is Amy Pond and Rory Williams, my current companions."

"I hope I'm not troubling you, Doctor. You seem to be relaxing."

"It's been a few minutes already. I could use the distraction."

"We have a dead body that confounds our forensic technology. I understand that you provided some valuable services the last time you were here. Would you be willing to help again?"

"Of course. I'm sure Rory and Amy don't mind," the Doctor answered, not looking at his companions and therefore not seeing the annoyance on their faces. "When was the body found?"

"Two-and-a-half days ago."

Ivan led the Doctor and his companions to a hotel. "Perring Zake was found here. He plummeted to his death from the roof. It was very messy. Across the alley is Thovas Pharmaceutical. The current theory is that Perring stole something from Thovas and someone from Thovas killed him to get it back."

"Did Thovas get it back?" the Doctor asked.

"They say they are uncertain because it was likely pills and they have no accounting system for small numbers of pills."

"You sound skeptical."

"I am."

Ivan transported the Doctor and his companions to a forensic laboratory.

"Tell us about the planet so we'll know enough to help," Amy requested along the way.

"This is the planet Zelo. The natives here are Zelans. They're the ones that look like people, but with blue skin. A few hundred years ago, humans arrived and have increased their presence considerably. They're the ones that look like people, but with not-blue skin."

After arriving at the laboratory, Ivan showed the TARDIS crew the body.

"Has the body been cleaned since it was found?" the Doctor asked while he scanned it with his sonic screwdriver.

"No," Ivan answered.

"And how was it transported?"

"My junior detectives placed him in a sealable bag while at the hotel. They didn't open the seal until they arrived at this department."

"There are traces of hulminol and recnacilophen," the Doctor noted.

"Yes," Ivan replied. "Our investigation focused on the department at Thovas that produces immunological drugs."

"Are these drugs for Zelans or humans?" Rory asked.

"Zelan," Ivan answered.

"What about Perring's clothes?" the Doctor asked.

Ivan presented the Doctor an outfit that was complemented by yellow shoes. The Doctor scanned everything.

"Do you have a list of associates for Perring?" the Doctor asked Ivan, who handed the Doctor a file he skimmed through.

"How about security footage?"

"You'll have to get it at Thovas. They're citing the protection of intellectual property to justify their reason for not sharing it with us. They are willing to let us see it at their building, though."

"I'd prefer to enter Thovas using my TARDIS."

"I can arrange for that."

After being dropped off at the resort, the Doctor, Rory, Amy, and Ivan materialized in the security department of Thovas.

"Doctor, Rory, Amy, this is Lewell Mah, Thovas' head of security. Lewell, these are my new forensic assistants. We'd like to review the footage pertaining to Perring Zake."

"Unfortunately, our analysts are completely sure now that the missing footage is not recoverable," Lewell said. "I'll show you the small amount of footage that is available."

The TARDIS crew watched as Perring shot two guards in one video segment using a gun with a long barrel. In another segment, he used a stolen identification card to access a room. Three other segments showed him running through various corridors.

"The owner of the identification card had reported it stolen," Ivan said. "There's no connection to Perring aside from the theft."

"Can you zoom in on Perring's hands when he shoots the guards?" the Doctor requested.

Lewell complied, but the Doctor was dissatisfied with the resolution.

"I'd like to hook up this computer to my TARDIS. My ship might be able to clean the drive and recover missing footage."

"I can't allow that," Lewell responded.

"My ship won't be able to save or even view any of the data. I have a program in my firmware that could help."

Lewell hesitated before agreeing. The Doctor connected a wire from the computer to the TARDIS' console and entered in several commands.

Footage appeared on screen at the console.

"I thought you said you couldn't view anything?" Amy inquired.

The Doctor quickly hushed her. "Rule number one."

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory continued looking at the screen as the Doctor skimmed through the footage. They eventually saw a humanoid man with spiky brown hair wearing a blue pinstripe suit.

"Who's he?" Rory asked.

"A person of interest," the Doctor replied. "The file that Ivan gave me dismissed him; he's irrelevant."

The trio continued looking through the footage.

"Don't tell anyone you saw anything here," the Doctor said. He inputted more commands before returning to the security department with the wire.

"No luck on the missing footage, but I was able to improve the resolution. Can you zoom in again on Perring's hands when he shoots?"

Lewell complied again.

"Two fingers on the trigger. He looks like he's pulling it and has the gun at a small angle," the Doctor observed.

"We thought we were making progress with the gun, but ultimately did not," Ivan said.

"I'm familiar with the gun," the Doctor said. "It's manufactured on the planet Nocaerlion. Perring's technique is rare. It's taught at three academies in Nocaerlion, one of which has a human contingent."

"It'd take months to get to Nocaerlion," Ivan said.

"Not for us. We'll see you soon, Ivan."

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory entered the TARDIS and set off. They soon arrived at Blue Fields Academy, where they met the academic director.

"Hello. I'm the Doctor from the Criminal Inspections Division. This is Amy and Rory, my legal trainees. We are here for information regarding one of your recent students, Perring Zake."

"I'm Renditt Haley. I'd be happy to look through our records."

As Renditt sifted through academic records, the Doctor looked around until he returned his attention to Renditt. "Perring Zake recently stole some drugs on Zelo. We're looking for reasons."

Renditt pulled up Perring's files on a large screen that everyone could see. He also pulled up pictures that are indexed with Perring's name.

The Doctor sifted through them.

"Doctor, can humans and Zelans interbreed?" Rory asked.

"What kind of question is that?" Amy asked, suspiciously.

"That's not why I'm asking. Look at this picture. Perring looks like he's in a romantic relationship with a Zelan."

"No, they can't interbreed, Rory. They can't even be intimate unless . . ."

"Is there an immunological reason why they can't be intimate?" Rory asked.

"That's it, right there," the Doctor said, happily. "That's why he stole the drugs! He was in love. Thank you very much, Renditt. This solves everything! We must be off!"

As the TARDIS started to materialize near Ivan's office in Zelo, Rory approached the Doctor. "You answered the question of why Perring was at Thavos. You didn't answer the question of his death."

"Oh, right; of course."

The Doctor explained to Ivan his conclusions and then transported Ivan and his companions to the roof of the hotel from which Perring fell. The Doctor looked around and bent down.

"Look at this. Part of the floor near the rails is uneven. At its crest, yellow remnants."

"Are you certain?" Ivan asked.

"My screwdriver isn't wrong. The yellow probably came from Perring's shoes."

"He tripped and fell over," Ivan concluded.

"Case closed," said the Doctor.

Later in the TARDIS, while Amy was showering, Rory approached the Doctor.

"You were never trying to find out how Perring died, only why he was at Thavos," said Rory. "You have similar shoes and suits as that man in the missing footage. That was you, wasn't it - a previous regeneration? You knew all this time how he died."

"I was the cause of it. I was helping Thavos with something unrelated the last time I was here. I caught Perring doing something, but I didn't know what. I chased him. I tried to use the sonic screwdriver to slow Perring down, but he had set down some micromines on the roof. I missed my target and made him fall."

"It wasn't your fault, then."

"No, but it doesn't make feel better."

"I understand," Rory said.

"I can move on now that I know the whole story."