MRS MCGINTY'S DEAD

Thank you Guest for your review! And what's that I hear? Is it the sound of osik hitting the proverbial fan starting with a trip to the medcenter?

Well she told them she was going to the medcenter; she just hadn't specified which one. Mina walked into the lobby of the Lothal medcenter, Pascal's prescription in hand. It was easy enough to track down Dr. Angelica Kallus' office and she made her way there.

Mina wasn't sure where Thrawn had heard her family was back in action, but as the venue for Alex and Sierra's wedding this medcenter was the most likely source of the leak. That and she had to admit, its staff had some of the best motives she could think of where her son-in-law was concerned.

Many of Lothal's citizens had suffered under Agent Kallus' mandates and had good reason to come for his blood, but Mina doubted they would team up with an Imperial remnant to do so. That left the former loyalists.

Suspect number one: Dr. Angelica Kallus.

"Mina?" Angelica spotted her down the hall. "I thought you'd be on Mandalore with Sandr and Lux. In fact I was going to head that way tomorrow. What's up?"

"We're busy but everything's under control at the moment," Mina lied. "I came to talk to you about throwing a baby shower for Sierra and Alex. We're getting close to the traditional time and -."

"Absolutely!" Angelica beamed. "That gives me a chance to give them all the things I bought. I've got toys, books, baby clothes - there's an adorable little shirt that says "Auntie's Snuggle Bug."

Suspect Number One was obviously jazzed about being an aunt. Mina crossed her off her mental list and moved on to the next suspect.

"Oh hi Mrs. Bonteri!" Sophie the nurse's aide locked step with them as they passed her. "I heard the good news. Will you tell Kallus congratulations for me?"

"I will and I'm sure he and Sierra will be glad to hear from you again. Are you well?" Sophie's smile was all Mina needed to take her off the suspect's list. Not only was she just a teenager, but Kallus was obviously still her hero.

She scanned the unit for the next name on her list and it didn't take long for her to spot them. Yogar and Pam Lyste appeared to be in the middle of a child handoff with their triplet daughters.

"We've all had lunch, I ran our errands and I told them to be extra good for Mommy." Lyste handed over the random-crap-to-keep-the-kids-busy bag as he tried in vain to keep a handle on the girls. "Anything else before I go?"

"We're good," Pam shouldered the bag. "I had a few add-on scans but it was nothing I couldn't handle."

"Good to hear." Lyste smiled at his wife for a second. "I might be a little late but I'll try to make it home in time for baths."

Pam nodded. "Celia, Maketh, Delilah, give Daddy a hug before we go."

The girls abandoned whatever they were doing to attach themselves to Lyste's legs and he dropped to his knees to kiss the tops of their heads.

Yogar Lyste. Framed as Fulcrum by Kallus while his wife was pregnant with triplets. If that wasn't a motive, Mina didn't know what was.

She waited for Pam to leave with the girls before she approached Lyste. "Mr. Lyste, fancy seeing you here."

Lyste nodded. "I didn't think I'd see you until Sierra got her ultrasound. Do you think the baby's a boy or a girl? I know Kallus is hoping for a boy and I can't really blame him after seeing what my three did to him, but a girl would be nice too. I just need to know so I can get the right color of balloons sent up to the delivery room!"

Balloons in the delivery room. Mina made a mental note not to tell Sierra that, or her daughter would give birth in a bathtub.

"The ultrasound may be delayed," she said. "Kallus is involved in a routine murder investigation that's turned out to be anything but routine."

"How so? Is organized crime involved?" Lyste asked. "If so I'm sure it'll be resolved soon. Kallus was always very good with that."

"It's not organized crime. We believe it's more of an imperial threat."

"Imperial," Lyste repeated. Clearly he got the double meaning.

Mina nodded. She could feel BonScary rising up inside her and knew she couldn't afford to lose her composure. "I'm asking everyone who might know something."

Lyste took a step back. "You think I did this?"

"You have reason to want revenge on Kallus."

"No!" Lyste saw her flush red and backpedaled. "That's not what I meant. I have reason to be angry with him, but I got my vengeance. He babysits my kids!"

"And?" Mina demanded. Bonscary was definitely appearing now.

"Have you ever babysat triplet toddlers?"

She had not, but she could imagine.

Lyste hadn't stopped. "Even setting that aside, I would never work with the Empire again. Sure, Kallus framed me, but the Empire was going to kill me even after Grand Admiral Thrawn knew I was innocent. I want less than nothing to do with them and I wouldn't hand my worst enemy over to what remains of them."

"Then who could have done this?"

"I don't know!" Lyste screeched, cowering. "Ask Pryce! She hates Kallus and Sierra both!"

Pryce. Mina's mind raced. How had she forgotten about the ex-governor who hadn't been shy about her utter disdain for their family, who had every reason to work with the Imperial remnant? If anyone had the motive, and the brains, to pull this off then it was Arihnda Pryce.

"Where is she?" she asked.

Lyste pointed. "Last I saw she was sweeping the back nurses' station."

The back nurses' station that was all but abandoned and had comm access. It would be the perfect place to send a message to Thrawn. Leaving Lyste behind, Mina double-timed it.

When she arrived the station was empty save for a wheeled cart holding a mop and bucket.

"That's hers," Lyste panted, coming up behind her.

"Yes but where is she now?" Mina scanned the surrounding area. All of Pryce's tools were on the cart and she would arouse suspicion if she strayed too far. "She didn't just vanish. She has to be on the unit somewhere."

"We'll call a missing persons' code," Lyste said. "No one can hide from that. The staff check everything - closets, 'freshers, storerooms, you name it."

But they didn't need it. Lyste had half the code number dialed when an earsplitting scream deafened the entire unit.

Sophie stood in the stairwell door, eyes transfixed on Pryce's still body lying like a marionette on the steps.

…

"Luckily I was on holocam in the doc box the whole time she could have been killed, but the whole hospital's locked down for the murder inquiry," Angelica said on the party comm a short while later. "I'm sorry but there's no way I can come to Mandalore."

"She must have been the leak," Lux said. "Ezra and Molly found a whole trail of comms from little-used units in the medcenter to an untraceable ID. Thrawn heard we were close to finding her out so he silenced her."

"We'll know for sure soon enough. Since I'm one of the few doctors who are exonerated they want me to do her autopsy. I'll share anything I know."

"Thank you Angelica." Kallus turned attention from her to his wife and brother-in-law. "We still need a medical examiner for Korkie. Any other candidates?"

"Not from us," Sierra said. "We only saw Alliance doctors and rarely at that."

"Alliance doctors," He repeated. "Do you remember any particular physicians?"

"Well there was the guy who took care of me after I was tortured," she suggested. "He was at Senator Organa's place at the time but I think he transferred after. I remember he was bald, and he said he was from Iziz."

A bald doctor from Iziz. What were the odds? "Excuse me," he said. "Looks like I need to comm my people."

…

"Dr. Bremon Kreps, currently of Bethesda Memorial Medcenter, formerly the Rebel Alliance's Head of Medical." The newcomer shook D.I. Yularen's hand some hours later, Lux and Kallus standing confidently behind him. "Thank you for bringing me on board."

"You're the medical examiner?" Det. Yularen asked. "I thought Goodman said she?"

Kallus tried not to tense up. He couldn't remember Dr. Kreps ever lying.

"I'm filling in for a colleague," The fib fell easily from the doctor's lips. "It was kind of a last minute thing."

"He's more than qualified to perform the autopsy," Lux said. "He's seen just about every sort of trauma there is."

"References check out," Graf stepped aside. "I await your report doctor."

Dr. Kreps had never disappointed them before and he wasn't about to start now. On his way out of the station he stepped aside with Lux and Kallus.

"Korkie Kryze died of a broken neck," he said. "At first glance it looked like it had been made to look like an accident, but the X-rays confirm his neck was snapped with a twisting motion."

"Probably by hand," Lux muttered. "Any estimate of how tall the killer is?"

Kreps shrugged. "Average human height, anywhere from five foot four to five foot eight."

That included all the suspects bar Saw, but they already knew he couldn't have physically killed Korkie.

"There was something else though." Dr. Kreps called up a holo of the X-ray film. "This fracture pattern is very unusual. Normally I'd chalk that up a killer's quirk, but Dr. Kallus found the same pattern on Arihnda Pryce's X-rays with a different height ratio."

Lux's head swam. "In Basic?"

"Two killers, same technique." Kallus said darkly.

"And two drastically different power differentials. Pryce's death was a quick snap but Korkie's tore the soft tissue to shreds. The killer used a lot of force." Dr. Kreps said. "I called up some of my old friends from the Alliance and they said this particular technique was taught in two or three Imperial Academies, most notably the one on Myomar."

Kallus knew what that meant: "Vanto. Lovely."

Lux nodded. "Guess Thrawn didn't want to do his own dirty work for once."

Dr. Kreps gave his report a final once-over. Murder wasn't surprising for a doctor who had seen and heard literally everything over his variegated career. "That's the best I can give you seeing as I'm not a surgeon and I should be getting back to Bethesda anyway. Thanks for bringing me on."

Kallus shook his hand. "Thank you, Dr. Kreps."

"Don't mention it. By the way, make sure to bring that kid by the ER when they're big enough. Maddie and Temi were talking about paying you a visit if you didn't."

He shuddered at the thought of Maddie and Temi with their loud mouths and good intentions showing up at his home. "I'll make it a point."

"Dr. Kreps," Graf rounded the corner with a friendly smile that reminded Kallus fiercely of his father. "Is that your report I see?"

"Yes sir." Dr. Kreps handed it over. "I was just explaining to your colleagues the difference in height and power differentials between the two victims."

Graf's eyebrows hit his hairline. "What do you mean, two victims?"

Dr. Kreps froze in shock at what he'd just said. Graf took the report from his hands and scrolled through it, mouth falling open when he reached the section on Pryce. "Arihnda Pryce was murdered yesterday? Monk, Goodman, what is the meaning of this?"

Lux floundered. "We didn't think you had jurisdiction on Lothal." He motioned for Dr. Kreps to leave and the physician didn't need to be told twice.

"I'm NRBI! We have jurisdiction in the entire New Republic and this is exactly the thing I should know." He didn't look up from skim-reading the report. "These are two planetary leaders who either have been or were about to be ousted from power. This could be part of a spree!"

"Due to D.S. Monk's jurisdiction concerns, we didn't want to say anything until we were sure there was a connection." Kallus said.

The look Graf returned was so incredibly Yularen he had to take a step back. "They have the same neck fracture, Goodman. What is going on here?"

How could they explain this? Lux and Kallus looked at each other for help as Graf continued: "Any Detective would know this and notify their co-investigators. And this other report was signed by Doctor..." he trailed off looking at Kallus. "Stars above, I knew you looked familiar— from the holos in my old man's office! You're Kallus, and you married into the Onderon Con Men!"

Time froze but the pieces assembled at lightning speed.

"It's not what it looks like." Lux whispered

"Then what is it? Because it looks like you're either trying to cover up a murder or rip something off!"

"We're just helping a friend." Kallus said. "Korkie Kryze helped them save my wife and now his wife needs our help."

"And in doing so you'll let a murderer run free." Graf glared. "Which would only be the icing on the proverbial cake of crimes you've managed to commit in the last week. Impersonating a police officer, tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, stars know what you've done that I just don't know about. And your wife, who I'm pretty sure is Sierra Bonteri, what's she really doing here?"

"It's not like that."

"Then what is it like?" Before he could get an answer footsteps approached and all three of them realized they were about to run out of privacy. "Kallus, a word in private?"

Kallus nodded reassurance to Lux and walked with Graf into the nearest empty room.

"Graf -."

"I wish I couldn't believe this." Graf spat. "But what I can't believe is that I didn't recognize you immediately. Dad had the holo of you and your cadet up like it was a shrine."

Kallus ran through the possible scenarios. He was undoubtedly angry about being lied to but maybe Graf also still harbored some underlying jealousy for the time and attention Yularen paid him. "I'm sorry for the deception but we had to take the precaution that you were working for our enemies. There are a lot of people after us and with the baby on the way I couldn't risk our safety."

He took one look at Graf and mentally deleted everything he was about to say.

"I can understand your reasoning there, Goodman. What I can't understand is what you did to my father. Did he ever tell you where he was when you called him from the medcenter all those years ago?" Graf asked. "We were eating dinner. He didn't even finish his plate, just put down his fork and grabbed his keys. The only other time he's left like that was when I got into a speeder accident."

Kallus' mouth went dry. He remembered his visit to Bethesda Memorial Medcenter all too well: bright fluorescent lights, pain and ringing in his ears from the blast, and the terror and horror at his men's fate that he couldn't overcome despite the staff's best efforts until Colonel Yularen arrived.

"He loved you," Graf said. "And in return you betrayed him."

The words pierced Kallus' heart like a sword. "I parted with your father on regrettable terms but I didn't have a choice. I couldn't continue serving the Empire, and after I was found out I didn't have a chance to speak to him again."

"There was another way if you'd taken the time to figure it out."

"What way?"

Graf didn't answer.

"I know your wife is really pregnant and my father wouldn't want your kid to grow up without you." He said after a long pause. "For that reason and that reason only, I'll let you go. Interfere with the investigation any further and you'll be arrested immediately."

"Soniee Kryze is innocent. You can't just arrest -."

"If you're so sure she's innocent then prove it. Show me the evidence you've obviously been keeping from me."

"We...don't have any."

"Then forgive me if I don't take the word of a con man." Graf turned away.

Kallus almost unconsciously followed him. "What if we find it for you?"

Graf stopped. "You think you can find proof?"

"Give me a day." He said. "We'll stay away from the crime scene and all the suspects. If we can't prove Soniee is innocent by the end of the day tomorrow then we'll walk away, no questions asked."

Graf debated in silence and Kallus prayed to gods he wasn't sure he believed in that he would accept.

"I'm leaving at 1700 tomorrow," he said. "Don't make me regret this."

Kallus exhaled. "You won't."

The door hadn't fully shut behind Graf when Lux hurried in. "Sierra's already on her way back to the ship and Ezra says he can help us break out Saw. We'll be ready to bug out in ten minutes."

"He's not turning us in," he said. "He let us go and gave us twenty-four hours to prove Soniee's innocence."

Lux's jaw dropped. "Did he say why?"

Kallus filled him in and Lux replied with a word he definitely wouldn't have said in front of Tav and Kiara.

"So we have twenty-four hours to solve a murder."

Lux looked at his wrist chrono. "Technically, twenty-three and a half. We'd better get started."

...

At that exact moment Steela Gerrera was hanging upside down in her repelling rig. It was a thing she had done innumerable times before but not since they had all gone into retirement and damn did it feel good to be back in action!

It was just like riding a speeder bike! All her gear was still in excellent condition and the information on the vault's security systems that Hutch had provided her with was so far all right on target. The only thing she needed to do now was to hack into that system and deactivate the pressure sensors on the floor tiles. Only as she looked at the read out on her data pad it appeared as if it had already been done?

"I got it Auntie Steela!" And it was a good thing too, because the voice that came from below her was such a shock that the datapad slipped from her gloved hands and fell down to those tiles.

There stood Melaana Kryze smiling up at her.

Steela flipped to an upright position and quickly dropped the rest of the way down. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't believe me, that I was up to it. I had to show you that I can help Momma and Uncle Saw with you. And see, I did it." The little girl bent and picked up Steela's datapad. She checked to make sure that the screen was still intact and then held it out to her aunt.

Steela hurriedly undid her harness and went to the girl. She ignored the datapad for a moment and looked over the child for injury. "Mel you can't just… you were safe with Mina. If anything had happened to you…"

Melaana endured a relieved embrace for only a standard second before she pushed out of her Aunt's arms. "I'm fine and I did the last bit for you, see?" She indicated the datapad again.

"How did you get past the lasers?" Steela glanced at the blueprint on the image, taking it from her.

"Same way you did, I guess." Melaana shrugged. "I learned everything from stories about you."

"Oh Sweetheart." Steela was grudgingly impressed. "Knowing the theory of how to do something and actually putting it into practice is totally different. I would gladly have taken you with me for something less dangerous but this… You should have left this one to the adults."

"You were my age when you got started and you didn't have anyone to teach you," the little girl protested. "I've got you."

Steela huffed not wanting to show her true pride. "I should send you back to the ship to wait for me to finish this, but I think it would be more of a risk for us to be separated."

Melaana grinned.

"Alright come on, but stay right with me and you have to do whatever I say without question."

"Of course!"

The two of them made their way through Thrawn's vault like it was a public museum gallery. They had set the holo cams on a loop so there was no chance they would be recorded as ever having been there, and Steela took the time to point out certain artifacts that might be of interest to her young protégé. She made special mention of why the items were valuable and the extra precautions that were guarding the more exceptional pieces.

"In this line of business," Steela explained. "You very rarely are dealing with plain spendable credits. That's why you need to have a good reliable fence. Ours is Dalla Wallace."

"She used to be a Blackwell like the pirate in the legends!" Melaana knew that name from the stories too.

"That's right." Steela shook her head. This little girl really knew too much for her own good but she couldn't help the growing affection she held for her niece. "And she's got a son about your age. Or maybe he's a little older." It had been a while since she worked directly with the Wallaces. Their son Sandor would be a teenager now.

"I'm almost ten and I got in here on my own."

Steela laughed at her confidence. "You did alright."

"Then," Melaana's brow furrowed. "What are we actually here to steal?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing at all?" shocked disappointment stopped the apprentice thief in her tracks.

"We're just going to cause a distraction, make it look like we took something when we leave."

"So," Melaana considered. "The blue guy will look this direction instead of bothering with Uncle Alex for a while so he can help Momma and Uncle Saw."

"Exactly! For now we're just window shopping."

Melaana nodded, studying once more the objects of value all around them. "I bet he would like to have Auntie Sierra's necklace in here."

"What makes you think that?" Steela asked her.

"Well," Mel began thoughtfully, proving that she really had been paying attention to the lesson. "It's not just an expensive piece of jewelry, is it? It's part of the history of Onderon. That's the kind of thing that we've seen in this collection, stuff that's art but it also tells a story about the place it came from."

Steela continued her lesson. "That's right. Legends say the Amulet of Galia once belonged to a princess of Onderon. That's where it got its name. She was famous for marrying a beast lord and bringing the planet together."

"I know." Mel grinned. "I've read the Bard's star crossed lovers, only the real ones lived happily ever after."

"Well if you count having to fight off an invading army of Mandalorians as happily ever after."

They both laughed but the little girl grew thoughtful again. "There's another reason I think Thrawn might want that necklace."

"And why is that?"

This admission came more hesitantly. "Because my brother dreamed about it and sometimes his dreams come true."

"Pascal had a dream about the Amulet of Galia?"

Melaana nodded. "He didn't know it was called that. He just said it was Auntie Sierra's but he said in the dream that Momma was wearing it and… the blue man was there."

Steela didn't take this news lightly. She knew that her sister, Ahsoka, had occasionally been subject to prophetic visions, as had Tav, and there was something otherworldly about the way Pascal's blue eyes stared into the distance sometimes, like he was seeing something none of the rest of them could. She supposed she should comm home to check on the little boy and to let them know that Melaana was with her and safe. She should have thought to do that as soon as Mel appeared but as she reached for her comm unit it vibrated under her fingers.

Ahsoka's image flickered to life above the unit. She smiled when she saw Melaana beside her sister. "Good. We thought she must have been with you. We need you both to come back or rather meet the rest of us on Mandalore." She obviously didn't want to say too much in front of the little girl. "Your mother is fine." She answered the unasked question. "Sierra just said there had been a development…"

"Sierra's on Mandalore? That little…" Steela refrained from calling her sister a more colorful name. "I knew she wouldn't be able to stay put."

"Speaking of staying put." Ahsoka's image grinned. "Are you two about finished up there?"

"We were just window shopping," Melaana spoke innocently.

Steela ruffled her red curls. "Yep. Didn't find anything we couldn't live without on this trip. Though we might have thought of something we might want to donate."

Ahsoka looked back over her shoulder. "I think someone else might have had the same idea. We'll talk about it when we're all together."

"Alright. See you soon." Steela clicked off the unit and gave Melaana a smile. "Ready to go back home to Sundari."

"As long as it's just to get Momma and Uncle Saw, and then I want to go back to Onderon."

…

"So Thrawn's somewhere in the galaxy doing gods-know-what when Pryce comes to him complaining after your wedding." Lux paced the floor of the conference room Graf Yularen didn't need to know they were still using. "A lead on the Onderon Con Men was too good for him to pass up so he starts looking at how to draw us out and decides on the Kryzes."

"They were at the wedding. Korkie had to leave early because he had work to do back on Mandalore but Soniee stayed the rest of the evening and she didn't seem particularly happy about him leaving. Maybe that's how Saw knew they were having problems?"

"Thrawn sees the opportunity and moves in. He capitalizes on whatever our killer's motive is and convinces them to kill Korkie during the reunion lunch."

"Kill him or just get him out of the way so that Soniee would call us for help. The note she received blaming him of having an affair might have been the first try."

"Which would explain the extremely violent nature of Korkie's death. Remember what Dr. Kreps said about the soft tissue? It would have to be personal to leave damage like that." He nodded, satisfied with the conclusion. "Okay, so the killer goes rogue and turns what's supposed to be a simple assault into a murder. We still don't know how they got in or out."

"Picking the lock," Kallus suggested.

"No evidence of scraping or damage to the mechanism. Stealing Soniee's key?"

"How would they get it back into her pocket to unlock the door? And then there's the cork." Kallus stared at the evidence bag taped to the whiteboard. "Why was it under Korkie's desk? What function does a cork have without a bottle?"

"Well Sierra's getting the whole crew together so we can get this thing swept up in less than 23 hours. Let's put that aside and think about how the killer contacted Thrawn. If there was a deviation from the plan they would have to let Thrawn know, but none of the suspects' comm records show any calls for that day."

"Maybe they used a hardline like Pryce's from the medcenter?"

"There were no calls from the palace either." Lux looked at his brother-in-law and noticed his far-off gaze. "They could have contacted Thrawn via the purrgil express."

Kallus nodded. "Yes, let's work with that."

"Okay, what's eating you?" Lux demanded. "You haven't been yourself since talking with Det. Yularen."

Kallus snapped out of it. "I'm sorry."

"Do you want me to call Sierra?"

"No." Kallus shook his head harder than intended. "I don't need to bother her."

"Look, I know from experience that staring down the idea of parenthood is tough." Lux sat down beside him. "Are you and Sierra having problems?"

"It's not her. The past week has been a rollercoaster with Thrawn and the murder and now… karabast, we don't have time for this."

"What we don't have time for is you being off your game because of something going on in your head." Lux leaned closer. "Graf said something. Spill."

Kallus took a moment to compose himself. "When I was a young man Colonel Yularen was like a father to me. Graf reminded me of my extensive history betraying family members."

"Members?"

He hadn't heard Lux. "Sierra thinks the baby's a girl. It can't be a girl. I can't look into a little girl's face and constantly be reminded of -!"

Lux sat by his side as, for the first time, the whole sordid story came out.

…

"Alex you have to tell Sierra."

"What will she think of me? Of what I've done - stars, I've heard of marriages ending over things like this."

"Remember at your bachelor party when I told you how I admired Sierra's ability to believe in good? She's not leaving you Alex. She knows, kriff I know, that you're not the same person who did that. You help people now."

"And I suppose you want me to continue that by helping Soniee and Saw? Anything to take my mind off this."

...

For the first time since Rex and Steela's wedding, the Piece of Crap 2's common room was full to bursting. The entire crew plus their guests competed for seating with priority given to Sierra with her now obvious bump, and the two harried detectives.

"We have three hours before Det. Yularen leaves." Lux rubbed his head. "And nothing to show for the last twenty. Is there anything we haven't been over again?"

"Nothing new." Kallus groped for his mostly-empty mug and downed the dregs like a shot. "Gods what I would give for new evidence."

"We're still coming up empty on that front." Hutch said through a mouthful of cheese curls. "Even if Thrawn's guy went rogue, he's covering his tracks."

Ahsoka nodded. "Even at his worst Thrawn is the king of backup plans, but remember the killer isn't. I agree Thrawn didn't want Korkie dead, so that means once they got the chance they took advantage of an opportunity. They're most likely aggressive, impulsive, boiling rage -."

"Just open, you stupid thing!" Sierra bellowed.

The entire room jumped before all eyes went to the one person whose face Sierra might not rip off.

"What's the problem?" Kallus asked very carefully.

"The freezer won't open," Sierra swore and took a step back from the offending appliance. "We just got another pack of ice cream bars but we may as well be out completely if the door won't let me in."

"It might be frozen shut. Let me try." He pulled at the door and when it opened a few inches and then stopped, reached into the freezer and pushed some items around until the door gave way. "There. Looks like a box ..." He stopped in his tracks.

Sierra raised an eyebrow. "Alex?"

"I'm okay," he assured her and withdrew his arm. "I just — Hutch, pull up the crime scene holos again."

"Not sure what there is to see that we didn't see the last fifty times," Hutch grumbled.

"Hutch, just do it!" Sierra snapped.

Hutch wisely obeyed the angry pregnant woman and pulled up the holos.

Kallus leaned in and pointed to a spot on the very edge of the frame. "There. Right there. That's it. You've been devious, haven't you?"

"My gods," Lux stood up from the table to join him at the holoscreen. "How did we miss that?"

"What matters is that we have it now."

"But why. Why..." Lux dove into the pile of evidence spread across the table. "That's it!"

He and Kallus looked at each other like two kids on Life Day."

"Ahsoka, get everyone together," Lux said.

"Including Detective Yularen!" Kallus added.

"You actually want to be around Det. Yularen?" Sierra raised an eyebrow.

"I don't want to, but we're going to need him."

"What are you talking about?" Steela asked. "Do you know who killed Korkie?"

The look on her brother's and brother-in-law's faces was all she needed.

Who killed Korkie Kryze? All the clues you need can be found in the preceding chapters of this story. Go ahead and share your theories in the review box!