Chapter 7

"Sounds like Willem Abramson lives up to the 'eccentric, reclusive billionaire' stereotype," said Kostopoulos as she and Brown marched down the corridor.

Brown nodded, walking quickly to keep pace with his taller companion. "He's a strange one, that's for sure, but he seemed to be genuinely grieving for Bird, in his own way. That said, there was very little he could tell me that might help. Apparently, Bird was supposed to transmit her investment recommendations later today, so Abramson doesn't know who was in the lead any more than we do."

"Maybe the background checks or interviews with the other expo attendees will turn up something."

"We can but hope, Colonel," Brown said with a grunt. "Or maybe Mr. Sylor will have found answers in the victim's computer."

They reached the lab where the base's Chief Comm Officer was working. As an expert in language and communications equipment, Sylor was their best bet for cracking Bird's private computer.

"Progress, Lieutenant?" Brown asked the slender Vulcan, who was hunched over the impregnable device on a desk.

Sylor looked up at them with a raised eyebrow, quickly pressing a key on the computer. "Ms. Bird was indeed cautious, Commander. I have thus far failed to fully circumvent her computer's security encryption."

Although it was always difficult to tell with Vulcans, Sylor had seemed startled to see them, and was talking slightly quicker than normal. Brown, tired from an already-long day, dismissed his paranoid thinking. Sylor was likely just perturbed by the interruption.

"Not even a nugget of info?" Brown asked.

Sylor cocked his head. "I presume by 'nugget' you mean any measurable quanta of information?"

Brown just stared at him.

"Due to the self-erasure protocols," Sylor continued, "I have been reluctant to use more forceful decryption means."

Brown sighed. "Well, keep-"

The base-wide intercom whistled. "Lieutenant Commander Brown to Commodore North's office, please."

"What now?" he said into the air.

In the CO's office, Brown found Commodore North sat behind his desk, fingers steepled ominously, and Ambassador Mamao'lani, the base's official Earth representative, seated across from him, looking nervous.

He exchanged a nod with both men, and North bade him to sit beside Mamao'lani.

"The Ambassador has some… news regarding the murder case," said North. He gestured for Mamao'lani to speak.

The heavyset man was almost reluctant to start. "As you know, there are a lot of different species attending this exposition… That means a lot of different governments are involved… Some of these governments are not too happy about the base lockdown."

Brown, sensing where this was going, looked back and forth between the other two. "I… I explained why the lockdown was necessary. We can't let the killer get offworld."

"True," said Mamao'lani, nodding, "but neither can we essentially imprison hundreds of other innocent beings."

"They're hardly imprisoned!" Brown protested.

"They can't leave the planet," Mamao'lani said, more calmly. "Today was supposed to be the last day of the expo; many of them have plans - lives - elsewhere to attend to. There's numerous ships in orbit, including a Tellarite patrol craft that only docked for repairs. They need to get back to their duties, and you know how impatient Tellarites can be."

"It's a political quagmire," North interjected, his expression grave. "Finding and apprehending Ms. Bird's murderer is of paramount importance, yes, but there are other factors to take into consideration. Earth cannot risk its reputation by angering other races, nor by endangering this experimental precursor to the United Federation of Planets."

"And how will it look for our reputation if we let a killer loose into the galaxy?" Brown said, angered by this incomprehensible thinking. Surely such petty politics could take a back seat?

"Careful, Commander," North cautioned sternly.

Mamao'lani jumped in, trying to soothe tensions. "We have managed to reach a compromise with the governments involved."

Brown frowned. "What sort of compromise?"

"You have two days to solve the case," North said. "After that, the lockdown will be lifted. You may, of course, continue your investigation after that, but-"

"Two days!?" Brown repeated, indignant.

North sighed. "Two days from this morning. So, you have less than a day and a half left now."

Brown stood, propelled by his outrage, but didn't know what more to do.

He swallowed his emotions and stormed towards the door.

"You have not been dismissed, Commander," North said in a loud but level voice.

Brown turned back to face his superior officer, holding back his fury. "Forgive me, Commodore, but there's a murder to solve, and I find myself suddenly burdened with a deadline."

The rest of the afternoon had been taken up with interviews of some of the other expo attendees, none of which had yielded any relevant revelations. Brown's mind had also been clouded by the time limit now imposed on him, and he had rather sharply ordered his staff to chase up the background checks they were still waiting on.

Now early evening, his head was thumping. Kostopoulos had strongly advised him to take a short break to de-stress, and he had taken that advice. He was no good in his current state.

Although he felt like a drink, he needed to stay clear-headed as this investigation was likely to draw on into the night, so he found himself in Sal's Diner imbibing hot tea instead.

"This is my first big case here, Sal," he told the diner's Draylaxian owner, sliding her his empty cup across the countertop for a refill. "I can't let it get away from me." He hung his head, heavy with memories.

Sal topped up his tea from a dispenser and returned it to him, her bright eyes examining him carefully. "Sounds like this is personal for you."

She was always prescient, and a good sounding board.

Brown stared into his pale tea and took a sip despite its temperature, burning his mouth slightly. It perked him up, at least.

He sighed. "It's a long story…"

Sal shrugged, leaning on the counter. "I'm not going anywhere."

He hesitated a moment, but Sal had a way of loosening lips. "Just after Mars got its independence, there was a series of murders in the colonies. Eight women were brutally slaughtered over several weeks. The killer was never found."

"That's terrible," said Sal. "But… it was, what, fifty-five years ago? How's that personal for you?"

"My mother investigated the killings," Brown said plainly. He shook his head. "It ate away at her. Even after I was born, she'd sometimes look out the old casefiles when she thought no one was watching and get herself worked up over it. There were all kinds of conspiracy theories, of course: That is was a covert Earth operation to make Mars look bad, or some corporate ex-militiaman out for revenge… But it was never solved, and I think that scarred my mum more than the savagery of the murders themselves.

"When I got into police work, I told myself I would never let a case haunt me like that. That I'd always get my perp. Then came Heliopolis…"

He took another sip of his cooling tea.

"What's Heliopolis?" Sal asked.

"It was a Human colony on Alpha Eridani Two. Just over four years ago, they had their own serial killer. Ten victims this time, but all women and all knifed to death, exactly like on Mars fifty years before. I heard about it on the newsfeeds and instantly recognised the similarities, so I begged Starfleet to assign me to the investigation."

Sal leaned forward, enthralled. "What happened?"

"I knew it probably wasn't the same person after so long, probably just some sick copycat, but I did entertain the notion that it might be a protégé of the Mars killer. Either way, I felt like I owed it to my mother - long passed away by this stage - to solve a case just like hers."

He let out a long sigh. "I was in Heliopolis for less than a week when the Romulans invaded."

Sal closed her eyes in sympathy.

"We had to abandon the system to them," Brown continued. "I hadn't gotten anywhere with the investigation - it was like chasing a ghost. After the war, we allowed the Romulans to keep Alpha Eridani, so I can't even go back and chase cold leads."

"I'm so sorry," said Sal, looking him in the eyes again. "I know first-hand how that war screwed up so many things."

Brown tensed up, looking intently at Sal. "That time, the killer got offworld and went to Phobos-knows-where in the galaxy. I can't let that happen again. I have to solve this before another murderer gets away scot-free."

Sal fixed him with an intense, penetrating gaze of her own. "Do you want to catch the killer, or do you want to solve the case?"

Brown blinked, confused. "It's the same thing."

"Are you sure, Chief? It's one thing to be passionate about your work, another to be obsessive about it. Are you doing all this for the victim or for yourself?"

Brown opened his mouth to angrily protest, but he could not find a defence. Was he being driven by his and his mother's past failures?

His communicator chirped, interrupting any further thought.

He removed the device from a pocket on his uniform jumpsuit and flipped the antennae grid open.

"Brown here."

"Commander, it's Kostopoulos. The background checks have turned up something interesting. Something that incriminates one of the suspects."

Good news at last, thought Brown.