Chapter 5

"Of course you can stay with me," said Ernest. "Just make yourself at home. I'll try to be as sympathetic as I can."

"Thanks," said Ashton. "What a nightmare this all is!"

"You said it," said Ernest. "Though, some good could come out of it all. I mean, if you're single again, then you could make an attempt to charm Opera and get her to stop chasing me."

"I have no interest in Opera," said Ashton. "I only love Precis."

"Too bad. She's actually close to your age, and I can't imagine her ever getting angry at someone she loves. Heck, I ran halfway across the universe just to get away from her, and that just made her obsess over me even more!"

"It's not that I can't see how much trouble girls cause," said Ashton. "It's that I really love Precis, even though she gets like this sometimes. Though, it's never been this bad before."

"Just try to relax. Oh, and know that I'm not the killer. Don't let that worry you too much."

"I won't. Though I'm worried about Precis."

Ernest dug through his room's minibar for a packet of tea and began to brew drinks for himself and his guest. When they were ready, he added a shot of alcohol to each and reclined in one of the room's stuffed chairs. Ashton took the other, and the two attempted to relax before going to sleep.

Ernest piped up, "You know, your being here could be good for me, too."

"Really? How?"

"I don't know how many people around here know about this, but sometimes, while our party is staying at an inn, Opera will sneak out of her room at night and climb in bed with me. Now, don't be thinking anything dirty! I don't even notice, and all she does is hold me until she falls asleep herself. But still, it's annoying to me, and I don't think it's appropriate. Maybe with one more person around, she might not be brave enough to bother me at night."

"Can't you just kick her out yourself?"

"I told you, I don't even see her. She waits until I'm asleep."

"I see."

"In any case, you help me, and I'll help you. Starting tomorrow, maybe we can try to patch things up with Precis. Sound good?"

"Thanks, Ernest."

"No problem. I'm going to turn in now, though. Good night."

Ernest set his drink down on the nightstand. Ashton finished his, curled up in his chair, and waited for the world to fade away.

XXX

The next morning, Ernest tripped as he walked from his bed to the bathroom for his morning shave. He tumbled forward and bumped his nose against the carpeting.

"Yeeeawch! What the…?"

The noise jolted Ashton awake, and he glanced over at where Ernest lay crumpled on the floor, tangled up with what looked like another figure. Upon closer inspection, the other figure turned out to be a woman, in her early 20's, wearing large curlers and a high cut nightgown. And she had three eyes. Ashton laughed.

"Looks like you had a lady caller in the night," said Ashton. "Boy, she sure likes you a lot."

"It would appear so," said Ernest. "Though her outfit confuses me. The nightgown tells me she was trying to look alluring, and the curlers tell me she didn't care how she looked."

"Maybe she knew you weren't going to see her, so she tried to feel alluring while keeping her hair nice and wavy for tomorrow. Or maybe she was just drunk again."

"Good eye, Ashton," said Ernest, looking at the floor. "Notice how my teacup is lying next to her hand, spilled all over the floor."

"Does she ever quit?"

"It would appear not. Maybe I should have a talk with her about her drinking when she wakes up."

Ashton found himself feeling slightly better for the comic relief provided by Opera's midnight escapade, and for a minute or two, he actually forgot all about Precis. While looking in a mirror on the wall, he even began to think he looked a little better than he had the previous night. He was just beginning to think he could face the day and head down to breakfast when Ernest tapped him on the shoulder.

"Uh, Ashton, did you happen to notice that Opera wasn't breathing?"

XXX

"Looks like poison to me," said Bowman after only a few minutes of examining the corpse. "I don't think it was the same kind that killed Leon, but I can't be completely sure of that until I have a little more time to investigate. You found anything, Chisato?"

"Nothing much so far," said Chisato. "Not even one of those star rubies with the Silence crest. And that's what troubles me. If the killer got in here last night, how did he remain undetected?"

"I can sleep through just about anything," said Ernest. "Apparently, so can Ashton."

"Must be so," said Ashton. "Whoever is behind all this managed to get past me a couple of times without waking me up, so I'm not surprised he did it again."

"I can live with that," said Chisato.

"Who's to say he didn't just accidentally leave those crests behind during the first two murders, anyway?" wondered Ashton. "Maybe he's been carrying them off with him."

Chisato slapped her forehead. "All this time, and I didn't think of that?"

"You've been under a lot of pressure," said Ashton, "so I don't blame you. None of the rest of us figured it out, either, did we?"

"You're right," said Chisato. "That leaves us with a way for the killer to sneak in to do the job. But why Opera? And how did he know Opera would be in here? Come to think of it, what was Opera doing in here last night? Dressed like that?"

"It's not what it looks like!" said Ernest, face turning pink. "You know how obsessive she is, don't you? She sometimes sneaks into my room at night."

"So it's exactly what it looks like," said Chisato.

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean, she does sneak in, but nothing happens. She just sneaks into bed with me."

Chisato snorted. "You're not helping your cause any, Ernest."

"No, not that way! She just lies there and snuggles up to me, and then when I wake up, she's right there! I told her to stop, but she kept doing it anyway."

"And you killed her to make her stop!" Chisato's eyes flared up for a split second, but then she reeled her head back in embarrassment, apologizing profusely. "Sorry. I don't really know what came over me. There's no reason to suspect you in particular, and you hardly had any connection to the other people who turned up dead."

"Besides," said Ashton, "that poison might not have been meant for Opera. Ernest and I had a drink last night before dinner, and that cup on the floor was his! I'll bet the killer saw that it wasn't empty and tried to do Ernest in, and then Opera sneaked in finished it off for him. She wasn't the target."

"Good thinking," said Chisato. "That accounts for Opera being the victim even though no one knew she was around. I wish I more to go on for this one, though. I don't see anything else useful in here. You remembered to lock your door last night, didn't you, Ernest?"

"What? I mean, I should have. I did, yes. I remember locking it."

"Then how…?"

"Oh, but then I let Ashton in. I can't be sure I locked it behind him when he came in. Actually, I must not have, since I don't think I gave Opera a key this time."

"You don't like her sneaking into your room, yet you give her your room key?"

"She's an archaeology student, and she needs access to my extensive notes. Nothing more."

"Right." Chisato narrowed her eyes. "That makes perfect sense."

XXX

Chisato and Bowman sat in the lounge, sipping tea and discussing the state of the investigation. Chisato looked troubled.

"Did no one listen to me when I said we should all be rooming with other people?" she asked. "I distinctly remember saying that, and yet when Ashton came to see Ernest, he found him alone. I don't suppose he was counting Opera as his roommate. She and Celine were supposed to be with me."

"I don't actually know the rooming situation," said Bowman. "I've been by myself since Dias died."

"I think you should move in with Ashton and Ernest," said Chisato. "Actually, I think Ashton should be staying with Precis, and you and Bowman should share a room. It's safer that way."

"Precis isn't speaking to Ashton anymore, remember? That's why he came to stay with me."

"Oh, right. I really am starting to lose it, aren't I? I normally wouldn't forget something like that."

"We're all under a lot of pressure right now. Even I'm not up to my usual standards of excellence. I've had so much to do that I've been tiring out and slipping a little. It took me twice as long as usual to figure out what kind of poison was in Opera's drink."

"Oh, you found out? Why didn't you tell me?"

"It wasn't all that useful. It's not much of a clue."

"Anything can become a useful clue. We need to find everything that could possibly be useful so we can narrow them down to the clues that actually are useful. Tell me the poison."

"Iocaine powder."

"Iocaine powder? I've never heard of it before."

"It's rare and deadly. Only a pinch of it will kill you, and it's colorless and odorless. Plus, it dissolves in water. It's the perfect weapon for an assassin who wants to be discreet."

"Drat. Though if it's that hard to come by, we can narrow any list of suspects down to only those who would have access to it."

"Unfortunately, I think it's only rare on other planets. I've seen it at the university co-op here. Our killer could have bought it just down the street."

"Would the clerk have a record of customers, then?"

"Not the customers who pay cash, and that's just about everybody. I doubt an assassin would be stupid enough to cover business expenses with a personal check. At least, not an assassin as smart as the one we seem to be dealing with."

Chisato buried her face in her hands. "This is all so frustrating. This latest killing doesn't even look like it was the work of Precis's Bobot. That just makes it even more confusing."

"Have you checked it out?"

"No, Precis has barricaded herself in her room. She won't even speak unless she's sure Ashton is not at the door, and when she does talk, she doesn't say much. She absolutely refuses to open the door for anyone."

"Then how can we check to make sure Bobot is turned off?"

"We can't. I don't think it is, either. Precis seems to be relying on her machine for security, with Ashton gone. That's one more reason I'd like to see those two make up. Then we can destroy Bobot and see if the killing stop."

"But if the door was locked, how could Bobot have gotten out?"

"It could have stolen Precis's key or ever Ashton's key. In a pinch, it might even have gone out the window. I don't know how advanced it is, so I'm not sure if it's capable of that sort of thing. I just know I don't trust it one bit."

"Until we have proof, we don't want to be destroying Precis's life's work, do we?"

"People are dying, Bowman!" Chisato's teeth clenched. "Dying! And one of us could be next."

"But suppose Precis is right and the killer really is someone else. Then we take Bobot apart, and the killer gets to her and kills her."

"The killer has been in her room several times and hasn't done her in yet. It's almost as if he likes her."

"I don't see a proper motive for any of these crimes. I couldn't even blame Ernest, since it looks to me like he wasn't as against Opera's midnight visits as he wanted to appear."

Chisato yawned. "This is wearing me out. I'm going to need a vacation after this is all over."

"Anyway," continued Ernest, "I'm not ready to blame Bobot for anything as long as Precis insists it couldn't be the culprit. She knows her machines better than anyone here, and she's right when she says a machine can't do something it's not programmed to do. I don't think she would have programmed Bobot for murder."

"No, I guess not."

"And I would know as well as anyone, other than maybe Leon, how attached people can get to their research. It just wouldn't be fair to destroy Bobot without proof that it's killing people."

"But what if it kills me next?"

"You sure know how to ask an unfair question, don't you?"

"Sorry, I'm… I'm going to go now."

And with that, Chisato went back to her room. Bowman could just barely hear her sobbing.

XXX

"Precis, open up!" said Ashton. "Why are you being like this? Why won't you let me apologize?"

No sound issued from Precis's room. The silence felt to Ashton like a knife in his gut.

"Seriously, Precis, what's wrong? I want to help you out!"

Still, nothing.

"Precis, what are you doing in there? How do I know you're safe?"

Ernest laid a comforting hand on Ashton's shoulder. "She told Celine earlier that she was okay. She's in there working with Bobot, trying to feel safe."

"Why won't she let me make her feel safe?"

"You'll just have to give her some more time."

"And does she even care about whether or not I feel safe? Does she even think of that angle? Huh, Precis," Ashton shouted at the door, "Do you? Do you even care about me at all anymore?"

No answer came.