A/N: Well this is a refreshing change. For the first time in a while, it only took a month since my last update to post a new chapter. Hopefully the updates will keep at this pace so that I'll meet my goal of finishing this story by N7 Day. Without further adieu, let's return to the continuing story of Mass Effect: 187.

Garrus was looking at the murder board but his mind was elsewhere. He had arrived at C-SEC early to review the case. His hope was he might figure out something important and be able to share it when Shepard arrived. If he did, then maybe it would make Shepard briefly forget to be mad at him and Tali. Sadly no matter how much he looked over the board, his mind kept wandering back to thinking about what Shepard would do to him when he arrived.

The sound of a chair being dragged across the floor made Garrus turn around to see that Shepard was sitting down at his desk. There was no way that Shepard couldn't have seen Garrus standing by the murder board when he arrived. So the good news was that Shepard didn't just come in shouting at Garrus right off the bat. The bad news was Garrus couldn't tell if Shepard being silent was necessarily better. Deciding it was best not to delay the inevitable, Garrus sat at his desk and was now face to face with Shepard.

"Hey partner," he said.

Shepard looked up at Garrus with a neutral expression, "hey Garrus, anything on the board jumping out at you?"

"Uh…no. Nothing right now. Hopefully we'll learn something at the meeting to help us fit some of the pieces together. Look Shepard, Tali said she told Ashley about what happened at the docking bay. How mad was Ashley when you got home last night?"

"Well," Shepard replied with an exhausted sigh, "she was mad enough that I almost ended up sleeping on the couch."

"Spirits. I'm sorry Shepard. I may not know a lot about human marriages but I know that a husband being forced to sleep on the couch is not a good thing."

"It's fine, Garrus. The keyword was 'almost'. I begged her not to make me sleep on the couch but I think it was her realizing what it would mean if she did that made her change her mind. It's too early to say if the discussion from last night is over. For now, I'm just happy that we're at least getting along and that I got a 'have a good day' kiss from her when I left for work today."

Garrus started to feel a sense of relief, "well I guess that's all we can ask for right now. If it helps, I talked to Tali and she's agreed to be more considerate when she talks to Ashley about our cases. Meaning she won't talk about anything that might worry her."

"I appreciate that. But enough about my drama at home. We have a meeting to get to before we head to the Citadome."

Garrus nodded his approval to the idea and he and Shepard made their way up to Bailey's office. Inside waiting for them was Bailey and Belon. Baily was seated behind his desk and Belon was standing next to him. The purpose of the meeting between the four men was to update each other on the investigation. The main items on the agenda were to hear the results of Belon's detailed examination of the body and Bailey going over the reports from the crime scene techs. Shepard and Garrus took seats in the chairs opposite Bailey's desk.

"Before we start," Bailey said once everyone was settled, "Vakarian, I thought you'd like to know we got a complaint from the news station whose skycar you shot down last night. Not only are they demanding compensation for the damages but they want to sue you for reckless endangerment."

"Sir please tell me you're kidding," replied Garrus.

"Do I look like I'm kidding Vakarian?" Bailey said with a serious look.

Garrus was about ready to stand and protest when Shepard held him down and spoke first, "sir that crew in the skycar were the ones guilty of reckless endangerment. They spooked Talitha and almost got me killed. Besides, they weren't in any danger because Garrus ensured that the damage was not enough to make them crash."

Bailey held up his hand in a reassuring gesture, "relax, both of you. Now it's not exactly procedure to shoot down news skycars…but you both know how I feel about procedures and formalities.

A sly smile appeared on Bailey's face when he finished his last statement. Similar smiles appeared on Shepard and Garrus' because they knew what Bailey was talking about. Back when Shepard met Bailey for the first time, he needed help getting his ID restored since he was still considered deceased following the original Normandy's destruction. Normally the process would have required stops at different bureaus and a lot of paperwork. But because he trusted the accuracy of the scanner's identification of Shepard, Bailey bypassed everything by reactivating Shepard's ID himself. When Shepard commented on how Bailey didn't seem to be one for following formalities, Bailey's response was that he was for them until they kept people from doing their jobs.

Bailey continued, "your job was to calm a tense situation and that skycar was preventing you from doing it. There was no way politely asking it to clear the area was going to work so you did what you had to. The way I see it, you two did an impressive job resolving that situation. I said as much when the executor asked for my input on the matter and he agrees with me. He said we're not going to give those people a single credit. They can fight it all they want but when we make the points that you just made Shepard, I'm confident a judge will rule in our favor."

"That's great to hear," said Garrus, "I appreciate you and the executor backing me up."

"We always look out for our own Vakarian. Now let's get down to business. I have the report from the crime scene techs. They're still working on trying to access Shara's terminal but it's taking a longer than they expected. Apparently its got some pretty heavy security program installed on it."

"Really?" Asked Garrus. "What does she have on that terminal that would warrant that much protection?"

"We'll just have to wait for the techs to crack it to find out. They did however have something interesting to report from their analysis of the crime scene. They swept the entire place but they didn't find anything."

"How is that possible?" Shepard asked. "We know there was a struggle when Shara was killed. The odds of the killer not leaving behind something during that is almost impossible."

"Listen carefully to what I said detectives, they swept the entire crime scene but they didn't find ANYTHING."

Garrus straightened up in his chair, "you mean there were no traces of any DNA, not even Shara's?"

"Exactly. Whoever killed Shara did not want us finding anything that could tie them to the scene. They gave that living room a thorough cleaning."

"Well I guess they had plenty of time to do it," said Shepard. "they killed Shara without alerting anyone and Shara's body wasn't discovered for several hours. Plus we know that this murder was premeditated so maybe the killer had a plan to clean up after themself from the beginning."

"Could be," Garrus replied, "what worries me though is how throughly the scene was cleaned. Most of the time when a murderer cleans a scene that good, they're usually a professional. Which means this could have been a hired hit."

Shepard shook his head, "I don't think so. Hitmen don't usually have personal connections to their targets. Otherwise their emotions get in the way and they're more likely to make mistakes. We know that Shara knew her killer because she let them inside and the overkill suggests the killer was full of rage against her. There's just too much emotion behind this for it to be the work of a cold and calculated hitman."

Bailey nodded, "I think Shepard's right. Unfortunately the fact that the killer was calculated enough to ensure nothing was left behind is still going to make it difficult for us to identify them."

Garrus looked towards Belon, "Doc, please tell us that you found something that will help with that."

"Maybe," Belon replied, "autopsy confirmed theory from crime scene. Victim dead after knife pierced heart. Fatal wound was among first inflicted. As for helping identify killer, made two observations might provide helpful. Examined knife wounds closely. Angle suggests killer was right handed. Also found faint impression of hand on victims mouth."

Shepard and Garrus attentively leaned forward in their chairs. There were millions of people on the Citadel of many races. But they didn't need to investigate all of them, just the ones that were connected to Shara. The handprint Belon found had the potential to cut a large portion of their suspect pool based of one key feature: the number of fingers it had. If it had three, there would still be a semi-large pool due to the number of races that had three fingers. If it had five, then they were golden as only three races had five fingers. Humans, batarians and asari. They held their breath as they waited for Belon to continue.

"Unfortunately impression was just palm. No fingers."

The air left Shepard and Garrus causing their shoulders and heads to drop. So much for having a way to narrow down their suspect pool.

"Handprint can still help," Belon said in an attempt to boost their spirits, "size of palm rules out several species. Too small for elcor. Though considering fact killer was on top of victim while stabbing her, already figured that. Victim would have been crushed if one had been on top of her. Can prove it because victim had no crushed bones or organs. Palm too big for volus. Also couldn't be hanar. Only have tentacles. Then again, highly difficult for either to be able to pin victim to ground anyway. Still, does narrow down list for you."

Shepard and Garrus sighed. They hadn't encountered either of the the species Belon mentioned during their investigation so the info wasn't narrowing their suspect list at all. Still it was helpful information for their case and a good investigator doesn't turn down any information that helps their case. It was now up to them to work with the info Bailey and Belon gave them and keep investigating until they uncover the killer.

"Alright," said Garrus, "thanks for the info Doc. Shepard and I have a meeting at the Citadome. Anything else before we go, Commander?"

Bailey shook his head, "not at this time. Just be safe out there. From what the techs found, this killer is pretty smart. Add the fact that they're extremely violent when they're angry, confronting them may be dangerous."

Shepard and Garrus nodded to indicate they understood and started to walk out of Bailey's office.

The Citadome parking lot was busier than it was the previous day. According to Garrus, it was a game day. All the additional vehicles were likely employees arriving early to get the stadium ready to receive guests. Whatever Shepard and Garrus planned to do at the stadium, they would need to get it done before the guests arrived. If they found themselves needing to chase and/or shoot a suspect, it would be better if there were no civilians potentially getting into the crossfire.

After being let through the gate by the same guard who let them in the previous time, they pulled into the first available parking spot they found that was close to the entrance. Standing on the other side of the door to greet them was Vala. Shepard and Garrus were relieved to see that Maul was not with her. They doubted that having an appointment this time would make him treat them any better. Vala greeted them when they entered the stadium and asked for them to follow her to the conference room.

On the way to the conference room, Shepard and Garrus saw the stadium slowly coming alive. Shopkeepers were getting their concessions/souvenir stands ready for customers. The housekeeping staff were putting some final touches cleaning up the place. Finally they saw some security personnel inspecting the cameras making sure they were operational. Everything you would expect to see at a stadium prepping for a game day. They were just about to enter a stairwell when Garrus notched something that made him stop. Shepard turned to see why Garrus stopped and noticed that he looked almost…starstruck. He looked in the direction that Garrus was facing and it was then he saw what got Garrus' attention.

Though he was not an avid biotiball watcher, Shepard had seen enough games featuring the Peacekeeper's to recognize the well dressed salarian walking towards them. It was Kaban Jeel, the Peacekeepers' star player and team captain. Garrus on the other hand was like a fan trying hard to contain his excitement while meeting his favorite celebrity. Shepard silently hoped Vala would say something to distract Kaban before he noticed Garrus' starstruck expression. Though it ended up being Kaban who spoke first.

"Vala," he said, "is Lyle up in his office?"

"Yes," Vala replied, "but you'll have to wait a bit before you can see him. I was just taking these detectives up there to speak with him. Detectives, this is Kaban Jeel, team captain of the Peacekeepers."

Kaban's eyes widened in surprise, "detectives? Is this about what happened to Shara?"

The familiarity in Kaban's use of Shara's name piqued Shepard's curiosity and brought Garrus out of his starstruck trance. While it was possible for someone from the biotiball team to work with the promotions team, it seemed unlikely they would interact often enough to be on a first name basis. Depending on how well Kaban knew Shara, he could potentially offer more insight. Though with how much luck Shepard and Garrus had talking to the people who knew Shara best, the chances of learning something new from Kaban seemed slim. Still they felt it was worth a try.

"It is Mr. Jeel," Garrus replied, "I'm Detective Vakarian and this is my partner, Detective Shepard. We're investigating Shara's murder. I take it you knew her?"

Kaban was about to reply when Vala stepped in front of him, "Detective, we need to get to the conference room," Vala interrupted, "Mr. Wilkinson is a busy man and we can't keep him waiting."

Garrus was surprised by the sudden interruption from Vala but quickly recovered so that it went unnoticed by everyone, "okay Ms. Isali. You and I can head upstairs while Detective Shepard stays down here and talks to Mr. Jeel. He can join us when he's done."

"Mr. Jeel and Ms. Shara'Vael rarely interacted with each other. You two would just be wasting your time asking him about her."

Once again Vala was making Shepard and Garrus have to work hard to keep their composure. It was bad enough that yesterday Vala was asking for them to update her on their investigation but now she appeared to be trying to tell them how to run their investigation. This was a situation Garrus in particular was used to since the main reason he originally quit C-SEC was because he was getting tired of having superiors looking over his shoulder and not letting him run investigations his way. Though his time with Shepard did help him see those moments differently, his blood would boil whenever non C-SEC personnel would try to tell him what to do. He looked to Shepard and gave him a silent signal to takeover since he knew Shepard would be able to handle the situation in a calmer manner. Shepard nodded he understood and stepped forward.

"With all due respect Ms. Isali," he said, "us talking with Mr. Jeel and finding out it was a waste of time is better than not talking to him and potentially missing some important information. Now you said that Mr. Wilkinson is waiting so you and Detective Vakarian better get upstairs. I'll be up shortly."

Vala didn't move from her spot, "Detective, as the Peacekeeper's advocate, I can't allow you to question whoever…"

"Enough," Kaban said, "it's okay, Vala. If the detectives think I can help, I'm happy to do what I can. I owe Shara that much."

Vala looked at back and forth between Kaban and the detectives. It was as if she was trying to decide who she should be angry at. She tried to dissuade Kaban from talking to Shepard and Garrus without her present but Kaban waved her off. After letting a frustrated sigh, Vala led Garrus to the stairwell. Once they were gone, Shepard led Kaban to some nearby seats.

"I appreciate the cooperation Mr. Jeel," he said as they sat down, "sorry that Ms. Isali is mad at you though."

Kaban chuckled, "It's no problem, Detective. I get that her job is to keep everyone in the organization out of trouble. But the way I see it, one of our own was killed and we should do what we can to help you guys find the killer."

"Thank you. So tell me, how well did you know Ms. Shara'Vael?"

"Well as Vala said, we didn't interact much here at work. The only time we'd meet was when she wanted to discuss some promotions she wanted me to be a part of. She really had a knack for coming up with great ideas to promote support for the team. With the luck the team's been having lately, we needed whatever support we can get. So I was happy to participate in whatever promotions Shara needed me for."

As Kaban spoke, Shepard watched and listened closely for any possible indications that he was lying. For the most part, none of the tell tale signs were there. But even though there was nothing to indicate Kaban was lying, Shepard felt like he wasn't telling him everything. Sure Kaban was probably grateful for all the support for the team Shara got but that was her job. It wasn't really something that would make Kaban feel like he owed it to Shara to help Shepard investigate her murder. There had to be more to it than that.

"Mr. Jeel, let me rephrase the question. Were you and Ms. Shara'Vael more than just coworkers?"

The question surprised Kaban, "what do you mean?"

Shepard continued, "I ask because you refer to her by her first name. That indicates to me you were familiar with each other enough that you could speak informally about her. You don't get that familiar with someone from a few random meetings to discuss promotions."

"Of course. Sorry, Detective. The truth is that Shara and I started with the Peacekeepers around the same time. Back then, I was a rookie player for the team. We ran into each other once in awhile and we bonded over the fact were both the new people in this large, long-running organization. After she became head of promotions, I was the first player she came to when she need one of us for her first campaign. It was a big hit and that campaign helped me get noticed by the higher ups in the organization. Between my talent and the popularity I gained from Shara's campaign, it wasn't long before I was made captain. I guess in way, Shara is the reason I'm where I am at today."

Shepard nodded, "so that's what you meant about owing her."

Kaban nodded back.

"Mr. Jeel, did you notice anything different in Shara's behavior the last couple of weeks?"

"You know," Kaban replied, "now that you mention it, lately she had been seeming preoccupied. I was supposed to be part of promotion that she and the team were putting together with Starfire but it fell through."

"Yeah we heard about that. We also know that it fell through because Shara missed the meeting that would have closed the deal. Did you ever talk to her about why she missed it?"

Though Shepard already knew the broad reason why Shara missed the meeting, it was still worth asking Kaban about it. Maybe the somewhat closer connection he had with Shara would have made her trust him with the specifics. Then again, Shara had been extremely secretive to her boyfriend and best friend. Still, Shepard knew it was best to check every possibility.

Kaban shrugged, "I tried. A few days after the deal fell through, I ran into her and asked what had happened. She wouldn't answer me. But it wasn't her reluctance to answer my question that bothered me. If it wasn't my business to know why she missed the meeting, then I would have respected her privacy. What bothered me was that she became anxious when I asked her. Almost paranoid, really. Like we were talking about something sensitive and that she was afraid that someone might be listening to our conversation."

With everything Shepard had learned so far about the case, Shara had every reason to be paranoid. Even he was starting to feel a little nervous himself. And that was not something that happened often. Kaban was asking Shara a simple question that she could have given a simple response with out going into details. Instead she was scared to the point she was afraid to even talk to anybody about anything to ensure she didn't slip up in case someone was listening. It also told Shepard that Shara was aware from the beginning that the secret she learned would get her killed if the wrong people found out she knew it. There was no other reason for her to be so scared of a secret.

Not wanting Kaban to pick up on what he was thinking about, Shepard thanked him for answering his questions and said he would contact him if he had anymore questions later. He then headed for the stairwell. His talk with Kaban didn't go too long so he felt he shouldn't have missed much from the meeting with Wilkinson. He found the conference room and carefully peaked through a window. If Wilkinson was answering a question, it was best for Shepard to wait until he was done talking before entering. Inside he could see Garrus sitting on one side of a long table that almost took up the whole room. Vala and the man Shepard recognized as Wilkinson were sitting on the opposite side of the table. To Shepard's surprise however, nobody seemed to be talking. He waited a second longer to be sure no one was about to speak, but no one did. Something wasn't right. With no other choice, Shepard opened the door and entered the conference room. He then found himself the focus of glares from Wilkinson and Vala. Looking to Garrus for an explanation, Garrus only shrugged as if he was just as confused by what was happening.

"I told them that we could start without you," he said, "but they insisted on waiting."

"What did Mr. Jeel say?" Vala asked.

"I…I'm sorry?" Shepard replied.

"Before we proceed, you need to tell us what Mr. Jeel told you."

As much as Shepard was wanting to give Vala an earful for her continued interference in his and Garrus' investigation, he restrained himself from doing so. She would have deserved it if everything she was doing was her choice. But it could easily be that she was following Wilkinson's instructions. Meaning he should be the receiver of Shepard's anger. Unless Shepard knew who he should be angry with, he had to keep himself restrained or else he'd risk upsetting the wrong person and he didn't want that. Instead he placed his hands on the table and looked at both Vala and Wilkinson.

"Ms. Isali," he said with a soft but tense tone, "I think my partner and I need to clear something up right now. We don't need to tell you two anything. We are asking the questions here. You said that we were going to have the organization's complete support but so far all the organization seems to be doing is trying to tell us how to conduct our investigation. A woman was murdered and we are trying to bring her killer to justice. So you both are going to stop telling us what to do and start answering our questions right now."

Vala was ready to unleash an angry comeback but was stopped by Wilkinson holding up his hand, "the detective is right Vala. They have a job to do and we should be helping them instead of hindering them. My apologies Detectives. What is it that you want to know?"

Garrus took the lead while Shepard sat down next to him, "as we said yesterday, we believe Ms. Shara'Vael may have been killed because of something related to her job. We're trying to figure out what that was."

Wilkinson thought quietly for a second before shaking his head, "I can't say I know what that would be either. She did phenomenal work for us. Everyone loved her ideas. If it wasn't for her promotions, we probably wouldn't have as many fans in the stands as we've been having. And as far as I know, I haven't heard anything from our human resources department to indicate that she was having a problem with anyone in the organization."

"Honestly Detectives," Vala said, "the failed Starfire promotion is the only work related thing that might have lead to her death but you've already ruled that out. Maybe her personal life might…"

"Mr. Wilkinson," Shepard interrupted, "we do know that before she died, Shara learned something troubling about the Peacekeepers."

Vala sat up straight, "what? What did she learn?"

"At the moment, we don't know. We don't even know if it involves the entire organization or certain people. Our working theory though is that whatever it was, someone killed Ms. Shara'Vael to keep her quiet. Now Mr. Wilkinson, I want to reiterate to you what we told Ms. Isali yesterday. My partner and I are not here to cause scandal or controversy for your organization. As long as the secret doesn't involve anything illegal, it doesn't matter to us what it was. So we're going to ask you this only once, Mr. Wilkinson? Do you have any idea what the secret could be?"

"Lyle you don't have to answer that," Vala said.

"Vala please," Wilkinson said, "it's alright. Detectives, you promise that what I'm about to say will never become public."

"Like my partner said," Garrus replied, "as long as it doesn't concern anything illegal, you have our word that the secret won't go beyond the two of us."

Wilkinson stood up from his chair and turned to face the wall, "very well. The truth is that there was another promotion of Shara's that failed. She had this idea for us to have clowns walking around the stadium doing magic tricks and making ballon animals for the kids. It was just another way for us to encourage the family-friendly environment we want the Citadome to be. For several weeks, it looked like Shara had another success. But then, the reports started coming in."

"What reports?" Shepard asked.

"It's…"Wilkinson struggled to say, "it's too awful for me to say out loud. Suffice it to say, that one of the clowns was getting kids alone with him…and…and…."

A/N: I'm guessing a lot of you out there have a good idea what Wilkinson is trying to say. Believe me, I wish the story didn't need to go in this direction but, similar to the scene with Talitha, it will have an impact on a sub-plot. Rest assured though, this plot line will be over by the end of the next chapter and there will be no explicit details. Both because I don't want to have to change this story's rating from "T" to "M" and because I would never allow my mind to come up with those kind of details. But I would feel irresponsible if I didn't apologize in advance to those of you who will find this kind of content disturbing. My apologies.

Hope to see you all here next month for the continuing story of Mass Effect: 187. theaterman007 out.