"B'Elanna, Tuvok wrote this list, not me." Chakotay tried to explain to her.

"He actually thinks that I would try to murder Tom?" said B'Elanna.

"Between you and me, I don't think you would." said the Commander. "You are just on the list because you had opportunity."

"But I didn't have a motive!" B'Elanna yelled.

Chakotay shrugged and said "It's best not to question Tuvok."

B'Elanna was disgusted by his last comment. But she just uttered "Whatever you say, sir." She gave back the PADD, and then she turned around and stormed back to main engineering.

…

The next day at about 1200 hours, Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok were in the ready room, trying to further narrow down the list. But their research only brought them so far. After a short time, Tuvok found some rather peculiar information that directly connected the offender with the poisonous compound used in Tom Paris' green tea.

"Captain, here is something that strikes me as rather remarkable." he proclaimed.

"What have you found, Lieutenant?" she asked.

"Before the replicator was sabotaged, there was nothing in the replicator that had terionium disulfide in its chemical composition." Tuvok reported. "In order for the compound to have been replicated, someone would have had to introduce a genuine sample of the substance to the replicators."

"But we've scanned the entire ship for terionium disulfide." Chakotay told the Captain. "There is not a trace of it anywhere, and based on earlier scans, it never got onboard."

"Then how could it have been brought on board?" asked Janeway. "Terionium disulfide cannot be created via double replacement, or even single replacement. It can only be found in nature as itself."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow and said "I have a theory, Captain."

Chakotay and Janeway listened closely. "Someone must have brought the compound on board somehow. However, everything brought aboard by the shuttles is searched and scanned thoroughly, so the compound could not have come from a shuttle delivery. The only possible way it got onboard was via the transporter."

"But the transporters would have detected it immediately." said Janeway. "They are all set to raise an alarm whenever a hazardous element such as terionium is brought aboard."

"That is true, Captain," admitted Tuvok, "but the compound could not be detected if it is inside one's body."

"What are you saying, Tuvok?" asked Chakotay.

"Whoever brought the terionium disulfide aboard would have had to swallow it and then come aboard." Tuvok enlightened him.

"But you said it was lethal to every species who has consumed it." Janeway recalled.

"Actually, Captain, I did recently discover that Bajorans are immune to the deadly effects of the compound." said Tuvok. "If they ingest any of it, it just sits at the bottom of their stomachs and never gets digested."

"How did you discover this?" asked the Captain.

Tuvok explained: "During the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor, some Bajorans would consume terionium disulfide. Then they could casually enter Cardassian houses, and once inside they would regurgitate the compound and lace it into the Cardassians' dishes. The Bajorans killed thousands of Cardassians with this compound."

"So you mean that the assassin is a Bajoran?" assumed Janeway.

"I believe so." Tuvok confirmed.

Chakotay examined the list. He announced "Then that narrows it down to either Gerron or Tabor."

"Or Lieutenant Torres." said Tuvok. Janeway and Chakotay glared at Tuvok after he made his last comment. He explained it with "Because of her hybrid anatomy, we cannot be certain whether or not she is immune to the substance. Until we are certain, she must still be marked as a suspect."

"Tuvok, let's be realistic here." said Chakotay. "B'Elanna has been offering to help Tom."

"In fact, she told me that she feels obligated to help him." said Janeway. "The two of them seem to be closer than just friends ever since we rescued them from Avery III."

"I admire Lieutenant Torres' desire to aid Lieutenant Paris," Tuvok admitted, "but until we have absolute proof, we must not take any course of action that could compromise Mr. Paris' safety."

"You seem to be taking this a little too seriously, Tuvok." noted Chakotay.

"Commander, there is more at stake than Mr. Paris' life here." said Tuvok. "If he dies, many of the crew may conclude that their safety aboard this ship is no longer guaranteed. I anticipate that eventually people may get paranoid or suspicious over the smallest of reasons. Performance and efficiency would be lowered considerably. Saving the lieutenant's life will prove otherwise."

Chakotay and Janeway ended up agreeing with Tuvok after that last statement. He told them his plan: "I will interrogate Mr. Gerron first, and then I will question Mr. Tabor. Afterwards, I will speak with Miss Torres."

Janeway nodded and said "Let us know if you have uncovered anything. In the meantime, I'm going to check up on Kes and The Doctor and see what progress they have made in finding a cure for Tom."

…

Tuvok was interrogating Gerron in the back table of the mess hall. Gerron had remembered what happened the last time they had been in the same room at the same time; they had almost died of exposure to extreme heat. But Tuvok had saved his life with the help of a few other Maquis.

Even though he had saved his life, Gerron still felt a little uncomfortable around Tuvok. But he was not afraid to look him in the eye anymore.

"May I know where you were at 0845 hours yesterday morning?" said Tuvok.

"I was in my quarters." Gerron replied.

"Was anyone with you?" asked the Vulcan security chief.

"What does that mean?"

"Crewman, I am not trying to invade your private life." Tuvok reassured the young Bajoran. "I am merely inquiring if someone was with you at that time."

Gerron sighed and said "Tal Celes was with me."

"Crewman Celes was on duty at that time." Tuvok noted.

"She was taking a break." said Gerron. "Ask her. She'll tell you."

Tuvok jotted down more notes onto his PADD and asked "What were you doing with her at that time?"

Gerron was starting to look a little nervous. He was having difficulty making eye contact with Tuvok once again. After a minute, Tuvok said "I'm waiting, Mr. Gerron."

Finally, Gerron replied with "She wanted help organizing a diagnostics report of the impulse drive. I was inclined to lend her a hand, so I invited her to my quarters where we could work together."

Tuvok could tell that there was more to Gerron's story than he was telling him. He asked "What else did you do while Celes was in your quarters."

"Well, we did get a little informal…" Gerron began.

"And? What did you do after you got informal?"

Gerron was starting to sweat then. He was worried about what he should say next. Finally, he took in a deep breath and said "We had sex, alright?"

Tuvok just continued writing his report and asked Gerron "Why did you not simply tell me this in the first place?"

"Sir, you may find that Bajorans have a few things in common with Humans." said Gerron. "One of them is that both of us are very uncomfortable openly discussing certain events of our personal lives with other people. Plus, the Captain has her whole fraternization policy. I did not want you to believe I was still having too much difficulty adapting to Starfleet regulations."

"Mr. Gerron, you are free to socialize as you wish with Miss Celes or any other member of the crew as long as you are discreet and it does not interfere with your duties." Tuvok reassured him. "I will not have you undergoing another ten-kilometer run on Deck 13 for being intimate with Crewman Celes."

"What about Deck 8?" asked Gerron.

"Is that a joke, Mr. Gerron?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you need to work on your humor." Tuvok advised. "It's as underdeveloped as the alliance between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire."

Gerron grinned and said "Yes, Lieutenant." It was the first time that Tuvok had ever seen Gerron smile. But his smile quickly went away when Tuvok made his next statement: "I will need for Crewman Celes to report to sickbay to receive a scan of her cervix."

"Why must she do that, sir?" asked Gerron.

"To confirm that you and she did have intercourse when the replicator in the ready room was sabotaged." Tuvok answered. "If you indeed did, there should be some markings in her cervix to validate your claim."

"Is that necessary?" Gerron inquired nervously.

"At the present, it is the only way we can confirm your innocence in this matter." said Tuvok. "I know you must feel embarrassed over this, but I assure you, no one other than The Doctor, Commander Chakotay, Captain Janeway, Celes, you, and I will know of this. The six of us will be the only ones who will know this ever took place."

Gerron sighed and said "Very well, sir. I'll go find Tal."

"Thank you, Mr. Gerron."

…

After a particularly unpleasant visit to sickbay, Celes left the room with Gerron. The two of them had never been more uncomfortable in their lives after a doctor's appointment. But true to his word, Tuvok kept quiet about this matter, discussing it only with Janeway, Chakotay, and The Doctor.

"It would appear as though Gerron was telling the truth." said The Doctor. "He and Celes were… intimate with each other yesterday morning. I would say they were becoming intimate right when the replicator was sabotaged."

"Then that just leaves Tabor and B'Elanna." said Janeway. "I'd suggest that we question the latter first."

"Right." said Chakotay. He tapped his combadge and said "Chakotay to Torres." But there was no response. He tapped it again and said "Chakotay to Torres. B'Elanna, come in."

Finally, Janeway said aloud "Computer, locate B'Elanna Torres."

"Lieutenant Torres is in main engineering." said the computer.

"We'll go get her." Janeway said, gesturing for Chakotay and Tuvok to follow her. She said to The Doctor "Keep trying to develop a way to help Tom."

Then she and her First and Second Officers left sickbay.