“There’s no sign of any tampering,” Reese said, “which there would be if anyone had forced it open.”
“So the killer didn’t want to be seen committing murder and was almost certainly a member of the family or someone else who had access. How does that tell us anything we don’t know already?” Poppy had been in a foul mood ever since Kass’s earlier insult.
Nick offered his hand and, when Reese took it, he helped him stand. “It means we’re on the right path. Unless the killer is an employee here instead, which seems unlikely since no one has mentioned anyone with a grudge, then, yes, it must be someone from the du Lissin family.”
“Or someone helped by a member of the family, such as Mung Sen Zhan,” Reese suggested while Nick looked around the room. It was non-descript and unusually clean for somewhere disused, but the police officer they’d spoken to had already said it thought the room had been wiped of prints and DNA.
“It was premeditated,” he said. “Planned out.”
“So?” Poppy asked. “What’s your point?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t really have one. Just that it tells us something about the killer.”
“It was someone cold-blooded,” Reese agreed. “In my opinion, that definitely gets rid of Swall and Mer.”
Poppy looked down at a red stain on the floor. “So that leaves Kass, Bop, Norla, Mung Sen Zhan, Arwyl, Pos and Keat. There must be a way to eliminate a few more of them. Are we sure that no one had alibis?”
“The crime officer couldn’t be exact about the time of death,” Nick reminded her. “It occurred some time in the morning between...” He tried to remember.
“Between about 10.30 and 11.30,” Poppy said. “She had come to work and left for a meeting elsewhere.”
“So someone must have been waiting to ask to speak to her,” Nick said. “No, that’s not right. If we’re saying they used the back door to avoid being seen, how did they arrange to speak to her?”
“Perhaps it was prearranged before her scheduled meeting.” Poppy sat on a nearby desk.
“Then, for her to have kept it a secret, it must have been about some private matter,” Reese said, crossing the room to stand opposite them.
“We can’t know what it was about,” Poppy said dismissively.
“But we know she was a busy woman with an international company to run, so she must have considered it important.” Reese frowned, his head tilted to one side. “Would she have cared that much about anything Pos, Keat or even Arwyl had to say? Her main concerns at the time seemed to have been Kass’s wish to sell the export company and Bop’s relationship with Mung Sen Zhan. I think it was Kass. There’s something a bit heartless about the way she’s trying to force Arwyl and Bop to leave Ocean against their will, threatening them with disinheritance.”
“As her successor, she probably would have made time for Norla,” Nick said, “and Mung Sen Zhan, not being a member of the family, might have considered her an obstacle to his relationship with Bop. He might have been someone who could plan out her murder and, if she was worried about their affection, Kass would probably have met with him.”
“That makes sense,” Poppy said, getting up. “Let’s consider Kass, Bop, Mung Sen Zhan and Norla our main suspects for now and focus on them.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
REESE HEADED to the ship’s canteen early the next day for breakfast. He would have preferred to wait and eat with Nick but he wasn’t aboard The Prince for fun and, caught up in Ember du Lissin’s murder case, he had barely got started with his own investigation.
Baltid Athens had been stabbed. That much he had known before he arrived here. He still had no idea what the motive might have been for the death and he hadn’t even managed to find anyone who knew the victim well. People had been told that he had a heart attack, which was either the murderer trying to cover his or her tracks or the captain not wanting people to think they were in danger and resign. If it was the former, his job would be easy as only the captain or Poppy would have the authority to hide the cause of death but the latter seemed like something Prince would do.
He needed to make progress with the case but, at the same time, he had to keep the investigation a secret, so he couldn’t mention Athens or his death too often. His plan for tonight was to get to know the crewmembers better and hope that the death would be mentioned by someone else.
As he had hoped, the canteen was half full when he entered – there weren’t a lot of options of where to go to relax on a ship this small – and, after he had helped himself to a hot drink, he joined the two aliens who worked as the captain’s bodyguards. They had come along to the initial meeting at the du Lissin castle that the captain attended but hadn’t spoken once the entire time. He sat down and smiled at them. “Hello. I’m Reese.”
He didn’t try to shake hands with them as he knew it wasn’t part of their culture. They were twice as strong as humans, eight foot tall standing and bulky. They had numerous thin flexible limbs – that reminded him of tentacles – and these could kill or incapacitate half a dozen people at a time. In other words, he never wanted to insult them.
They studied him with their clusters of eyes and he tried to look as friendly and non-threatening as possible. One of them made some noises in its throat. Reese’s translator said, “Tem is me and companion is Lyro.”
“How long have you worked for the captain?”
“Jobs arranged before meeting seventy-six atnos ago,” Tem said and the translator helpfully told Reese that seventy-six atnos converted into three point two years.
“Do you enjoy the work?”
“It is job.”
Reese guessed that this meant no. “The travelling must be interesting.”
“It is job.”
Lyro added his own comment. “Humans are odd and smelly.”
Fair enough. “You must miss your home planet.”
“Our people are killers.”
Huh – not so much then. Struggling to think of something else to say, Reese asked, “You like working together?”
“Companion is good,” said Tem.
“Companion is preferable,” said Lyro.
“Well, that’s nice, then.” Reese was relieved to have found something they felt good about. He sipped his drink, which didn’t have much flavour but was hot. A human woman walked past carrying a tray and he asked, “Who’s that?”
“Vena.” Tem swallowed a mouthful of something sludgy-looking. “Human cooks food for captain.”
He had his own chef. That didn’t surprise Reese. He leaned sideways to peer into the kitchen and caught sight of someone else. “There’s also a cook for the crew?”
“Yes.”
“Do the crew generally get along well?”
“No.”
That was decisive. “Some people I’ve spoken to seem to find the captain difficult to like.”
“Captain pays.”
A diplomatic answer. While he was trying to think of a way to mention the murder of Athens, the two bodyguards stood up and headed away. He decided that this was probably just a cultural thing and not to feel insulted. “I’ll see you later,” he called after them.
“Probably,” Tem responded before it and Lyro put down their empty plates and crockery and left the canteen.
Reese couldn’t say that he’d learnt anything useful but he’d sort of got to know them. A bit. He picked up his drink and approached Siglinde’s table. He bowed low to her and asked, “May I join you?”
She inclined her head slightly. “You show decent respect so you may sit down.”
“Thank you.” He sat. Aae, Bee, Cee and Dee were also at the table, so he greeted each of them before asking Siglinde, “Did any of you get a look at Ocean’s sea monster the other day?”
“Yes. I made purchases on Ocean. It was unexpected.”
That was an understatement. “Apparently she sometimes likes to go for walks.”
“Sea creature is female? That is good. Females should control feeble
men.”
Nick’s arrival saved him from having to reply to this. Reese waved and Nick saw him and walked over. Nick put a hand on the back of the chair next to that of Reese, to pull it out, when Siglinde growled – a loud threatening sound – and her lilac fur stood on end. Nick froze, his eyes fixed on Siglinde’s fangs.
Aae, Bee, Cee and Dee jumped up and came together, their limbs and bodies stretching and contorting in unnatural ways as they merged.
Reese grabbed Nick’s hand, grimacing at the sight of what the four aliens were doing. Cracking noises came from their bodies that made him wince. “That’s got to hurt!”
Finally the new combined creature – Eff – straightened, being taller than any of the rest of them now, and confronted Siglinde, who had climbed onto the table on all fours at some point. “We protect Nick,” Eff bellowed and Siglinde crawled nearer, her growling louder than ever. She lifted a clawed arm to strike...
... And the canteen door opened. The captain walked in, striking in his long blue coat and breeches, and the smile froze on his face as he took in the fighters. He took a step backwards and Siglinde bounded off the table and across to him, rising onto two legs to snarl at him.
The captain dropped to the ground, crouching down, arms over his head as he cowered in fear. Siglinde looked down at him and Reese stood up to see what would happen.
Siglinde made a disgusted noise and stalked past Prince, exiting the canteen.
Nick sagged against Reese, who was beginning to see why Tem had said that the crew didn’t get on well. Perhaps it wouldn’t be too difficult to find a murderer amongst them, although it was beginning to seem possible that there was more than one killer here.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“WHAT ARE you two so twitchy about?” Poppy asked as she, Nick and Reese left the ship and began to walk over the field of freshly fallen snow towards the du Lissin castle.
“We had an eventful night,” Reese said. Poppy looked from one to the other of them, clearly thinking he meant something romantic. If only. Well, the captain had needed a lot of comforting after his near death experience, as the man had termed it, but that wasn’t the same. He wasn’t Nick. “Eff and Siglinde nearly came to blows and the captain arrived at the wrong moment and nearly got ripped to shreds.”
Poppy perked up. “I wish I had seen that.”
“It was my fault,” Nick said to Reese, an apologetic look in his pale eyes. “I normally avoid Siglinde because of her aggression, but you were sitting opposite her so I thought she must be in a good mood. How did you do it?”
“I bowed to her and asked her permission to sit down. Her people think men should be subservient to women.”
Poppy smirked. “What’s wrong with that?”
“I have every respect for her culture,” Reese said. “If she considers it polite for me to bow, then I’ll bow. It doesn’t harm me.” He enjoyed finding out about different races and the way they lived, so there would be no point in getting offended by those differences. Besides, he prided himself on being able to make friends with anyone, although that ability was certainly being tested with the crew of The Prince.
“I can bow too,” Nick agreed and Poppy made a scoffing noise. “What?”
“Of course you’ll bow. You never stand up for yourself.”
He frowned. “I wouldn’t still be alive if that was true.”
Reese changed the subject before the disagreement could develop, hating to see Nick made unhappy, particularly by the person he cared most about. “What’s our plan for the investigation today?”
“We should find out as much as possible about our four main suspects,” Poppy answered without hesitation. “I want to speak to Norla first. It’s early enough by the planet’s standards that she shouldn’t have left for work yet.”
“I still think Kass had the most to gain from Ember’s death,” Reese said, automatically reaching out to steady Nick when he slipped on some ice as they moved from field to cobbled path, their fingers remaining entwined for a moment. “Should we work together or split up?”
“We can split up again,” Poppy said and Reese noted that she didn’t allow Nick any say in the decisions. Nick spent far more time observing people and situations than talking but, when he did speak about investigative work, his words were shrewd and well-reasoned. Yet both the captain and Poppy treated him in a dismissive way that infuriated Reese. It made him want to hug Nick and tell him how amazing he was, but then he remembered that he was lying to Nick about everything and one day Nick was likely to find that out and Reese would be the one hurting him.
Reese had never looked at his life like an outside observer before but, now that he did, he wondered when all the lies – that he told to himself as well as to those around him – had become so real. There were reasons he had chosen this life but they all seemed meaningless right now.
The only good thing he could do for Nick was to resist the almost overpowering urge to get closer to him and to keep their relationship casual.
They reached the castle, which looked stately and picturesque surrounded by its snow-covered grounds. He saw Ariel standing near the side of the building, a mug in her gloved hands, and he waved to her. She smiled and waved back.
“Another conquest?” Poppy asked lightly.
“I worked for Ariel while I was here undercover.”
“What did she have to say about the murder?”
“Not much. It had been hinted to all the staff that they’d lose their jobs if they gave anything away about the death and who the real victim had been. It took time getting to the truth.”
“Not a lot of time,” Nick said to him. “You found out more than most people could.”
Poppy watched this interplay but didn’t comment on it. “Then let’s hope that, between the three of us, we can get this case solved before any more sea monsters show up.”
She stepped forward to use the door knocker, the tapping thuds loud in the snow-muffled quiet outside. Beja opened the door and let them in. Immediately, the sounds of nearby voices could be heard. Two people were arguing.
“What do you care?” a man’s voice asked. “You won’t even be here.”
“I expect you to come with me.” The second voice was female and Reese recognised it as Kass and listened intently, ignoring Beja who was asking who they wanted to see.
“Then you should stop expecting the impossible. I won’t let anyone stand in my way this time.” The voice got louder as the speaker drew closer and marched into the hall. It was Bop du Lissin and he came to a halt at the sight of the three investigators.
Kass followed him and opened her mouth to speak before she too saw the guests. She turned on her heel and left and Bop strode past the assembled group and out of the front door, slamming it behind him.
“What was that about?” Reese asked Beja.
“I couldn’t say.”
She could, he was sure, but she was loyal to the family. It must have been something to do with Bop’s relationship with Mung Sen Zhan. “We were hoping to speak to Norla and Kass.”
“I’ll see if they’re free.”
Beja left them in the hall and vanished through the door Kass had taken. Poppy tapped a finger on her thigh as several minutes passed, then Norla came out to greet them. Nick had spoken to her briefly during his interviews when he first arrived on the planet and he made the introductions, his words repeated quietly in Ocean’s language by Norla’s translator.
“My aunt has to leave on urgent business but if you come with me I can alternative you a handful of siz. This translates as a few minutes,” Reese’s translator said into his ear in its usual happy tone. He glanced at Nick and Poppy, who looked utterly confused, so he guessed that their own translators had made even less sense of the words.
They all followed Norla into a small room that had dark panelling – imported, he guessed, given the few trees on the planet – a desk and half a dozen chairs. Norla headed for the chair behind the desk, leaving the others t
o the rest of them. “What more do you want to know?” she asked, a hint of irritation in her tone.
“Your mother died between around 10.30am – earth time – and 11.30.” Poppy said, her bluntness making Reese grimace slightly. “Where were you during those times?”
“At job, obviously. I had meetings and reports to read.”
“Then you stayed inside the building all day?” Nick asked.
“No. I went out at snack meal time and took a walk to clear my head.”
“Alone?” Poppy checked.
“Yes.” Her clipped tone reminded him of Kass. The du Lissin women – excluding Mer – all seemed to have rather abrasive, cold personalities.
“We were told that Ember du Lissin taught you how to do her job,” Reese said. “You must have had a very close bond with her to have been picked ahead of everyone else.”
“Of course we loved each other but that wasn’t why she chose me as a senior manager. It was a business decision. I have the best skills to lead the company.”
Reese noted that she spoke calmly about her mother, displaying no hint of grief when talking about her or distress over her murder. Swall was the only one in the family who had reacted like a human being and been upset over what had happened but perhaps that said as much about Ember du Lissin’s character as that of the rest of them. The question was whether Norla was sufficiently heartless to kill her own mother in order to gain power.
“Were you surprised that she didn’t have a Will?” Poppy asked.
Norla hesitated before saying, “Yes, I was.”
“How could something so vital have been overlooked by the solicitors?” Poppy persisted.
“I’m sure it wasn’t but Mother would never let anyone tell her what to do. I suppose she hadn’t decided exactly how to vocabulary it and just ran out of time.”
The words seemed stilted to Reese but he couldn’t tell if that was her or his translator. “Do you know of anyone who might have wished her harm?” he asked.
No One Likes Humans Page 12
