The Crime Scene

Posted on Sun 27th Nov, 2016 @ 7:04pm by Lieutenant JG Kellian Michaels & Colonel Horatio Drake & Commander Zachary Hunt
Edited on on Sun 27th Nov, 2016 @ 8:03pm

1,369 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Murder on the Silent Night Express
Location: Deck 575: Docking Bay 56
Timeline: MD-01: 1210 Hours

The Sydney class was a personnel transport whose original conception was for Starfleet use. It was intended to be as a troop transport which could be double up to assist in planetary evacuations. It wasn't long before Starfleet realised it was useless in both roles - it wasn't multi-purpose enough to be used by Starfleet for any military purposes and far too small to be of any great assistance in planetary evacuations. It had moderate defensive capabilities of two type VII phaser banks and standard deflector shields.

Drake and Hunt were stood outside the Captain's Quarters, waiting on Lieutenant Michaels. Michaels was not late, rather Drake and Hunt early. Drake was getting restless, having a murderer loose on board was unnerving.

It did not take long, however, for Michaels to arrive. Kellian brought with him a crime scene kit, which resembled a wheeled luggage bag. It consisted of several cases containing flashlights, equipment for collecting, storing, and labeling biological specimens and trace evidence, a vacuum, a laser measure, protective clothing, and other needed devices.

Kellian studied the corridor he moved through and recorded what he saw, heard, and smelled into a small headset microphone and through a forensics tricorder that took video as he walked. "...Exterior corridor is of an elongated octagonal shape, wider at the base than at the top, with a height measurement of 2.2 meters and a width measurement of 1.8 meters at its widest point. Lighting is Federation standard daylight spectrum provided by panels running along both sides of the corridor near the base of the walls and along the center of the ceiling. No physical evidence is visible to the naked eye upon cursory inspection."

He toggled the mike off as he approached the two senior officers. "Good morning, sirs," he said. He glanced about the empty hallway. "Did they have anyone guarding this room when you two got here?"

"Lieutenant" Drake nodded and took a cursory glance over the man in front of him, barely younger than he was. He had a disciplined look on his face and a physique to match - if he hadn't been wearing gold, Drake would have presumed he was a Marine.

"Someone has been guarding it all along, apparently closed it down as soon as they found the victim. We told them to take time out so we can get through this without being disturbed, I'm sure you'll appreciate that!" Hunt said.

"Good," Kellian said as he took out surgical gloves and waterproof booties and put them on. "I was worried about the integrity of the crime scene when I found out the crew were loose all over Vanguard." He slipped a digital camera into a thigh pocket and clipped a flashlight to his belt from his equipment and straightened. "Any time you're ready, sirs."

"Well turns out the orders to quarantine the ship never arrived, typical Vanguard style! Least the crew are out of our hair for the time being I suppose. Let's see what this scene actually looks like," Hunt stated, opening the door to the scene with his gloves on also.

"Oh, is that what happened?" Kellian said, recalling the station's numerous power fluctuations, which included his own workstation. "I so sympathize." He waited as the door opened, and then he studied the room. This might be the captain's cabin, but the space was tiny, compared even to Kellian's own workstation cubicle. The death seemed to have occurred in the living area of the captain's quarters. The outline of where the corpse had lain was drawn close to the desk. "It looks like...Did he fall from the desk chair?" Kellian asked. He took video footage of the scene as a whole from the doorway and then video-recorded every individual part of the dead captain's quarters while walking through them. As he did so, he indicated where Hunt and Drake should walk so as to avoid disturbing evidence. "It looks like the area around the desk is the only place that shows signs of disturbance. Everything in the head and the bedroom looks undisturbed--though I'm mystified as to what that basin of water beside the bed is for."

He took three photographs of the body outline at varying distances and repeated that process with everything close to the body, which primarily included the desk and its chair, the trash can with its contents in situ, the top of the desk, and the part of the room that the victim would have been facing at the time of his death.

Drake took a cursory glance around the room - a small affair with furniture that had seemingly been on board when the ship was commissioned, it looked tired and used.

He waited until the doors had closed before speaking. One of the first things he had done since the ship docked was to review Security - they were one of the least staffed departments on the base and Lieutenant (JG) Michaels was, by default, the highest ranking member from investigations - he just hoped he was as good as his record would indicate.

"Mr. Michaels, I am aware that the Security Department is barely staffed at the moment and resources are stretched thinly - and I'm sure I don't need to emphasise this - but it is of critical importance that the culprit of this crime is found in good time. You have all necessary resources and personnel at your disposal."

No pressure! Kellian thought wryly, but he nodded. "I appreciate that, sir; thank you. And I agree, it's vital we catch this person. The possibility of this killer sneaking onto another ship that's docked here before we can apprehend them is going to give me sleepless nights until we have the person in custody."

As Kellian spoke he removed a spray vial from his kit and moved close to where the body had been found, which he sprayed. "Could one of you turn off the room lighting?" he asked. "I want to see if there's any blood spatter near where the body fell."

Hunt flicked the light off.

"Well, there's the blood," Kellian said as the room was plunged into total darkness--save for one corner of the desk, which glowed brightly, and a corresponding spot on the floor. Kellian photographed the luminescing areas at varying distances and with a scale and then turned back to where Hunt stood. "Thank you, sir. You can turn the light back on now."

Hunt flicked the light on.

Kellian now photographed the stains in normal lighting. Then he took a small, white card from one pocket and wrote the number '1' on it. He folded the card in half and placed it on the desk, close to but not touching the bloodstain and repeated the process by labeling a second card "2" and placing it by the bloodstain on the floor. He assigned those bits of evidence the same numbers in his tricorder and photographed both areas with their evidence markers.

"Would you like us to leave you to it? You can brief us after on any findings," Hunt asked.

Kellian glanced around the cabin and nodded. "Yes, sir, I think that would be best. I've got to sketch the room, vacuum for trace evidence, scan for fingerprints, and take measurements and samples. Somebody will be in here with me shortly to confirm measurements. We'll be a while. Thank you for unsealing the cabin. Do you want me to contact you both when I'm done here? It might take as much as 48 hours for me to complete the report, and findings at the autopsy might make it necessary for me to revisit this scene."

"The autopsy is being conducted this afternoon by Commander Addams, so we shall see you there. As soon as the report is done, contact us and let us know of any interesting findings. For now, we shall let you get on with it," Hunt stated.

"Thank you, sirs. I'll meet you in the infirmary whenever the post-mortem's complete," Kellian said. He turned back to his work as the two senior officers departed.

OFF

Colonel Horatio Drake
Commanding Officer

Lt. Commander Zachary Hunt
Executive Officer

Lt.(jg) Kellian Michaels (NPC)
Security Investigations Officer

 

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