Identification

Posted on Sun 21st Jan, 2018 @ 4:13pm by Lieutenant Commander Andrew Eberstark & Lieutenant JG Kellian Michaels
Edited on on Thu 21st Jan, 2021 @ 5:31pm

1,246 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A Phaser as Deadly as a Candlestick
Location: Security Offices
Timeline: 239311.06 13:30 hours

The woman across the table from them was dressed in civilian clothes... a sheer black blouse over a camisole of the same color, dark grey slacks, and high-heeled shoes which extended her already impressive height another ten centimeters or so. Her hair was a shade of red not commonly seen in Humans, but the ears one couldn't help but label "rabbit ears" which extended from the top of her head were the same shade, so perhaps it wasn't dyed... or perhaps her stylist was quite thorough. "Thank you for coming," she said to Eberstark. "As I have already explained to Lieutenant Michaels, I'm Special Agent Daisy Pantoufle, Starfleet Criminal Investigative Service." She flipped open the leatherette wallet lying on the table in front of her, and the badge within projected a holographic image of her head which slowly revolved. "One of you filed an FFIS request. Can you tell me about the circumstances of that request?"

Kellian arched an eyebrow at Eberstark. Usually, FFIS results were simply returned by the computer or came back with no results and didn't elicit a visit from a special agent of SCIS. "I issued that request," Kellian said. "It was pursuant to a murder investigation."

"And the prints belong to the victim, or a suspect?" the Agent asked, her ears swiveling to focus on Kellian, though her eyes flicked to Eberstark.

"The victim," Kellian replied. "Why do you need to know?" He gave the special agent his undivided attention.

His face remaining neutral, Andrew waited on the woman's reply to the acting CSO's question before providing any answers. Normally being the one asking the questions, he tried placing himself in the woman's shoes and anticipate her next moves. He assumed she kept glancing at him due to his position and higher rank than Michaels. However, as far as Andrew was concerned, it was Kellian's investigation up to this point. No sense in muddying the waters by interjecting. Not yet anyway.

Aside from the obvious and painful reasons that required her presence and this line of questioning that Andrew had assumed, he admittedly didn't have much else to go on. Andrew had only one other notable interaction with an SCIS agent and from what he could tell, it wouldn't be a surprise to him if they were clones. Anyway he looked at the situation, Andrew was sure this conversation was going to be much more than what he or Kellian bargained for.

Pantoufle didn't directly answer the question. She closed her badge case, slipped it back into her trouser pocket. From the other pocket, she took a small crystal cube which she placed on the table. She tapped the top of the cube, and it displayed a hologram of the same size and quality as the one her badge had projected. "Is this your victim?"

Kellian blinked. Staring back at him and Eberstark was the same face as he'd seen on the murder victim--but with his eyes open and looking lively, as he had in Purulence Addams' sketch. "That looks like our guy, yes," Kellian said. He glanced at Eberstark. "Does he look the same to you?"

Andrew nodded, still looking at the woman, "He does indeed. I'm assuming you're going to tell us this isn't your run of the mill criminal?"

"If you have a mill someplace churning out criminals, I expect you to shut it down immediately," Pantoufle said, her slight smirk betraying the fact that she was teasing. She sobered again immediately. "This, gentlemen, is SCIS Special Agent Ilya Solo." She paused, watching the hologram revolve, then went on, "as I'm sure you're aware, SCIS prefers to have local matters handled by local security forces -- that's why capable investigators such as Mr. Michaels are trained and stationed aboard ships and starbases, after all.

"But certain types of crime fall outside your jurisdiction. Given the mobile nature of Starfleet personnel, a local security staff may perceive that a crime has been committed, but not realize that it's part of a pattern. Or it may be an isolated incident, but the person responsible has left the station aboard a ship. In such cases, SCIS is responsible for following up the local event." Pantoufle looked from one man to the other, checking to be sure they were following.

"Special Agent Solo was part of the Major Crimes Response Unit based out of Starbase 185. He was last seen departing the office for lunch, and made what his supervising agent presumed was a humorous reference to 'stopping by to check out a jewel heist' on the way. Gentlemen, I ask you... do you have any idea what Agent Solo was doing here, on the other side of Romulan space?"

Andrew attempted to keep his facial expressions calm but couldn't help but be intrigued and worried about this revelation. He glanced over at Michaels quickly before responding, "Unfortunately, I do not. But you're saying this is a larger and more external situation than we initially believed."

The suggestion of an external influence regarding the murder brought this situation into the realm of his responsibilities to Vanguard. This wasn't just providing support to Kellian's investigation anymore, at least not in his mind. Continuing his thought process, he asked dryly, "I guess this wasn't part of any SCIS undercover operation then?"

"We have no idea why he was here," Kellian affirmed. After all, they didn't know. Despite being aware that Special Agent Solo had somehow been involved with three other unknown people on the base, he didn't know how Solo was involved with them--and he certainly did not want to make mention of a seance. "The jewel heist comment makes no sense, though. I rather thought thefts of precious stones went out with train robberies."

Pantoufle nodded. "That's why his supervising agent thought he was making a joke. You can walk up to any replicator, and provided it has a stock of carbon, aluminum, and oxygen to draw from, a few trace minerals for color, you can get as many of any jewel as you care to walk away with."

"Unless it were an heirloom piece of jewelry, I suppose," Kellian said. "Do you have reason, beyond his comment, to believe that Solo really was involved in some sort of jewel theft?"

"Beyond the comment, we have no leads for anything. No reason he didn't purchase lunch; no reason he didn't return to his office; no reason for him to cross half the Beta Quadrant; no reason for him to turn up dead in an alley here." Special Agent Pantoufle sighed and stood, gathering up her holographic cube. "I presume the body is being held in your morgue? I'll need to claim it for return to the family."

"I think Dr. Addams, our Chief Medical Officer, will be able to assist you with that," Kellian said. "I can take you to her." He glanced at Eberstark. "I suspect you and I will need to coordinate on this, sir?"

Andrew nodded, "We can coordinate with our Chief Medical Officer. Let us know if we can provide any more assistance."

Pantoufle nodded to the two. "I can find my way to your CMO, thank you, gentlemen. If you develop any leads on this, please let me know."

"Regulations, Ma'am," Kellian said. "All visitors have to be escorted. And yes, I or Lt. Eberstark will keep you apprised of any progress we make on this case. I'm sorry for the loss of your colleague."

 

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