A Disaster for Someone, Part II

Posted on Thu 21st Dec, 2017 @ 6:29pm by Lieutenant JG Kellian Michaels & Purulence Addams
Edited on on Fri 22nd Dec, 2017 @ 12:02pm

1,082 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: A Phaser as Deadly as a Candlestick
Location: Kellian Michaels' Office, Deck 574
Timeline: Day after the Halloween party

“No doubt every crime scene is a disaster for someone; it’s only a question of scope.”
― John Houde, Crime Lab: A Guide for Nonscientists

Instead of gathering in the Security Chief's office, which was vacant, Lt. Michaels asked Purulence and PO Morgan to meet in his own office. Purulence glanced about as she and Morgan entered. Boring, she thought. Aside from a small portrait of a smiling, red-haired woman on his desk, the only personal item she saw belonging to Michaels was his coffee mug, which depicted a violin from front, back, and side views. It looked kind of like a mug shot, she thought and suppressed a giggle.

"You play the violin?" she asked as she and Morgan seated themselves.

Michaels blinked, obviously not expecting the question. "Cello, actually, but I couldn't find a coffee mug in this design with a cello on it. Anyway, I'm Lt. Michaels. Thank you for coming in." He glanced at Morgan. "What've you got?"

"This lady, Ms. Purulence Addams, has a sketch of our John Doe and a sketch of a room with him in it, tied to a chair, but no good explanation for how she came to see these things," Morgan said.

Purulence froze. "John Doe?" Her gaze flitted from Michaels to Morgan. "As in someone you can't identify. Someone alive, right?"

Michaels looked directly at her. "I'm afraid not, Ms. Addams. We found a body this morning on Deck 1554. May I see what you drew?"

Purulence's hand flew to her mouth, and she shook. "Th-that's why Chlamydia was called away?" Her ebony-dark skin blanched--as much as it could. "Oh, my God..." Her dark eyes widened. "If I tell you how I saw what I saw, you'll think I was either an accomplice or absolutely insane." Purulence pressed herself against the back of her chair. "I'd rather stay out of the psych ward and the brig, please."

Michaels studied her for a moment. "I think I might have some idea of where you were, and if I'm right, I know you're neither complicit in this man's death nor crazy--but I reserve judgment on strange. Deal? Can we get you some coffee?"

Purulence let out a relieved breath and shook her head. "No coffee." She swallowed hard. "Yes, it was strange. Definitely strange. That's never happened in any other séance I've been a part of before." She opened her sketchpad to the appropriate pages and handed it to Michaels.

"Séance?" Morgan echoed.

"There was a Halloween party at Dr. Addams' house last night," Michaels said as he laid the sketchpad flat on his desk. "I was on duty, so I couldn't go. A séance was to be part of the festivities."

"It was," Purulence said with a nod. "Everything appeared in the crystal ball on the dining room table. First we saw the guy's face. Then we saw him in a room. Then we experienced his death. He was stabbed in the neck, right here." She pointed to a spot on the right side of her neck, near the clavicle. "The proof that it was real, and that none of this was manufactured, is that Dr. Graves fainted," Purulence said. "He's a Betazoid, right? If it had all been parlor tricks, Dr. Graves wouldn't have been affected at all, and he would have known we were faking."

"I wasn't aware of that detail," Michaels said, "though we can't necessarily prove that he fainted because of what happened during the séance and not because of, say, low blood sugar." He suppressed a shudder. "Glad I wasn't there." Michaels returned his attention to Purulence. "We'll need to send an investigator to Dr. Addams' house to have a look at the crystal ball and the dining room, and where everyone was seated during the séance."

Purulence gave Michaels a worried look. "I can draw you a picture of where we were all seated. We've moved things around, though. We spent this morning cleaning up after the party and putting everything away."

Michaels winced. "I can't wait to see the defense attorney's cross-examination of this." He shook his head. "It's not that bad of a problem, Ms. Addams. For one thing, none of you at the party are accused of anything, and you all have alibis for each other. Even if the séance had been faked, none of you killed this man. But why didn't any of you report this last night?"

"Because we had no way of knowing where or when the murder happened," Purulence said. She pointed to her sketch. "That room could be anywhere. Time and space have no meaning to those dead who cling to their lives. All they care about, until they abandon this world, is whatever was their most powerful desire at the moment of death." Purulence flipped back to the page showing a portrait of the murder victim. "At the moment of this man's death he was desperate for someone, anyone, to know that he had died. He didn't think his body would be found. We never dreamed it was happening at that very moment." She gave the other two men a wry look. "He also didn't expect to die. But then, who does? He, ah, thought his death was overkill for some minor infraction of his."

"What time did you experience the man's death?" Michaels asked.

"It was just after midnight," Purulence said. "If it's of any help to you, the person who killed him was a woman with decent-sized breasts, maybe a D-cup. I'm thinking a younger woman. She kind of leaned over him and just plunged the knife in while he was admiring her assets. It went in smooth as a samurai sword into butter, but, my God, it hurt. I was wishing I could have fainted, too."

"Who else attended the party?" Michaels asked. He wrote down guests' names as Purulence spoke them.

"Morgan, I want you to start contacting witnesses; we'll need to get statements from all of these party guests. I'll pull in two or three other people to help you. Don't laugh, no matter how weird the things they tell you."

Morgan gave a discreet cough. "Dr. Addams does my physicals. I don't plan to laugh at anything."

Lt(jg) Kellian Michaels (NPC)
Acting Chief of Security

Purulence Addams (NPC)
Portrait Painter

PO1 Sherman Morgan (NPC)
Security Personnel

 

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