backfire?”
“Or vice versa?” Bayta suggested. “Master Colix murdering Master Bofiv?”
“Possibly,” I agreed. “Colix would have to be a particularly incompetent killer for that scenario to work, but I’ve known my share of inept criminals. Still, it’s more likely that the killer was someone else at their table.”
Bayta’s eyes went distant for a moment as she communed silently with the Spiders. “The servers don’t have that information.”
“That’s all right,” I said. “We’ll corner Tririn later and ask him for yesterday’s guest list.”
Bayta was silent a moment. “Do you think the Modhri might be involved in all this?”
“That’s definitely my default reflex these days,” I said. “But we need some kind of motive before we start trying to pin this on the Modhri or anyone else.” I cocked an eyebrow. “Why? Is your spider-sense tingling?”
She frowned. “My what?”
“Skip it,” I said, making a mental note to add those dit rec adventures to the list of cultural classics I’d been showing her. “Can you think of some reason why he might want to kill a couple of Shorshians?”
“Not really,” she said. “But I’ve been thinking a lot about him lately. Trying to get into his mind, to understand what he wants.”
“I thought he wanted to take over the galaxy.”
“Yes, but to what end?” she asked. “The Shonkla-raa certainly had a purpose—they wanted him to infiltrate the rebel forces and destroy them from within. But he doesn’t have that purpose anymore. He doesn’t have any real purpose.”
“I don’t know,” I said doubtfully. “To me, taking over the galaxy sounds like a pretty solid reason for living.”
“You know what I mean,” Bayta said. “The Modhri isn’t conquering so that he can institute political or economic changes, or even just so he can loot his victims.”
“Okay, so he’s unfocused,” I said. “So what?”
Bayta shook her head. “I keep thinking that he’s like a weapon that’s been left on a shelf,” she said pensively. “A sword, maybe. He can fall off. and he can do a lot of damage on his way down, but he’s still just flailing about without serving a genuine purpose. That has to be frustrating and frightening both.”
“So you’re thinking he might throw up his hands and quit in disgust?” I suggested dryly.
“I’m wondering if he might go insane.”
Something with a lot of cold feet skittered down my spine. “Oh. now there’s a cheerful thought.” I muttered.
“I’m sorry,” Bayta apologized. “I probably shouldn’t even have brought it up. I just… it’s been bothering me lately.”
“No need to apologize.” I assured her. Privately, I thought the whole idea a bit far-fetched—from what I’d seen of the Modhri, he didn’t strike me as the neurotic type. But I also knew better than to dismiss anything Bayta said without at least considering it. “It’s definitely worth thinking about. Only not right now. Any word from di -Master Strinni?”
Bayta’s eyes went distant. “He’s just given Dr. Witherspoon permission to take blood and tissue samples from Master Bofiv.”
“Good,” I said, setting the meal box back on its stack. “Let’s go make sure he does it right.”
“All right.” Bayta hesitated. “ Di -Master Strinni has also insisted that Master Colix’s body be removed for storage.”
“Removed for storage where?”
“He asked that it be put in one of the baggage cars,” Bayta said. “The Spiders are taking it back there now.”
“Where are they going to put it?” I asked. “They can’t just leave it lying around the aisles. More importantly, how are they going to seal it away from the rest of the train? It’s still four weeks to Venidra Carvo, and things are going to get pretty ripe back there if they don’t do something.”
“They’re constructing an isolation tank where they can store the body,” she said. “They’re also looking into whether they
“Or vice versa?” Bayta suggested. “Master Colix murdering Master Bofiv?”
“Possibly,” I agreed. “Colix would have to be a particularly incompetent killer for that scenario to work, but I’ve known my share of inept criminals. Still, it’s more likely that the killer was someone else at their table.”
Bayta’s eyes went distant for a moment as she communed silently with the Spiders. “The servers don’t have that information.”
“That’s all right,” I said. “We’ll corner Tririn later and ask him for yesterday’s guest list.”
Bayta was silent a moment. “Do you think the Modhri might be involved in all this?”
“That’s definitely my default reflex these days,” I said. “But we need some kind of motive before we start trying to pin this on the Modhri or anyone else.” I cocked an eyebrow. “Why? Is your spider-sense tingling?”
She frowned. “My what?”
“Skip it,” I said, making a mental note to add those dit rec adventures to the list of cultural classics I’d been showing her. “Can you think of some reason why he might want to kill a couple of Shorshians?”
“Not really,” she said. “But I’ve been thinking a lot about him lately. Trying to get into his mind, to understand what he wants.”
“I thought he wanted to take over the galaxy.”
“Yes, but to what end?” she asked. “The Shonkla-raa certainly had a purpose—they wanted him to infiltrate the rebel forces and destroy them from within. But he doesn’t have that purpose anymore. He doesn’t have any real purpose.”
“I don’t know,” I said doubtfully. “To me, taking over the galaxy sounds like a pretty solid reason for living.”
“You know what I mean,” Bayta said. “The Modhri isn’t conquering so that he can institute political or economic changes, or even just so he can loot his victims.”
“Okay, so he’s unfocused,” I said. “So what?”
Bayta shook her head. “I keep thinking that he’s like a weapon that’s been left on a shelf,” she said pensively. “A sword, maybe. He can fall off. and he can do a lot of damage on his way down, but he’s still just flailing about without serving a genuine purpose. That has to be frustrating and frightening both.”
“So you’re thinking he might throw up his hands and quit in disgust?” I suggested dryly.
“I’m wondering if he might go insane.”
Something with a lot of cold feet skittered down my spine. “Oh. now there’s a cheerful thought.” I muttered.
“I’m sorry,” Bayta apologized. “I probably shouldn’t even have brought it up. I just… it’s been bothering me lately.”
“No need to apologize.” I assured her. Privately, I thought the whole idea a bit far-fetched—from what I’d seen of the Modhri, he didn’t strike me as the neurotic type. But I also knew better than to dismiss anything Bayta said without at least considering it. “It’s definitely worth thinking about. Only not right now. Any word from di -Master Strinni?”
Bayta’s eyes went distant. “He’s just given Dr. Witherspoon permission to take blood and tissue samples from Master Bofiv.”
“Good,” I said, setting the meal box back on its stack. “Let’s go make sure he does it right.”
“All right.” Bayta hesitated. “ Di -Master Strinni has also insisted that Master Colix’s body be removed for storage.”
“Removed for storage where?”
“He asked that it be put in one of the baggage cars,” Bayta said. “The Spiders are taking it back there now.”
“Where are they going to put it?” I asked. “They can’t just leave it lying around the aisles. More importantly, how are they going to seal it away from the rest of the train? It’s still four weeks to Venidra Carvo, and things are going to get pretty ripe back there if they don’t do something.”
“They’re constructing an isolation tank where they can store the body,” she said. “They’re also looking into whether they
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