The commodore did not like today’s grim duty. As he made his way to the security pod, Mike joined him.

“Dam terrible business.”

“Yes it is commodore.”

Within that pod, the condemned man waited. Convicted of capital murder, he sat upon the floor of the death cell. This was no normal holding area though. The bare room was simply a vacuum chamber.
As the commodore approached, the witnesses of the victim turned to look. The commodore stopped at the door and tapped an intercom.

“Are you prepared?”

“For you to murder me?”

“You were legally convicted of the heinous crime.”

“You ignored one fact mate. I did not do it.”

The commodore winced.

“Have you any final words before the sentence is carried out?”

“Tell my wife never to stop digging.”

The commodore nodded. He tapped the red button and watched as the rear wall opened itself to space.

With the execution over, the wall closed and air was pumped inside once more.

“Can you speak to his widow Mike?”

“Of course sir.”

When the guard knocked upon the apartment door, the distraught woman answered almost at once.

“Is it over?”

“It is.”

The petite but attractive lady sat upon the chair and wept bitterly.

“He was innocent you know.”

“Had that been the case, it would have come out at his trial.”

“Coke was never given a fair chance. So he had a temper, but murder was unknown to him.”

“I can understand how you feel,” Mike said gently.

“I doubt that Mike.”

“Your husband wants you never to stop digging.”

The woman glanced up and glared.

“Oh I will do more than that. I‘ll tear this vessel apart until my husband is cleared.”

Mike shook his head sadly.

“What good will that do?”

“Salve for my soul Mike.”

“I have to go now. Talk whenever you want.”

Dani was not the type of woman to accept a verdict she knew was wrong. Even as the guard left her alone, her mind started to work out a line of enquiry.

“I think I’ll have a word with Trevor.”

The man in question was enjoying his golf after an incredibly bad start. At the first two holes, he had bunkered his ball but by the seventeenth, his stroke had returned.

When he spotted Dani walking towards him, he tried to smile.

“Hello Trevor, how is it going?”

“Not too bad Dani. I never expected to see you today.”

“Look, I need to ask you a couple of questions.”

Trevor knew what was coming.

“About the case?”

“What else. You found the body.”

“Unfortunately yes. We had arranged to play squash you see but he never turned up. So I went to his pad and when he failed to answer I activated the security override.”

“Just tell me what you saw.”

Trevor thought back.

“At first I thought that he was asleep, but when I checked the twin daggers came into view.”

“At the trial you mentioned the handles.”

“You remember that?”

“I was there remember.”

“Well, the handles were a little unusual. They had scenes from the ancient Indian wars.”

“Well thanks Trevor.”

“You doing a bit of freelancing?”

“What choice do I have?”

“You should talk to the investigator then. He will be in the bar.”

She thanked him and headed off to the next port of call.

The ship had a group of investigators and when Dani saw him, she remembered his rather stiff stare.

“Can we speak?”

He put his drink down and nodded.

“Sorry about your husband by the way.”

“Thanks. I spoke to Trevor this morning.”

“What about?”

“He mentioned the knife handles.”

“Oh those. I remember them well.”

“You said at the trial that they matched Coke’s collection.”

“That was the truth Dani. He was an avid collector. Even you knew that.”

“Did you expand your investigation?”

“I did not need to. Once the link was made further enquiry was pointless.”

“So there could be someone else on board with such weapons.”

“Hardly likely.”

He paused for a moment.

“You seem to have forgotten something.”

“Probably.”

“You said on oath that on that morning you noticed that two were missing.”

Her face fell.

“Didn’t I just.”

As she wandered off, he called out, “Why not talk to that mate of his. You know. The one you don’t like.”

She nodded and plodded on.

Carol was a man that very few liked. Tall, burly, and quite annoying at times, he had befriended her husband at once. After that, they were always an item.

She found him at his post in engineering and he smiled as she approached.

“Pretty bad day for you.”

“Yes it is. Is this a bad time?”

“Not really. Everything is tiptop as usual. What do you want?”

“How was my husband on the day of the murder?”

“Happy as usual. After all, he was married to you.”

“No sign of being angry or nervous.”

Carol shook his head.

“Not on that day. I said so at his trial.”

“Yes you did. You saw him an hour after it?”

“The murder you mean? He was perfectly calm. Even mentioned your surprise birthday party.”

“Strange behaviour for a killer don’t you think?”

“I told the investigator that but he simply ignored it.”

She smiled and left him to his important job. Once outside, she thought things over.

“So far everyone is sticking to their stories. I know he’s innocent but how can I prove it?”

She sighed deeply and decided to speak once more to Mike.

“Any joy?” he asked as she entered the observation pod.

Dani shook her head.

“I seem to be banging my head against a brick wall.”

“Sometimes I know the feeling.”

“You know how things work around here Mike. We are all tracked by camera right?”

“It's an integral part of our security system. On a ship like this, it’s essential.”

“Why do you think that the investigator never examined the logs?”

“You know why Dani. The knife handles pinned your husband to the crime. There really was no need to check the logs.”

“They are kept on hard disk aren’t they?”

Mike gazed at her intently.

“I think that you want to see them.”

“I don’t suppose you could arrange it for me?”

Mike shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ll have to get the commodore to authorise it. Then I will come and collect you. Where can I find you?”

“My apartment. That’s where I’m off to now.”

Once she left, the guard made his way to the bridge to speak to the man in charge.

The commodore was watching his bridge crew at work when the guard entered.

“Something up Mike?”

“Dani wants access to our security logs sir. She has a bee in her bonnet.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. Wives tend to back their partners up.”

“What harm could it do,” Mike said. “It could give her closure.”

The commodore nodded.

“Give her full access and perhaps a hand eh?”

When Dani looked up from the chair, Mike was smiling at her.

“The commodore agreed. Off we go then.”

She followed happily and as he sat her down at the security desk, he pointed out the buttons.

“Simply tell the computer who you want to track, then supply the date and watch the result. You have freeze frame too.”

“Thanks Mike. Where are you off to?”

“I’m staying here. The commodore wants me to give you a hand.”

Once the info was supplied, she watched her husband’s movements from the time that he woke onwards. Everything seemed perfectly normal until he reached the lift for the umpteenth time.

“Wait a moment.”

“Spot something?” Mike asked.

She rewound then froze.

“What do you think that is?”

The screen showed coke touching the hand of a green haired female.

“Zoom and augment,” the guard ordered.

They both stared at the obvious letter.

“He gave it to her,” Dani whispered.

“Certainly seems like it.”

Dani glanced at him.

“Does this machine record the murder?”

“I really think you don’t need to see that.”

“Have you seen it?”

“As a matter of fact no.”

“Then I want to.”

Rather reluctantly, Mike tapped the keys and the sequence started to
play. As the victim went to bed, the screen went blank.

“Now that should not happen,” Mike muttered.

He fiddled with the keys but the screen remained dark.

“Must be a glitch,” he suggested.

“Or sabotage.”

As they mulled this over, Dani started tapping once more.

“What are you looking for now?”

“Everyone with green hair,” she said.

Only two faces popped up, and one of those was male.

“That’s her,” Mike said. “Want to have a word with her?”

“Do I just.”

They found the woman in question swimming in the baths, and when she saw Mike, she became very concerned.

“Hello Maggie,” Mike said pleasantly. “We need a word.”

She clambered out and shook herself down before sitting against the wall.

“We know about the note,” Dani said.

Maggie glanced at them both.

“It was only a bit of fun. No harm ever came of it.”

“What are you talking about?” Mike asked.

Dani could see the truth written across her face.

“They were having an affair. Weren’t you?”

Maggie nodded.

“The notes were simply saying where our partners were. When we were alone, we got together.”

Mike thought this over.

“So both partners knew nothing of it.”

“I certainly didn’t,” Dani admitted.

“That was the idea,” Maggie said.

“Did Coke buy you anything?” Dani asked.

“Just some perfume.”

“Where do you hide that?” Mike demanded.

“It’s in my bedroom drawer. Why?”

Mike shook his head angrily.

“That was a daft place to put it!”

“I don’t quite follow,” Dani said.

“What if Nick found it but kept quiet?”

“He doesn’t have the brains,” Maggie muttered.

“He would need the receipt to find out who bought it.”

“Are you saying Nick was killed by my husband?”

“I don’t think so,” Mike whispered.

“What are you on about,” Maggie asked.

Mike stared at her.

“You know about electronics too Maggie. It would be simple to disable the camera at a convenient time.”

“I never touched the ruddy camera.”

“Nick finds out and confronts you. An argument develops and you march out. Without Coke's knowledge, you remove the knives and return to your apartment. Then you stick him.”

“You will never prove such a ridiculous theory,” Maggie said.

“I think that I can. You could not disable all the cameras because that would trigger an alert. If I check the log, I bet you will be seen heading back here with two concealed blades.”

“They wouldn’t show up then,” Dani said gloomily.

Mike shook his head.

“The scanners also detect metal objects. It’s part of the system.”

Maggie suddenly broke down.

“I don’t know what came over me.”

“You let my husband die to save your own miserable life.”

“I was frightened.”

Mike took her by the arm and read the charge. As he led her away he said, “Don’t worry Dani. She’ll suffer the same fate.”