Body of Evidence [18+]

Posted on 10 Aug 2023 @ 5:29pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark
Edited on on 10 Aug 2023 @ 5:35pm

3,019 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 3, Sickbay
Timeline: MD 12, 0902 hrs

[ON]

Gabriel tapped the PADD against the palm of his hand as he made his way to Sickbay, the pattern taking up the rhythm of a song that had been on his playlist through the wee hours. He'd managed to catch a nap and forced down a muffin whilst data scrolling after Nurse Inaros had threatened him. But he felt far from refreshed. Quite the opposite. It didn't help that his Chief still wasn't back. He didn't like it, not one bit.

"Dr Warraquim?" Gabriel asked as he caught sight of her in the bay. He came to a standstill, nodding with a small smile that didn't really reach his dark eyes. "I've been working on the murder inquiry. I saw that you've been given permission for a non-invasive post-mortem?"

"Yes. Non-invasive to the point of not opening the body. However, that does not mean we can't do scans. Is there any of his blood that is available? Taking more at this point might be considered invasive, but also, if there was any other substance, it might have degraded."

"Not that I know of," Gabriel frowned as he looked to the large computer panels on the wall, considering how they might try and get around some frustrating corners. "He was treated for some serious puncture wounds after the fight, I'm not sure what kind of samples might have been taken then? But in reality it would likely be too early in the timeline to actually be relevant. Frankly, at his time of death, his blood was pretty much..." he frowned as he looked around, motioning a hand in an arc across the Sickbay floor. "...everywhere."

Allyndra nodded. She thought they should have taken some samples, especially as the death was suspicious. "How about the supposed murder weapon? I think we should analyze that also. There would be traces on the weapon."

"Well that we definitely do have," Gabriel assured, scrolling up on his PADD to the evidence log. A significantly small log. "Although it's worth noting that between the struggle after the attack and then the attempts to save him, there may be chances of cross-contamination. But...I'll leave that in your capable hands."

"I'll put in a request to the Klingon ship for last medical records. If we can get them we can see what was what before. Very well Gabriel, could you start the scans and I want particular attention to the area of the knife wound. I'm going to take the knife and start a chemical analysis on it."

"Yes, Doctor..." Gabriel moved quickly, eager to get the ball rolling. There was such a lack of real evidence in this case, despite the very public fall out, that anything they could find might be helpful.

He looked down to the body laid out, still perfectly preserved on the hard, cold table. He sighed with frustration at not being able to do more, and he'd seen the same look on Alexion's face at the time too. He carefully started a scan, meticulous in making sure the parameters were correct. After all, this wasn't something that came up in the day to day of his job, and he was pretty much running on coffee and fumes.

Allyndra set about analyzing the blood on the knife. The results were disappointing to say the least. She was about to give up and see what Gabriel had when the analyzer gave a beep. She took a look, and there were tiny traces of Thallium. "That's odd. Wonder where that came from?" On, she scrapped a little more off the knife and again got a signal. Her suspicion was aroused. She had the analyzer take a look at a scraping of the knife without any blood. Once more, Thallium came up. She took the knife and went back out. "Anything?"

"There's nothing new coming up in these scans," Gabriel sighed softly, shaking his head with frustration as he logged the results. He wasn't surprised though. They quite literally couldn't catch a break in the investigation. "Everything is consistent with the initial medical report. How about the knife?"

"Yes. One rather interesting result is that the knife blade was coated in Thallium."

"Thallium? That's...toxic, right?" he looked to her with confusion, moving in close to take a look at the results. "Thallium..." he muttered thoughtfully as he moved back to the scan results from the corpse. He reconfigured the scan to rerun, but this time specifically to search for Thallium. It took a few moments, but an alert finally sounded. "It's here too, but...in the bladder."

"Good work. That indicates metabolism before death." She looked at the readings. "Let's make sure. Go grab a specimen cup please, I'm going to express the bladder." Allyndra removed the cloth covering the lower part of the body. "Whew! They build them big."

Gabriel fetched a cup for her, clearing his throat slightly as he made sure to keep his eyes on her rather than the body laid out below. "Um...does 'express the bladder' mean what I think it means?" he asked cautiously.

"Pressing on the area of the bladder, yes." Allyndra reached for the cup and put the end of the Klingon's member in it. She held the cup with one hand and then pressed with the other in the area of the bladder. A dark yellow liquid finally expressed out. There wasn't more than probably three to five milliliters in her estimation but it should be more than enough. "Here, I want you to analyze vitamin B2 and sugar. I need a sample to take a look at Thallium concentration." She draped the cloth back over the area and the body in general. "I think we can let him now rest in peace." She went to wash her hands. "If we see high blood sugar in the urine and depleted B2 then along with the high traces of Thallium, we know that he died from Thallium poisoning, most likely as a result of the dagger."

Gabriel held the cup very distinctly at arm's length, his nose ever so slightly wrinkled as he moved to carefully...very carefully...start an analysis. "Do you save all the best jobs for the visitors?" he teased dryly as he waited for the results.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of medicine. There's still a lot of dealing with fluids and other things. Let me know as soon as you have results. I'm going to do a more detailed look and see if I can find if we can locate the elemental composition and determine the source of the Thallium."

"I think I went into the right profession," Gabriel murmured as he shook his head, watching the data scroll in. He was no expert by any means, but he'd set up the scan for the computer to do the hard work. "Here we go...." he used a fingertip to trace the screen. "You were right on the money...high sugar, low B2."

"Call the captain, please. It is time to give her our results." Allyndra had her analysis finished, also.

Gabriel nodded, moving to sterilise his hands...just in case. Only when he'd thoroughly bathed his hands in the light at least three times did he tap his commbadge. "Stark to Captain Tarin, we have the forensic pathology results, if you're able to come to Sickbay?"

The acting captain's voice came back through the communicator with a curt and expectant reply. "Tarin to sickbay, on my way." The commander's transit was a brief one which took a total of one minute and 34 seconds to complete. The door to the Nova-class' small medical bay swished open as Morgan walked into the sterile room with long strides. She approached the doctor and security officer then slowed her pace before coming to a standstill. "Report."

"Petty Officer Stark and I have concluded the cause of the death, and it is suspicious. Petty Officer Stark has some very interesting observations to share, and I conclude with the findings. I also have found some rather interesting facts. However, Gabriel, would you please present your findings." Allyndra believed in letting junior officers and enlisted have a chance to shine in front of senior officers. This was a chance for them to shine.

Gabriel nodded with a small smile to the doctor, bringing the report up on the screen for the Captain to study if she so wished. "The doctor's analysis of the knife showed traces of Thallium, which is toxic..." he changed the report. "...And the low B2 levels with high sugar levels found in his urine supports that he did, indeed, have Thallium poisoning."

Tarin walked over to the wall-mounted LCARS screen then tapped at the console to read through the findings. She scrolled through several screens' worth of chemical analysis and biological findings. "Thallium's a refining byproduct, no?" She frowned while trying to understand what this meant. "Is this a standard alloy used in manufacturing Klingon d'k tahgs?"

"It can be. The answer to your second question is no, it is not. Elemental analysis indicates that it is from the Klingon system. This blade was deliberately coated, and while I can't say for certainty, there appears the idea it was to cause this type of poisoning. Further analysis is that while the wound was severe, the actual cause of death was via poisoning via the knife. That is what I am putting in my official medical log. The cause of death was via Thallium poisoning." Allyndra made that odd rolling shrug which caused her wings to rustle. "My speculation only, but I believe someone planned for this to happen."

Gabriel gave a slight nod, glancing to Allyndra at her conclusion. He was more than just a little relieved this supported the direction of the investigation. "I'll be doing some more work on the cyber forensics soon. But so far, this supports the theory of an outsider carrying this out rather than Ensign Mimi. As such, we should maybe rethink holding her in the brig. There's more evidence pointing away from her than to her now."

The revelation was certainly unexpected and caused Tarin to push her fingers through the curly hair along her left temple. She turned from the console to face the other two. "The cause of death was poisoning? Not the punctures to KehG's chest?" It seemed out of place considering the circumstances she'd been briefed upon in the prior reports from sickbay. "How long does thallium poisoning take to set in and kill? Not a Human, but a Klingon?" She now had many more questions.

"Klingons have redundant physiology. A collapsed lung is not as debilitating. The knife missed the ventricle and aorta. Though they have more robust physiology and can take a physical beating in return, it means a higher and quicker metabolism. One reason they can drink to such excess. However, while this dose would probably kill, say a human, it would have taken longer. My best estimate is based upon the analysis the drop in blood sugar would have caused unconsciousness and then started organ failure." She pointed toward the covered corpse. "This far post-mortem, without being able to remove any organs, it would be difficult to determine status. The station would have better facilities, but I am guessing captain that the Klingons want their compatriot back."

Tarin pushed a finger to her chin then nodded in private thought. "Yes, they will. A full autopsy is still out of the question." She then slowly paced around the other two crew members with long steps. "What evidence do we have that Ensign Mimi hadn't obtained this knife and the thallium coating herself?" was her next question. "If she didn't kill KehG...then who did?" her piercing hazel eyes turned to Stark. "I need proof of her innocence, not speculation. What have you found in the security logs?"

"No other crew came to Sickbay during the window of opportunity, and I can verify everyone's whereabouts at that time," Gabriel shook his head with a frown as he considered this new blip in the timeline. "We still have no registered intruders. Once I get someone in Ops to help decipher that figure we saw on the footage, I'll have more for you."

Gabriel paused, his frown deepening with doubt as he looked back to Tarin. "A timeline is also a tool for determining guilt. But this makes the proposed timeline even less likely Mimi would have been able to do this. We have two separate medical statements that say Mimi was sedated...like, knocked out sedated...and would not have been capable of physically doing this during that window. If we add the thallium to the mix, pardon the expression...we'd be suggesting that Mimi, sedated, was able to get up, without being seen by the medic on duty, knock the medic out, leave Sickbay...although logs show that she was in Sickbay during that period so she would also need to somehow alter the logs during this time...retrieve thallium from somewhere, that was sourced from the Klingon system...How? When? Why?...All without being seen...come back, stab the victim, lay back down and pretend to be asleep.

And keeping in mind that the first fight at dinner was spontaneous, and they were both moved directly from there to Sickbay, with no opportunity to premeditate a plan in between. So, despite having the wherewithal to carry all this out on the fly, she's then stupid enough to drop the knife directly under her hand by her bed? Put it this way...I wouldn't pick guilty if I were in a jury." Obviously, the mechanics were different in Starfleet than in a civilian prosecution, but it was the best way he could describe it. "Let me get this footage analysed, hopefully it will shed more light."

Slowing her pacing then coming to a halt, Tarin pondered the security officer's assertion. The idea that the ensign - in her compromised state - could have overtaken sickbay and committed the act while simultaneously framing someone else was a task too tall for the junior officer, in her opinion. But speculation was still speculation, and whether it was in the defense or prosecution of an individual, she still required more evidence. Thoughtfully, she glanced up to the bright ceiling lights. "A famous Starfleet officer once said: 'When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'." She looked back to Warraquim and Stark. "If Ensign Mimi didn't do this, someone else did. And if your investigation confirms no external intruders...that means it was someone on this ship. From our crew." It was a sobering moment for Morgan to speak those words.

Gabriel cleared his throat, but didn't have quite enough of a death wish to inform her that the quote was originally from a Sherlock Holmes book. "Well, an intruder might not be entirely impossible, not yet. That figure in the footage is clearly using some kind of camouflaging device. I'll find you your proof, Captain."

"As far as I can go right now, captain, without being more intrusive. I would say expressing the bladder probably was boarding on close to the edge. I am not security, but my speculation is that considering the origin of the Thallium, the coating, and the object in question, I would say it points to our erstwhile rescuers. Perhaps someone there wanting a step up the ladder perhaps?" Allyndra once more made that rolling shrug. "Anyway that the knife could have been just transported? The state of the ship, our shields are not in the best shape."

Glancing around sickbay once again with frustration, Tarin struggled to understand how such a small and compact area of the ship could have been infiltrated or compromised without visual evidence. The chief medical officer was doing the best with what she had to work with; there was no doubt in the captain's mind. "You've done well so far to uncover this, doctor." She then turned her impatience toward the security officer. "You have six hours, Petty Officer Stark. And this is on top of the initial time I previously gave you." Morgan approached the thin young gold-collared man. "Find me this proof. For Ensign Mimi's sake. Or should I assign someone else to this task?"

Gabriel managed to keep his face straight and serious, even if he'd had an overwhelming urge to chuckle with disbelief...unless she had an investigative specialist hidden in the Jefferies tube, there was no one else. Turell was running the entire Security department by herself. And it didn't take a Vulcan to question the logic that it would speed the investigation up to appoint someone new who would have to get themselves up to speed on all the data before progressing the case further. Gabriel had gotten himself in all sorts of trouble with his mouth in the past. He might have done so now, but the responsible voice in his head reminded him that it wasn't worth putting Mimi at risk. "That won't be necessary, Captain," he replied instead, and even managed to use a sombre tone of voice.

"Good. Then get it done." Tarin's order was clear and spoken in her distinctive dry tone of voice. She glanced back across Warraquim, Stark and KehG's body one last time before heading to the sickbay's exit. "I'll be on the bridge or in my office if you need me," she said over her shoulder before the exit door swished open.

Allyndra waited until the captain was gone. She shook her head. "If there is anything more I can help with let me know."

Gabriel nodded, sharing a small, knowing smile with her, gripping his PADD to his chest. "I will. Thank you for your help, Doctor. At least we've found one more piece of this puzzle..."

[OFF]

--

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Second and Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security/Tactical
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

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