Rebirth Page 22

Chapter Four

  The Afternoon of January 14th

  Paul Divine and Charles Bragg have a Bad Day

  Paul Divine and Charles Bragg sat with Alice Tarraway in her small cramped office discussing the sudden death of Mrs Peterson.

  "The one person that we could have spoken to, who could have confirmed one way or the other the identity of the woman we know as Mary Clayton dies mysteriously, and just after Paul speaks to the Claytons. Paul put the two of them at the top of his list following the chat, who is to say that the Claytons didn`t also realise that Paul is not who he says he is, maybe they guessed that he was a government agent in disguise, actively engaged in seeking them out. It is just too much of a coincidence." Charles Bragg exclaimed angrily.

  "No, Charles, I went from the Claytons cubicle almost directly onto the Petersons`, if they killed her it must have been with a slow acting poison that was given to her much earlier in the morning." Paul Divine said.

  "We have yet to find out the cause of her death, until Doctor Schwartz has finished his examination of her body we can hardly accuse anyone of killing her." Alice Tarraway replied.

  "Alice is right Charles; we will have to wait for the doctor`s findings. Paul Divine said.

  "And if the doctor cannot find out how Mrs Peterson died, what then Paul?" Charles Bragg asked angrily.

  "Then we will have no choice than to proceed in other directions, such as searching the hold for the stolen part from the Matter Transporter. It is too large for the Claytons to have it on or about their persons without my having seen it when I spoke with them, so it must be with their goods down in the hold of this ship." Paul Divine said.

  "Don`t you have a list of the number and type of crates and cases each colonist brought aboard with them?" Charles Bragg asked Alice Tarraway.

  "Well yes Charles, the number and type of crates and cases is on the computer, but what good will they do you?"

  "Well does it say where about in the hold they are stored?" Paul Divine asked.

  "No, because of the amount of goods and the finite amount of available space, goods were put into whatever space could be found for them. I believe that the only way that you will be able to search for their goods will be on Persephone, when we unload all of the goods stored on the ship." Alice Tarraway said regretfully, and shrugging her shoulders.

  "Then we should find the stolen item shortly after we arrive at Persephone, and until then it seems that we must await the doctor`s findings." Charles Bragg stated.

  "We could give the Claytons a shot of that new improved batch of Pentothal, which would soon bring the truth out into the open." Paul Divine said, he was feeling a little angry at the death of Mrs Peterson and would like to prove the killers guilt sooner rather than later.

  "The Church would never agree to its use and neither will I." Alice Tarraway stated forcibly, Alice believed firmly that the rights of all human beings were one of the pillars of civilisation."

  "Well in that case I want you to tell the colonists that you are not satisfied that the death of Mrs Peterson was by natural causes, and that Charles and I are to act as the Coroners with the task of finding out who did this foul dead. Ask them to assist us in accomplishing this task before we reach Persephone." Paul Devine demanded.

  "I thought that the two of you wanted to work incognito?" Alice Tarraway said, just a little surprised at this request from Paul Divine.

  "I believe that the couple posing as the Claytons have a very good idea as to who we are." Paul Divine replied. "And working undercover in these circumstances would only make our work harder."

  "Then you could be the reason that Mrs Peterson was killed." Alice Tarraway said accusingly.

  "No, if the Claytons are our spies, then as soon as they realised that there was someone on board who could unmask them, that person`s death warrant was signed. They couldn`t risk questions being asked about their real identities." Paul Devine stated firmly.

  "Yes." Charles Bragg said. "But I hate to think that our being on board hastened her death."

  "I don`t think that it did, the spies would quite probably have logged into the ships computer as soon as they got aboard the Constellation as part of their own security measures. If the Clayton`s are the spies, then on finding that someone else hailed from Pendleton, Oregon, they would have responded appropriately to secure their safety." Paul Divine replied.

  "You are that sure that the Claytons are imposters then, it couldn`t be that you just took an instant dislike to Mrs Clayton, as one can do at times with a new acquaintance?" Alice Tarraway asked.

  "No, when I spoke to Mrs Clayton, as I suppose we must keep calling her, I felt as if an icy hand had grabbed a hold of me, she may look innocent, but something about her scared the hell out of my subconscious, something deep within her eyes yelled evil lies here to my brain. Of course I am not one hundred per cent sure that they are our Aldebran spies, but I sure think that they are our best bet at this moment in time. Charles here can continue checking the others left on our list; after lunch I will see if Mr Peterson is awake and up to talking to me. After that I may have to speak to Mrs Clayton again, but this time as a Coroner."

  "The colonists will ask why I have appointed the two of you as the Coroners, we can hardly say that you are both government agents, most of the people on this ship are leaving Earth to escape the likes of you." Alice smiled rather embarrassed as she realised what she had said but continued. "I am sorry Paul, Charles, but it is true you know."

  "Simply tell them the truth, which in the past I was a private investigator and that I have helped in similar cases on colony planets that are far from Earth, ones that don`t have the necessary people available to carry out such a task on their planet." Paul Divine replied, stretching the truth a little.

  "It might also be better Alice, if you spoke to the families who are berthed nearby the Peterson`s cubicle, to ascertain as to whether the Peterson`s did actually get along. Obviously a woman`s touch would go down better with your people rather than me with my size ten feet tramping all over their emotions at a time like this." Paul Devine asked.

  "Of course, I will see to that for you." Alice said pensively as she took in the full meaning behind Paul Divine`s quiet words.