Chapter 2

The room was bright, open. It was just like almost any other room on the Presidium. Large windows that open on to the balconies that look over the crystal blue lakes that ran the circumference of the Citadel’s connecting ring. Kita stood very still, letting the evidence of her surroundings flow into her mind. Turians had a knack for sight and noticing the usually unnoticeable that other species overlook. Her dark blue armored face scales reflected the lights that seemed to cover the entire ceiling and her polished C-Sec armor reflected the grim scene before her.

Ambassador Phillip’s body had long been taken from the crime scene but all the evidence had been left. Chief Detective David Rogers had requested her personally to take a look before he could get there. The other human ambassadors and even Councilor Udina were barking down his neck to get something done about the assassination. None of it concerned Kita, not now anyway.

She carefully and meticulously stepped around the body’s outline and the dried blood splatter across the floor. She was hit from behind. The window was open, something the Ambassador did on a normal basis. Preliminary directional trajectory placed the gunman only a few stories higher on the opposite side of the lake. The time of death was at 14:00; a time when there are usually people out and about on the Citadel.

“A bold move.” Kita spoke to herself as she scanned the balconies across the way. Her attention was pulled away when she heard the door to the apartment slide open. She turned her head to acknowledge that she knew someone was in the room.

“Detective Kita.” Chief Detective David Rogers strode into the room with a hint of a smile on his face. His greying hair highlighted the wrinkles on his face. The human C-Sec officer stood a good three inches taller than Kita, something the turian detective was not fond of, but she didn’t hold biological make up against him. He was a broad man, who tended to wear his uniform a little tight to portray his powerful build. “Glad you made it. I kept getting stalled by the damn ambassadors in the hall. What do you make of it?”

“Nothing new,” Kita sighed. She turned her attention back to the balconies, still scanning the area. Rogers crossed his arms and leaned against the open window, a dramatic difference from Kita’s straight back, official stance. “The reports say that the shot came from the outside, yes? Have they narrowed the search parameters?”

“Not that I’ve heard.” Rogers glanced out the window, watching the air traffic glide by rather than a sniper advantage point. “Why? This seems just like another political assassination. We should be looking into her enemies; political opponents who want her out of the way.”

“There were plenty who wanted her out of the way. I’ve compiled a list.” Kita handed her commanding officer a data pad. Rogers calmly flipped through it, pausing at a name here or there. “No one on that list seems adventurous enough to set up an assassination like this in broad daylight. They would probably go for more of a quiet assassination. She dies in her sleep from natural causes. It doesn’t raise any suspicions. But sniping her from across the Presidium? That’s a statement. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone doesn’t take credit for it soon.”

“Well, we’ll have the tech guys get some V.I.s on the extranet looking for intel, I suppose.” Rogers handed the data pad back and stared to move towards the door. “No point in hanging around here. I’ll have the cleaners take care of it within the hour.”

“Delay them.” Kita turned to her commander. “I want to have a closer look at her files and apartment. Something doesn’t seem right about all of this.”

“What doesn’t seem right?” Rogers frowned. “She was a political extremist trying to get a foreign government to release prisoners of another foreign government. She was sticking her nose where it didn’t belong and she paid the price for it.”

“This is the price for trying to help people?” Kita pointed at the dried blood. Her orange eyes flashed a blood red. Catching her temper, she adjusted herself and straightened out. “I apologize, sir.”

“You should be, Kita.” Rogers straightened up, flexing out his shoulders. “I’ll delay the cleaning crew for one hour. That’s all I’m giving you. If you can’t find anything substantial, move on. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.” Kita saluted as Rogers turned and left the room. Once alone again, she turned her attention from the blood and the window to the terminal in the corner. She took a seat and began the daunting task of sifting through the ambassador’s messages. Most were harmless documents, requests, and official statements, nothing that someone should be killed over. After nearly a half hour of reading, Kita came upon an interesting incoming message.

 

Katherine,

I’m sorry, but the Digeris incident cannot be allowed into open knowledge. It would certainly mean the end to whatever peace that has been built between the Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy. Do not ask me to divulge this information again. The Salarian team will just have to wait a bit longer while we finish what we started there.

Sincerely,

Ambassador Collins

 

“Digeris incident?” Kita pulled her omni-tool from her belt and activated the holographic projection interface. She logged into the C-Sec database and began a search for all known incidents on Digeris. She was greatly disappointed when all the hits came back concerning the bloody battle during the Krogan Rebellion; nothing any more recent. She downloaded the message to her omni-tool and stashed it back on her belt. “What could possibly have happened for you to be murdered over?”

No sooner did she put her omni-tool away did it start to sound an alarm. She quickly retrieved it and recognized that she had an incoming message. Pressing a few buttons an image of a fellow turian C-Sec officer popped up on her screen.

“Detective Kita,” the officer began. “This is Officer Riles on the Presidium. We have information regarding your case.”

“Yes, officer, what is it?” Kita leaned back in the chair.

“Ma’am,” the officer seemed to smile. “We found a witness.”