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F rank had a point, but still. I shook my head. “This is… not good.”

“You know him?” Hazel asked.

“We know of him,” Frank said. He quickly explained about Davika and what we’d just learned.

For reasons I couldn’t explain, I inched toward the hull wall and the space between it and the pod.

Captain Stuedecker stood there, waiting, I guessed, to see if Hazel needed him for anything else. He bumped his chin at me, getting my attention. “You might not want to see the body, ma’am.”

He was almost smiling, hair the color of corn silk and dimples clearly visible. Like this was the most exciting thing that had happened since he’d been on board. Maybe it was. Men definitely looked at these kinds of things differently than women did.

“I definitely don’t want to see it, but I feel like I should. Just in case there’s something worth seeing.”

His expression didn’t change, but his eyes narrowed as he peered closer. “You’re the VA’s mother, am I right?”

I nodded, taking one small step nearer to the pod. “I am. Ellis McFadden. Head librarian. And Special Envoy.”

“I heard. Congratulations, ma’am.”

“Thanks.” I didn’t recognize him from the library, but he could be one of the patrons who came in on weekends or only got his entertainment online via the library app.

His almost-smile grew into a full-fledged grin. “Hey. You’re the one who solved the Woolsey thing.”

“I helped.” I couldn’t take all the credit. Frank had done a lot of the heavy lifting with all of his computer wizardry.

“That was pretty impressive. Especially since word was you were responsible.”

I gave him a sharp look and a little sass. “Was that the word?”

“Initially, but I never—” He cleared his throat softly, tucked the tablet against his side, and wisely changed the subject. “Forensics will be here soon, but I guess you should have a look at the body. See if you notice anything important.”

Now that he’d said that, I kind of had to. I’d been thinking about waiting for pictures, too. But honestly, looking at those didn’t appeal much more than looking at the real thing. My squeamishness didn’t seem to care if it was live or a reproduction.

I could do this. I was a grown woman. I’d given birth to a child. I should not be this affected by dead bodies.

And yet …

I took a breath and stuck my head around the corner. For a moment, despite knowing I was looking at a body, I couldn’t tell what was what.

Then Captain Stuedecker kindly shined his flashlight onto the subject.

“Ew.” I sucked in air, trying not to faint while also trying not to breathe through my nose in case there was a smell.

“It’s okay. Not everyone’s good with dead bodies.”

“Is anyone?”

One of Navun Kiat’s legs was bent under him, the other twisted in such a way that the knee no longer looked correctly attached. His arms were tucked hard at his sides and his head was tilted back. Like he was trying to see what was at the other end of the narrow slot he’d been shoved into.

I was glad not to be able to see his face. I swallowed and turned toward Captain Stuedecker. “You can shut your light off.”

He clicked it off. “See anything interesting?”

I shook my head. “I haven’t really looked yet.” Not a lie. I needed a moment to get over the shock of it.

Frank gave me a look, clearly concerned. “Els, you okay?”

“You’re all right, aren’t you, ma’am?”

“I’m fine.” Breathe . Having Captain America self-designate as my sidekick wasn’t helping. I gave Captain Stuedecker my sweetest smile. “Do you think you could get me some water?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He took off.

I girded my loins and went back to the funereal gap between hull wall and storage pod. I turned on the light on my wristband and quickly snapped some pictures while also trying to see the scene with impartial, non-queasy eyes.

The light was almost too bright in the small space, but my eyes adjusted. I looked for small details that might matter.

There were bruises on the young man’s throat, which was stretched back to its full length, and a button missing from the cuff of his right sleeve. Some dark staining near his belly button. Blood? Something caught the light near his hand. I leaned in…

“Ma’am? Here you go.”

I jumped. Captain Stuedecker was back with the water. I took the cup from him. “Thank you.” Heart racing, I drank. The forensics team had arrived.

Two small holoprojectors had been stuck to the hull wall and the far edge of the pod, beaming out repeating banners that read, No Admittance Athos Security Forces , cordoning off the area.

I was done looking at the body.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Frank said, admiration shining in his eyes as he got me a caffeine-free diet cola from the Instachef. “You hate that kind of stuff.”

I shrugged, feeling rather proud of myself. “I do, but it had to be done. I mean, I’ll probably have nightmares, but whatever. We need to figure out what’s going on.”

He chuckled. “We do.” He brought me my soda and sat on the couch next to me. Gracie hopped onto his shoulder. “If you send me the pics, I’ll get them on the big screen and we can take another look.”

I cut my eyes at him, nearly laughing at his eagerness. “Could I have my drink first? I’m trying to settle my stomach.”

Grinning, Frank held up his hands. “Right, sorry, forgot.”

“I actually already sent them to you.”

“You’re the best.”

“I know.” I leaned back to drink my cola. Harry was snuggled up against my side, purring. He didn’t seem to care that he hadn’t been home all day. He was just happy to be close to me.

I’d say you couldn’t buy that kind of love, but I literally had. Best money I’d ever spent. I lazily scratched Harry’s neck while Frank sent the photos to the big screen.

As much as I didn’t want to look at them, we had to. This death, which was undoubtedly a murder, made the whole thing much more serious. Hazel didn’t have to tell us that. We were on the cusp of an international incident more than ever. And probably close to falling off.

“Will your daughter tell Davika about Navun?”

“I doubt it. That would reveal she knew the two were involved. She’ll probably just pass the news on to the premier, and it’ll be disseminated through him.”

“Or we could tell her and watch her face.”

I’d already drunk about half the cola. I set the cup down. The pics I took were up on the screen in his living area. I could see enough of them without really looking. “You think she’s involved more than we already thought?”

He was staring at the photos, so intent he didn’t answer for a moment. “Not now, no.”

I glanced at the screen but wasn’t sure what he’d noticed that had changed his mind. “Why’s that?”

“Navun has to be at least six feet tall. Maybe a little taller.”

“I think that’s accurate.”

“And how tall would you say Davika is?”

“Maybe five-two but not much more than that.”

Frank nodded at the screen. “Could she have really reached his throat with enough pressure to leave marks like that?”

I looked at the photo. The bruises looked darker in the picture than they had in real life. “Probably not. Unless he was down on the floor and she was kneeling on him. But if that was the case, why wouldn’t he have pushed her off? He would have been stronger than her.”

“Yep. The autopsy will show if there are marks on his torso that line up with being kneeled on, but I’m guessing there won’t be any. Plenty of postmortem marks from being bent up like that. I’d say he was killed by someone his own height. Although getting stabbed in the gut probably played a part as well.”

“The other guard who was on duty with him at the gala is still missing. I’d say that makes him a pretty good suspect.”

“I agree, at least in the case of Navun’s murder. But would a guard have planned and executed a theft of this magnitude all by himself?” He shook his head. “I doubt it was the two of them either. More likely they were doing what they were told.”

“Any thoughts on who the real mastermind is then?”

He sighed. “Not yet. But I bet they won’t be happy about this murder. Probably not part of the plan. We need to pay close attention to the players, see if any of them look worried.”

He leaned back and put his hands behind his head, his gaze fixed on the screen. “I know the lights went out at the gala, but I can’t believe no one saw anything. How is that possible?”

A new idea popped into my head. “Maybe it’s time we put our special envoy designations to work. See just what kind of access they’ll actually get us.”

Curiosity lit his eyes. “You want to talk to the premier’s wife? See if she and Saetang are more than just patron and client?”

“I would like to find that out, but I was thinking we need to interview Ayronina, the singer who was there that night. She was the closest one to the Star. She carried it out, after all. What if she fainted not from the shock of the lights going out but because someone snatched the gem from her?”

Frank grinned. “Have I mentioned I think you’re brilliant?”

I fluttered my lashes at him, totally charmed. “Not recently, no.”

“Well, you are.” He winked at me, got up, and held out his hand. “Come on. Let’s go mingle with the rich and famous.”