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W e spent another hour in the spa, moving into different rooms as the mood took us. We talked some more, drifting in and out of conversation as we changed spaces. The more we talked, the more I became convinced that Fathia was not having an affair with Dr. Saetang or anyone, but the premier? He was getting more interesting by the moment.

I couldn’t get any more information out of her about the Star, however. If she knew it was a fake, she wasn’t letting on.

Despite that, I couldn’t wait to compare notes with Frank.

I got that chance about an hour after I got home. I’d texted him to let him know I’d returned and to text back as soon as he could. He didn’t text back.

Instead, he showed up at my door. Thankfully for me, I’d cleaned up the melted remains of my makeup.

“How was fly fishing with the premier?” I asked as he strolled in. I was still in my black tunic and leggings. It was a comfortable combo, and we weren’t going anywhere.

“The man is a talker, and his favorite subject is himself.” Frank stopped in front of me as the door slid shut behind him. He kissed me. “How was the spa? You do have a relaxed glow about you.”

“It was good but I have a feeling not as educational as your afternoon. Come in and sit down and we’ll talk.”

He went to the couch and sat by Harry, who did a big stretch and put his back feet on Frank’s leg. Frank rubbed Harry’s belly. “Hey there, buddy.”

“Hello, mate.”

I shook my head at the two of them. Like old friends in a pub. “You want something to drink or eat?”

“No, I’m fine.” He patted the cushion on the other side of him. “I just need you.”

Smiling, I joined him, sitting close.

He put his arm around me. “All right, tell me what you learned.”

“The bad news first. I didn’t find out if she knows the Star is fake.”

“We have to assume she does. Or that she’s lying about being able to feel its pull.”

“For sure. Now, for what I did find out. I don’t believe Fathia’s having an affair with Dr. Saetang. Or anyone, for that matter. She’s not happy in her marriage, but she’s not stepping outside of it, either. I feel pretty confident in that. Her patronage of Dr. Saetang is her way of doing something important. Her marriage vows mean something to her, even though it was an arranged marriage.”

Frank nodded. “Yut didn’t mention that.”

“Doesn’t make him look that great when you know that he’s married to Fathia because she was basically handed to him, not because he won her heart or anything like that.”

“I’d agree. Certainly doesn’t live up to the image he thinks he has.”

“Which is?”

“A real man’s man, capable of anything and beloved by everyone but especially women.”

I pursed my lips. “Is that right? Fathia thinks he gave Ayronina that nebulite bracelet to woo her and that if he’s not sleeping with her, he’s definitely trying to. She also thinks he might try something with me.”

Frank’s eyes narrowed. “He does and there really will be an international incident.”

I chuckled, but I’d be lying if I said Frank’s protectiveness wasn’t a little bit flattering. It wasn’t often a woman of my age got that kind of attention.

He kissed my temple. “Not that I don’t think you’re capable of taking care of yourself, but maybe next time we’re in the gym, I’ll teach you a few self-defense moves. Couldn’t hurt.”

“I’m game. Can you teach me to flip someone over my shoulder?”

He laughed. “I can.”

“Then we’re definitely doing that.” I patted his leg. “Now, what did you learn?”

“That Yut probably is sleeping with Ayronina. There’s the possibility that he’s lying about it because he wanted me to think he was. I can’t say for sure what the truth is, but considering that he’s the reason she’s on this trip, I lean toward it being true.”

I grimaced. “He’s so … our age. And she’s so … not. She could be his daughter. Also, he’s married.”

“I know. He should be ashamed of himself for many reasons, but trust me, shame is not an emotion he feels. He told me about numerous women he’s bedded, none of which were Fathia.”

“Did you ask him about his wife?”

“I did, but it became clear pretty quickly that he wasn’t interested in talking about her.” He exhaled, gaze rolling toward the ceiling. “I moved on.”

“Him and Ayronina?” I tried not to picture it, but my mind worked too fast. “Ew. Just … ew.”

“Right there with you.”

“What else did you talk about?”

“A lot of fishing talk, which would bore you and add nothing to the case. But he did mention that he’s leaning toward signing the FAN agreement if, and these are his words, things can be made right and his concessions are met.”

I glanced at Frank. “Concessions aside, did he mean made right as in the Star being returned?”

“I don’t know. I tried to move things in that direction, but he didn’t bite. My gut says he knows something’s up and he’s waiting to see if he can use this whole thing to his advantage.”

“This is crazy. I hate all this political intrigue stuff. I feel like it’s over my head. All the backdoor dealing and subterfuge. I’m not cut out for it.”

“It’s not my place to tell your daughter or the admiral what to do, but I’d confront the premier about the stone being gone. Your daughter could be right. The premier might be behind this whole thing so that he can gain an advantage in the negotiations. Also, there’s every reason to think the guard who’s still missing is the one doing the premier’s dirty work. And that he’s likely the one who killed Navun, too.”

I could see that. I nodded. “What if the two guards stole it together, on the premier’s orders, then Navun either got cold feet or decided to keep it for himself, they fought, and Navun ended up dead? Seems pretty cut and dry to me. Find the other guard, and you’ll find the stone.”

“Do we know that other guard’s name?”

“Has to be in those files Hazel sent us. At the very least, we can see who Navun was rooming with. That has to be him.”

Frank pulled his arm from around me to lean forward. He rested his elbows on his knees and stared out into the room. For a moment, he said nothing. Then he looked at me. “I have an idea. It’s probably a little crazy, and there’s no guarantee it’ll work, but it’s the only thing I can think of.”

“What is it?”

“How would you feel about a manhunt?”

“You mean like get everyone on the starliner looking?”

Frank got to his feet and walked around the coffee table, then turned to face me. One side of his mouth hitched up in a grin. “Not everyone. Just you, me, and Harry.”

Harry’s head came up. “I’m in. I love to hunt.”

I put my hand on Harry’s flank. “Hang on. Why Harry?”

“Because even though he’s not a flesh-and-blood cat, his olfactory sensors are a lot sharper than ours. Much better than what Gracie’s programmed to have, too, otherwise I’d bring her along.”

“I say bring her anyway. You never know.”

Frank nodded, excitement in his eyes. “Okay.”

I had an inkling of what he wanted to do. “You really think this could work?”

“I have no idea. But what else have we got right now? And if there’s any hope of solving this thing in the time frame your daughter gave us?—”

I pushed to my feet. “What do you need me to do?”

“Nothing. I want to look at those files and get that other guard’s name, then we need to go to their quarters.”

“The ASF have probably cordoned them off.”

He smiled. “Never stopped us before.”

I grinned right back at him. “No, it hasn’t.”

The other guard’s name was Olan Suwan. We went directly back to the quarters he and Navun had shared. Sure enough, there was now a holoprojector attached to the door’s recessed frame, shining out a repeating banner across the doorway that read, No Admittance Athos Security Forces.

Frank did his usual trick with the green plastic emergency key that he always carried and had the door open in about ten seconds. We slipped inside and closed it. Better not to be seen this time, even if we were special envoys.

The messy room was even more chaotic than it had been, proof the ASF had been in to search. At least, I was assuming that was who’d been in here. It was possible Olan had come back. But then the door would have registered he’d used his key, and that would send up an alert that someone would have noticed.

“Find something that we can be sure is Olan’s.”

“Right,” I said. “How about the closet? A uniform? Those have name patches on them.”

“Good thinking.” Frank opened the closet. We’d seen uniforms in there previously.

Thankfully, they were still there.

I turned to look for Harry. He was sniffing at something near the bed. Or under the bed. Gracie had yet to move from Frank’s shoulder. “Did you find something, Harry?”

He straightened, whiskers twitching. “These humans are messy.”

“Yes, they are. Anything of interest?”

“Many smells. All different kinds. Don’t know what I should pay attention to and what I should ignore.”

Neither did I. “Well, come smell this uniform so you can imprint Olan’s scent.”

He trotted over.

Frank took the uniform down off the rack and crouched, holding it at Harry’s level so he could easily access it. Gracie watched from his shoulder. “Here you go.”

Harry sniffed and sniffed, then backed up and shook his head. “That smells of laundry detergent.”

Frank stood. “That’s no good. If this is going to work, we need something Olan’s worn.” He hung the uniform back up.

“Well … can’t Harry just imprint both the guards’ scents and then eliminate them when it becomes possible?” I looked at Harry. “Can you do that?”

“I can try, Mum.”

“Good boy.” I wanted to smooch his adorable face, but as we were in mission mode, that didn’t feel appropriate.

“Frank, some of these scents he’s picking up have to be whatever was left behind by the ASF officers who were in here. Is that going to be a problem?”

“It shouldn’t be. Harry, try to eliminate anything that isn’t strongly repeated. In fact … use the scents from those two pillows as the ones to track.” Frank gestured toward the beds. “Nothing else.”

“You got it,” Harry said.

Frank glanced at me again. “His sensors will be able to separate out everything else. They’re highly calibrated.”

Harry jumped onto the first bed while I asked a question. “Why does he have olfactory sensors in the first place? So that he can tell who his human is?”

“That and for other practical purposes, like being able to smell something burning. And while his sensors are sensitive, they don’t compare with a compdroid designed to track, like a K9 unit. Still better than ours by a long shot.”

“Good to know.”

Harry finished sniffing the pillows and rejoined us. “Ready to track.”

“Good,” Frank said. “I say we start in the place Olan was most likely to have been. At least if he killed Navun.”

“The cargo bay,” I said.

“Yes.”

“Well, if nothing else, Harry should be able to separate those two scents pretty quickly. Let’s go.”

Gracie stayed on Frank’s shoulder, but Harry walked with us. The starliner no longer felt crowded. Not on the lower decks, where we were. Cruisers might not have work tomorrow, but the rest of us did, and that meant most of the staff and crew were winding down.

There’d be some traffic soon, as people headed to the dining halls for dinner, but once they returned to their quarters, these decks would get quiet again.

I was fine with that. The less interference we had, the better.

The entrance to the cargo bay couldn’t be closed off like the guards’ quarters, not when there were necessary items stored there, but it wasn’t an area we had a reason to access, so we’d have to slip in unnoticed.

There were no guards at the entrance, which was good. And apparently, our special envoy status meant our wristbands opened the cargo bay’s human-access door. Once in, we headed for the back of the bay. The holoprojectors were still in use, cordoning off the section where Navun’s body had been found. These were a different variety than the ones placed on doorframes. They projected three beams, making more of a fence than a simple barrier.

Still not a problem for Harry, who could easily fit beneath the bottom shaft of light. Or hop over it.

“There you go, Harry.” I gestured toward the space. “The area beyond those holoprojectors. See if both scents are present there.”

“Righto, Mum.” He slipped under the lowest beam and made his way toward the storage pod, nostrils flaring, whiskers quivering.

Frank lifted Gracie off his shoulder. “Go have a little fly around. Record what you see.”

“Will do, Papa.” She took to the air with a little whoosh of sound.

“Gracie can record?” I laughed. “Can Harry do that, too?”

“Sure. If you turn that feature on. Most people don’t because they don’t like the idea that their pet could be spying on them, but really, no one can access Harry’s memory unless they have your code.”

I slanted my eyes at him. “Not even you?”

“Well …”

I laughed. That code had been given to me when I’d bought Harry. I kept it in my safe. I’d never used it for anything. “I want you to turn that on. He could be recording right now.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Frank said.

A few more moments and Harry padded out from behind the storage pod.

Frank crouched down. “What did you find, Harry?”

He sat by my feet, lifting one paw for a quick clean. “The dead man is Navun?”

I nodded. “That’s right.”

Harry put his paw down. “Then Olan was never here.”