Murder on The Skeld

Chapter 4: Dead Body reported

"It's hard to picture Lee killing someone," Charlet says once we're all seated around the cafeteria table.

"And we're really not turning back?" Grady asks. "At least to honor him? His body?"

As the atmosphere calmed down, the topic of conversation turned to Walter. Benny made us coffee while we asked each other personal questions, going off Grady's hypothesis that the aliens wouldn't have access to the memories of whoever they were impersonating. Unfortunately, that hypothesis turned out to be wrong.

Yuki is sitting between Charlet and Grady, holding Grady's hand while caressing Charlet's shoulder. Pich is consoling Rachel, though Pich looks close to tears herself. Owen is just staring at the table, his coffee cup untouched. Benny is the only one who seems unphased, having finished his coffee already. I reach for my cup with shaky hands and drink, even though I don't feel like it. I'm more angry than sad really, but I don't have anybody to direct my anger at. We don't even know if Lee is guilty. All I know is that someone in here is faking it and I hate that I can't figure out who.

"Trying to find Walter out in space would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack," Benny says. "Except we don't have a magnet."

Owen snaps around. "Oh you think this is funny?"

"No."

"Well, you seem pretty fucking stoic for someone who just lost their buddy."

"I will mourn when there is time for it," Benny says. "That is not now."

Heartless as it sounds, Benny's got the right idea. Mourning is a luxury we can't afford right now.

"We can honor Walter by finding his killer," I say, and look at each of my supposed crewmates. "Which is to say someone at this table."

"Fine." Yuki rubs at her eye before reaching for a button underneath the tabletop. The table surface turns into an interactive screen and Yuki clicks on a few icons to display a map of the ship. "Everybody add your pathing," she says and leans back.

We each get to draw where we went, with the map ticking a timer while we draw. In the end, we have an interactive map that estimates where everyone was at any point during the murder. Yuki looks over the map, using a slider to change the time and watch our icons move.

"Right then," she says. "Benny, it's looking pretty bad for you. It could also be Grady and Owen because you confirmed each other. And then we have Buck." Yuki looks up at me with an apologetic face. "You're the only one we know passed the airlock during that time."

"Yeah but... I'm the one who reported Walter missing in the first place."

"Which would have been a genius move if you were the alien," Grady says in sudden realization.

It's like I can feel the attention shift toward me, and it's not the good kind of attention. Grady has suddenly made me the prime suspect of the conversation.

"No," I say, trying to seem convincing. "Without me, you wouldn't have known Walter was gone until hours later. Who knows how many more they would've killed by then?" When Grady seems unphased by this, I add: "Oh for fuck's sake, I'm the one who's been leading this investigation!"

"And Buck's the one who made sure we didn't eject Lee," Rachel adds. "I trust him."

"But what if Lee's the alien?" Grady says. "What if they both are?"

Pich turns to Grady with a long stare. "Grady," she says slowly, "why are you trying to get the most progressive member of this investigation thrown out?"

Grady throws his hands in front of his chest, as if ready to defend himself. "What, I'm just saying he could have... okay fine, I take it back."

Nobody says anything but Pich doesn't let Grady out of her sight.