An Imposter Among Us

4: I Accuse Someone of Murder

Ceres (3rd-person POV)

Silence crackled all around the central cafeteria table. All eight of them looked down at their laps, Zaniah's last words hanging in the air. Someone should go get the captain.

Captain Genesis was still snoozing below deck, completely oblivious to the murder that had just occurred on her ship. No one wanted to be the one to break the news, obviously, so they all played the quiet game. Ceres took that time to size them all up, one by one.

Jericho had on an unbreakable poker face, eyes narrowed at a teary-eyed and shivering Calypso across the table. Next to her, Graham's knee bounced restlessly, giving the table a little bit of a shake. Light, across from Ceres, retreated into himself, his head buried in his arms and his knees pressed between his chest and the table.

Stella occasionally took a shaky breath, but other than that she was as composed as Jericho. Zaniah kept her chin up, like she had to be strong for the whole crew.

Elara bit her knuckle and tapped the fingers of her other hand on her cane. Finally, she spoke up. "I'll...I'll get her." She rose and used the cane to tap around the legs of the tables and chairs to scoot out and leave.

Calypso bit her lip. "I brushed her off. I brushed her off like she was a pesky little fly and now—" She covered her mouth and let out a sob. Stella reached out awkwardly and patted her back, but was hesitant.

Way to put on a show, Ceres thought. Jericho must have felt the same way, but he was being a little more obvious about it, making an act of rolling his eyes.

Another long, stifling moment passed. Graham leveled a glare at everyone in the room, but it lingered on Ceres. He returned the look and stuck out his tongue. That seemed to push Graham over the edge.

"You think this is a joke to you?" Graham snapped, banging his hands on the table. "Someone on this ship is dead, and one of you did it!"

Jericho finally broke his gaze off Calypso. "'One of you'? So you're not a suspect?"

"Of course not!" Graham crossed his arms and grumbled the next bit. "I was counting inventory the whole time."

"What?!"

Everyone nearly leapt out of their seats when they heard Captain Genesis's hoarse shout. Stomps sounded, and soon their esteemed captain emerged with a bed-head, plaid pajama pants, no shoes, and a half-tucked I Woke Up Like This T-shirt.

"Tell me it ain't true," she spat. "This is a prank, right? If so, it's not very funny."

"She's in the medbay," Calypso said quietly, "if you want to see."

Genesis looked around at the crew, gauging who was missing. "Maeng."

Stella nodded. Light brought his arm into his little cocoon and wiped his eyes. Interesting.

Ceres didn't think it was possible for Genesis to mess up her hair more than it already was, but by the time she finished digging her hands through it anyone could have mistaken it for a diseased rat's nest. She then rubbed her brow for a full minute before speaking again.

"Someone did this to her?" she asked. "Like, she didn't do it herself?"

"Her hands were bare," Jericho said, "but there were no fingerprints on the blade. Either her ghost cleaned it off or the killer did, or wore gloves."

Everyone turned to the only person with gloved hands prominently displayed. Ceres's.

"I knew it!" Graham shouted, standing up and pointing. "Ceres committed the murder!"