I'm Just a Part of You

Evidence

After his meal, Gard wasted no time in visiting the crime scenes.

"In order." He asked, as Sisko led him towards the habitat ring. "I want to see everything."

The first set of quarters had little of interest. There was a picture of three happy, relaxed men on the storage unit immediately inside the door. He picked it up, examining it carefully.

"The victim, and two of his classmates." Sisko said. "One of them was killed in action not too long ago. The other is hundreds of light years away."

"And Dax came in here? Why?"

"She helped him get back to his quarters. I understand that he suggested she stay the night." Sisko said, levelly. "She was, apparently, very tempted. The Curzon in her, she said. But she left."

"How did she react?" Gard asked.

"Badly. It took her a while to process what had happened. Although I don't imagine the hangover helped."

"She'd been drinking alcohol?"

"Yes. She, Kira and Ilario shared a bottle or two of Saurian brandy in Quark's. From what Dax said, he turned on the charm when they were alone."

"I see." Gard observed. "And you're sure nothing happened that she isn't telling us?"

"I am. We checked the logs. Prior to security arriving, his door last opened at oh-three-zero-seven hours, station time. Dax was in here with him a minute at most. You should have seen her the next day. Other than Worf, I haven't seen an officer look that shaken aboard station in a long time. Even the ones that have lost friends have had time to adjust before they get here."

"Worf is her ex-husband, correct?"

"Jadzia's, yYes. He's not a suspect."

"Why?"

"Because he's one of the most honourable people in the entire galaxy. If he'd decided to kill Ilario, he'd have called him out, or barged in with a blade and attacked him up close, where he had a chance to defend himself. Not killed him from a distance with an obscure weapon."

"I see." Gard remarked. "Can I see the next scene, please."

There was a lot more clutter in Vanderweg's quarters. Statues. Knick-knacks. He estimated that there were crafts from at least a dozen planets represented. There was also another picture, this time, of a pair of smiling humans, one wearing a white dress.

"What's this?" he asked, handing the image to Sisko.

"It's a photo of her and her husband on their wedding day." Sisko explained. "It plays a short loop."

"Interesting." Gard commented. "Did the two of them come into contact at all?"

"They were both in the science division. But they had very different specialisms. Vanderweg specialised in micropaleontology like her husband. Dax occasionally interacted with her when Jadzia was the lead science officer. But as far as I know, if she'd met Ezri at all, it was only in passing.

Gard thought over the information. Joran had had no obvious pattern for picking his victims. Even though he'd spent the best part of two lifetimes thinking about the case, he still had no idea how the twisted host had chosen them. If this was the same underlying behaviour pattern, there might not be a pattern here, either.

Even though there was one, single commonality between the scenes. There was one thing that was present in both. A photo of smiling people. It wasn't much to go on...

"Has Dax talked about being lonely at all?" He asked. "Or about struggling to form friendships?"

"She's linked into Jadzia's friendship group very well." Sisko said. "I'm not sure how many friends of her own she's made, though. And I don't think she's been at the Tongo table since she arrived."