Page 168 - The Perpetrations of Captain Kaga

Investigating the Mystery of the Talking Plant
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Farnitt looked at him sharply. “Bulakko dead? Did it happen here?
Did some madman break in to the Center last night?”
“No, no,” said Lugo. “I checked the computer register for the outer
doors of the Center. They were not opened between the time you left
and the medic arrived this early this morning. Bulakko died in his
sleep. The g-force regulator in his quarters went haywire and squashed
him, a freak accident.”
“I wonder…” mused Captain Kaga. He turned to Farnitt. “By the
way, what time did you close up the Center last night?”
Farnitt blinked and opened his mouth, then shut it and started
again. “Listen here, Captain whatever-your-name-is, this is serious! An
emissary dead and the Center vandalized! What shall I do? Lieutenant,
the PKU has got to take responsibility here. I don’t know what to
make of all this.”
Lugo had regained his composure and was looking at the other two
appraisingly. “I think,” he said slowly, “that we couldn’t do better than
have Captain Kaga ask a few questions. He is not personally involved
and I have complete confidence in his ability to unravel mysteries such
as this. Perhaps we can solve this quietly without causing too much
scandal.”
“Scandal!” yelped Farnitt. “I’ll be ruined! This job means a lot to
me, Lieutenant. Yes, yes, you’re right about getting it straight amongst
ourselves before letting word of this out. What do we do first,
Captain?”
Kaga looked at him thoughtfully. Farnitt was a young
undistinguished academic type with unruly hair and a slight stoop.
“First you can answer my question. Lugo told me that the opening was
finished by 2200 last night. When did you leave?”
“Oh,” said Farnitt, appearing to use his memory with difficulty. “I
just stayed around to tidy things up a bit, and do some administrative
work that had been pending. It was quite a while after the catering and
clean-up crews left, but I don’t remember exactly when I went home.”
“I see,” said Kaga. “Well, we can find that in the datalogs, if
necessary. Did you check for any unauthorized individuals in the main
hall at that time?”
“Of course! I always do after an opening. I can swear there was no
one here when I locked up. And I certainly would have noticed it if
the sonopor plant had been left in that condition.”

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