He sat back down.
“You’d have to go back to school,” Peterson reminded him.
“I know. It’s what’s held me back. I’m not sure I want to do that.”
“If you’re serious, we could accept an application for an internship here aboard ship, perhaps,” Commander Gundar suggested.
“I wouldn’t mind that myself, but I’m not a veteran and I’m not gay, so that’s me out.”
“You two are a team, so if he came, why would you not accompany him?” Gundar asked, a small smile teasing the corner of his lips.”
The two FBI agents looked at each other.
“Talk about it over lunch?” Peterson asked his new partner.
“Definitely,” Reynolds responded. Then looking around the rest of the table as Klora and I took our seats, he added, “Peterson and I have known each other since the academy.”
“Yep. “ Peterson confirmed.
“Excellent. I hope we will see you both here,” Gundar enthused. “If you decide to apply while aboard ship, we can process your application immediately.
“In the meantime,” Sachuu broke in, “Let us return to the matter at hand. Both Dr. Quincy and our agent at the mate matching center contacted me directly without copying the rest of my team after making the startling discovery that the body we found is not who we expected it to be at all. Rather, according to a DNA match in the system from prior military service, it was discovered that the body is one Jason Sato.”
I frowned. As did the two FBI agents. Klora leaned forward eagerly. “Oh, that is amazing!” he breathed.
“Isn’t that the name of her lawyer?” I asked, puzzled.
“Indeed. The man posing as Jason Sato has in the meantime disappeared, no doubt alerted by the activity that his secret was about to be exposed.”
“Do you think he’s actually Takahashi?” Peterson asked.
Sachuu shook his head. “I do not. He is the wrong height, build, and age. Takahashi would be an entire decade and half older and several pounds heavier.”
“Maybe he was also on the boat with his brother and sister-in-law,” Reynolds suggested.
“That is a possibility. I have the feeling that once we discover who our fake Jason Sato is, we’ll find the rest of the answers we seek,” Sachuu said.
“Maybe they’re both serial killers,” Klora suggested. “And the Takahashi family were convenient targets, killed for the money and house.”
Sachuu shook his head. “This isn’t like The Quiet of the Goat or another of your films. I am certain it is quite ordinary greed given despicable free rein.”
Reynolds snorted. “The Quiet of the Goat,” he murmured. Peterson elbowed him in the side.
“It’s The Silence of the Lambs, sir, “ Klora told Sachuu softly.
Sachuu waved his hand dismissively. “Whatever. It makes no noise and is a small ruminant animal. You get my point.”
“Indeed, sir.”
I nodded. I had no idea what the movie was or wasn’t about, other than it had to do with serial killers which Sachuu was adamant Linda Takahashi and fake Sato were not. I hoped that the L.T.C. was right. He usually was, but he was far from infallible.
“Right, now we have that out of the way, what’s the game plan?” Commander Gundar asked, leaning back in his chair.
“We’re having the fake Sato run through our database, hoping to get a hit on facial recognition,” Peterson informed us. “We’ve got the lab techs checking paperwork we’ve received from his office, hoping to pick up fingerprints and maybe some usable DNA.”
“I plan to interrogate Linda Takahashi again,” Sachuu stated flatly.
“I’d like for us to observe that, if possible. Could it also be recorded? I can go over it frame by frame to decipher her micro expressions,” Reynolds said. “I’m a qualified forensic psychological profiler.”
