Wong gave a grim nod of acknowledgment.
"Who's been in here since the accident?”
Wong shrugged. "It's hard to say. Just about everyone.”
I frowned. "Who discovered the body?”
"I did," Wong said. "I came in and found him like that on the floor after the power surge. The lights dipped, and some of the electronics reset. First thing I did was come in here to see what happened.”
"Did you touch the body?"
David nodded. "Yes. I felt for a pulse, then began CPR with chest compressions. When he didn't respond, I grabbed the AED and went through several cycles." David frowned again and shook his head.
“You said you’d just come back from an expedition," I said.
"Yes."
"Who was with you?"
"Chuck and Commander Weyland.”
"What did the mission involve?"
“Routine inspection. There are miles and miles of fiber-optic cable on the sea floor. Part of our job here is to examine the cable, look for any damage, and repair said damage if need be. It's part of the teambuilding exercise, getting used to working in difficult environments. Plus, it brings in revenue for the habitat." Then he added, “I don’t know if this is important, but I think Commander Weyland was suffering from HPNS. Myself and Chuck had noticed slight tremors in his hands, and he seemed a little confused. Upon our return, I mentioned he should get checked out by Dr. Norrington.”
“You’ve been down here for three days, and he just started exhibiting the symptoms of HPNS?”
“It was the first time I noticed it. It could have been going on earlier.” He looked at Judy. “She would be in a better position to comment.”
Before she could answer, David said, “We did descend to 500 feet, then returned to the habitat following proper ascension protocol. It’s possible the dive affected him.”
“Did you remain in the mini-sub during the entire mission?”
David nodded. “Yes. There were no EVA missions on this trip.”
I looked at Judy. "I know this is a difficult time, but I need to ask you a few questions."
Judy nodded.
"Is there somewhere private we can talk?”
"Yes," she said, still in a daze.
I told Jack to hold down the fort while I escorted Judy away from the engineering room to one of the crew berths. It was a small chamber with four bunks, hanging lockers, and a small community desk. A porthole offered a view of the ocean.
I closed the hatch behind us as Judy grabbed a tissue and blotted her eyes. “Just FYI, I had not noticed any tremors or other symptoms. Then again, Denver could be rather stubborn at times. He was good at looking after other people. Not so good at looking after himself. It’s possible he may have tried to hide it from me or the others.”
"Where were you when the incident occurred?" I asked.
"I was in my quarters, taking a short break. Denver had just returned with the others. Denver and I had a private conversation when he got an alert from the recharge station. He went to check on it, just like Wong said.”
"Had he expressed any concern to you about the other crew members?”
"Define concern?”
"Did he mention anyone who may have wanted to kill him?”
"No,” she said, the wheels turning behind her eyes as she processed everything. “He shared his thoughts with me about the other crew members and their operational readiness, but no mention of anyone he considered an immediate threat. ”
