TITLE: Who Dunnit
AUTHOR: Matteabrit, May 2002
SUMMARY: Harry’s dead. Who killed him and how? The crew intend to find out.
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: Paramount’s characters, my story.

“They killed Harry?” B’Elanna asked incredulously. “Why Harry?”

The small group stared at the young man lying on the floor next to the engineering console and attempted to give an answer to the chief engineer’s question.

“Perhaps it was his choice, Lieutenant,” Kathryn replied. “He is our resident holodeck genius.” She looked up at Tom from her kneeling position beside the body. “Present company excepted, of course.”

“Of course,” Tom smiled back. “Actually, it made sense. He can keep a check on things from the outside while I’m in here.”

“But why not Tuvok or Vorik?” B’Elanna continued. “Vorik’s just as capable.” She didn’t say what she thought Vorik was actually more capable for; playing the role of dead man or overseeing the holodeck safety controls.

“He’s heading up engineering and Tuvok’s got the bridge,” her husband told her. “Someone’s still got to work around here.”

Kathryn stood back up. “Look, Harry’s dead. It was his choice. Can we just get on with this please?”

“What’s the matter, Kathryn? Don’t want to be here?” Chakotay grinned at her. He’d had quite the job persuading her to take part in the latest event that Tom had dreamed up. She’d been determined to stay in her ready room, catching up on report reading.

“I can think of better places to be,” she admitted.

Chakotay grinned again, shook his head, and proceeded to step over the body on the floor. “Well, he didn’t die here, that’s for sure. Its been made to look like the console overloaded but he’s not even got residue burns on his hands.”

The linen material of his vest was now dangerously close to Harry’s nose and everyone jumped when the body suddenly sneezed. Chakotay looked down. “Bless you,” he said calmly. Stepping back to the side he looked back at everyone. “I suggest we get this scene cleared first, work out what we need, so Harry here can get out of the way.”

“Thank you,” the dead man muttered.

“You’re quite welcome,” the commander replied. He smiled as he caught his captain’s shocked expression. “What? Never seen a dead man talk before?”

“And I suppose you have?” Kathryn retorted dryly.

“Well, they’ve usually become spirit guides by the time they contact me but…”

Kathryn threw up her hands. “Okay, I get the picture. Can we get back to the business at hand here? You say the murder didn’t take place here.”

“Right.” The first officer turned to his long time friend and security officer. “Back me up here, Ayala.”

The young man stepped forward. “He’s right. There’s nothing to show Harry actually touched the console at any time.”

While Kathryn and Chakotay had been debating between themselves B’Elanna had taken it upon herself to examine the supposed faulty station. “This console was phasered,” she finally announced. “There’s no way this damage is consistent with an overload. Whoever killed Harry fired a phaser on it. They knew enough to hit a key system but not enough to know how to fake it completely.”

“Thereby ruling out you, B’Elanna?” Kathryn asked, with an eyebrow raised.

“I didn’t do it,” B’Elanna protested. “And I’m sure even Tom can back me up.”

“Actually, I can’t,” the young pilot admitted. “The only people who know who the perpetrator is is Harry and the killer.”

They all looked down at the body on the floor. It smiled slightly but stayed silent.

Kathryn sighed. “Do we still need him here?”

Ayala sat back on the balls of his feet. “He wasn’t killed here and he wasn’t dragged here.”

“We’re done with him,” Chakotay concluded.

“Good.” Kathryn looked back down. “Ensign, you’re dismissed.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Harry gratefully, scrambling to his feet with a grin on his face. “Call me if you think you have the guilty party,” were his last words as he left the engineering simulation.

“So what have we got?” Tom asked.

“What Ayala said,” Chakotay replied. “So we need to perhaps figure out what did kill him and where.”

B’Elanna looked again at the console. “This was definitely phasered. Which means the culprit would have had to have a phaser.”

“Which makes a very useful weapon in iteself,” Kathryn added.

Tom leaned against the railing by the warp core. “If they had access to a dermal regenerator as well they could instantly remove any sign of a phaser burn after they made sure Harry was dead.”

For the next hour they bounced ideas and theories around. Although they were now reasonably certain what had happened to Harry they still had no culprit and no motive. B’Elanna was beginning to look ready to wield a bat’leth at someone when Chakotay suddenly said, “I’m ready to make the call."

“Oh?” B’E’lanna seemed surprised.

“Call Harry, Tom,” the commander suggested.

Five minutes later Harry arrived in the holographic simulation, having received permission to leave the bridge by Tuvok. “Well?” he demanded.

“The Commander here thinks he has solved our little problem, Harry,” Kathryn replied. “But it would be sad if your trip down here was in vain, Ensign.”

All eyes turned to face Chakotay, waited for him to speak. He appeared to be taking his time, as though making sure he had everything together before making his claim. Finally he appeared ready. “It was Kathryn Janeway in the ready room, with a phaser,” he pronounced solemnly.

Kathryn gasped. Harry smiled. “What made you come to that conclusion?” the ensign asked.

Chakotay shrugged. “The main basis of this was that we were to treat this holoprogram as if it were actually the decks of Voyager, therefore everybody has to act as though we’re not on the holodeck, including the murderer. We needed someone who had an idea about engineering and someone who could initiate a site to site transport and have the right access codes to delete it from the system. The weapon was the phaser, we know the killer phasered the console to make it look like an overload. Why carry another weapon when a phaser serves both purposes? The killer then just needed to have access to medical equipment such as a regenerator in order to cover up the phaser wound.”

“But Tom could have that,” Kathryn protested.

“But does he have the codes or the engineering expertise?” Chakotay walked over to his captain and walked in a circle behind her. “I also know two other things. One, you, my dear Captain, keep a regenerator in your possession because you cannot stand to go to sickbay unless you’re carried there unconscious.”

“And…” she challenged him.

“You didn’t want to be here at first and then suddenly you changed you mind. Why is that?” He got no reply. “I think Harry came to persuade you and the two of you struck a deal. You’d play along in exchange for being the killer.” Killer and victim said nothing but the victim was now grinning madly while the captain looked down at the floor. “And as for the ready room. Well, where else could it happen? It had to be where you could have complete privacy and Harry Kim would never go to your quarters.” He paused. “The prosecution rests. Captain Kathryn Janeway I am placing you under arrest for the murder of Ensign Harry Kim. Do you have anything to say in your defence?”

“He kept asking for a promotion?” Kathryn offered up in an attempt to inject some humour into the situation.

There were no laughs. “I’m glad I never asked for my rank to be reinstated,” Tom said.

“Ayala, you’re the security representative. Take her to the brig,” Chakotay commanded.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Kathryn staggered out as Ayala stepped forward.

“Murder is a serious offence, Captain,” Chakotay told her. “Remember that.”

Three hours later Chakotay was in charge of the bridge crew on duty when a call came in from the brig.

“Janeway to Chakotay.”

“Chakotay here.” Obviously Ayala had not taken away her commbadge.

“I’m still in the brig.”

“I know.” He’d actually forgotten about it but he wasn’t about to let on to her.

“This isn’t funny, Chakotay.” Had she sensed his smile when he’d spoken?

“Oh yes it is.”

“Oh no it isn’t.”

FINIS