“How much can you know about someone in a few days?” I asked, playing devil’s advocate.
"It doesn't take long to size someone up and notice trends early. Denver was good about that. He had no control over the selection of the team members. That was all up to Tristan.” Then she said in a hushed voice, “Between you and me, some people don't belong on the mission, but that's not for me to decide.”
"Elaborate.”
“I'm not sure how much I should say.”
"We’re talking about murder.”
"You really think someone on this habitat intentionally sabotaged the breaker to kill my husband?”
I shrugged. "It looks that way to me.”
She considered it. “It's no secret Wong wanted his own command. Now he’s got it. If you’re looking for someone with a motive, he strikes me as a prime suspect. But I can’t imagine he’d do such a thing.”
“Who else did Denver have doubts about?”
“Well, Ross is a nice guy, but he rubbed Denver the wrong way.”
“How so?”
16
“Ross is not as well suited to this kind of organizational structure,” Judy said, dancing around the issue. “He’s not quite as focused or disciplined as Denver would have liked. Not to mention he brought contraband aboard the habitat.”
“What kind of contraband?" I asked.
"I know he brought marijuana aboard. I can't really speak to anything else." Anger tensed her jaw. "Look, we’re dealing with people's lives here. I don't think getting high is acceptable."
"That doesn't sound like a strong enough motive for murder," I said.
“No. But I think Denver was going to report him to Tristan and recommend that he not be a part of any future missions." With a frustrated frown, she said, "I'm not sure how much consideration Tristian would give it, considering he smokes his fair share of weed."
"How was your relationship with your husband?" I asked.
She blotted her weepy eyes and gave me an annoyed look. “My relationship with my husband was fantastic. How dare you insinuate otherwise?”
"I'm sorry. I wasn't insinuating anything. Just a routine question. I have to ask.”
Her cheeks reddened, and her jaw tightened. "My husband just died. Now you’re telling me someone may have killed him—someone aboard this habitat. Have a little tact."
"My apologies.” I figured it was best to give her space. “We may have more questions for you later.”
I left the compartment and found Chuck Trask.
He was an energetic guy. With all the money he was making, he had good reason to be. His company had won numerous government contracts, and he was at the forefront of modern warfare. We spoke in another private compartment. He just shook his head and frowned when I asked him about Weyland. "Such a shame. I think he would have made a great mission commander on any spaceflight. The guy was squared away. No doubt about it.”
"Can you think of anybody who might have wanted to kill him?"
Trask had a blank look. “I think everybody here respected his authority and felt comfortable with his leadership.”
"What about David Wong?
"What about him?”
“You feel confident with his leadership?”
"Well, considering I've only been under his leadership for a few hours, I really can't say. But I think he's fine to lead us the rest of the way on this mission.”
