The Clone Conundrum (Forgotten Fodder Book 2)

by MJ Blehart

  “That makes a lot of sense,” Martinez agreed. “Yet it looks to me like it leads back to Mr. Cadoret, all the same.”

  “You’re suggesting maybe we need to return to his role in all this and take a closer look at him?” Onima asked.

  “Unless you have a better lead to investigate, that seems logical to me,” Martinez said. “His murder is where your investigation began, and so it makes sense that looking further into the man and his background could be productive.”

  Onima considered that. It wasn’t a bad idea. And she really was not certain where to take things next. Perhaps a closer examination into Palmer Cadoret might offer some clues and new connections to move the investigation forward. Onima looked to Jace. “What do you think?”

  “I think this is a reasonable idea.”

  “I agree,” Feroz put in.

  Onima nodded and tapped at her comm.

  A moment later, Barr’s voice said, “Yes, Marshal?”

  “Captain, please set a course to warp to New Terra again.”

  8

  The trip to New Terra from Vuk had been uneventful. The team had gone over all the data they’d acquired from Dr. Steingarten’s apartment.

  Jace, Onima, and Feroz also went over much of their older data. Without granting Martinez access to the info Ms. Varma had presented them with, they shared with her everything else they had on Palmer Cadoret.

  Jace understood and respected Onima’s decision to keep Martinez at arm’s length. After Onima had explained to him what Samarin had told her about Gray and Chuang’s connections to the company—and, most likely, Martinez’s governor, Director Rand—he couldn’t disagree.

  Still, overall, Jace felt Martinez could be trusted. Her suggestion to go back over Cadoret’s life was not an impediment in the investigation. If anything, it was a good and useful avenue to pursue.

  During a break, Jace had found himself with Onima and Martinez in the galley, having some coffee. Onima and Martinez had been sharing stories about their CBI service—and Onima was probably probing Martinez to see if she’d let anything slip about ulterior motives or Director Rand.

  At the end of one of their stories, Martinez had looked to Jace. “Tell me, Jace Rojas, what have you done with your life since the war ended?”

  Jace had chuckled. “Apart from spending less than a year as a bodyguard, all I’ve done is survive. As an infantry clone, there’s been very little use for me and my prime vocation, Deputy Martinez.”

  Martinez had grinned. “If you don’t mind, Jace, I would be perfectly okay with you calling me by my first name.” Then she had looked to Onima. “You as well, Marshal.”

  From then on, Jace had thought of and referred to Martinez by her first name—Kara.

  Jace and Onima had managed to hold a private conversation just before arriving at New Terra.

  “I like Kara,” Onima had begun. “I really do. She was effective on Vuk, and I genuinely believe she’s a good agent of the Bureau.”

  “Of course,” Jace had agreed. “But because she’s Rand’s, you don’t trust her motivations.”

  “Do you?” Onima had asked.

  Jace had thought about it a moment before answering. “Prior to joining you and coming aboard the Aquila, I was never more than a barely useful tool in the eyes of anyone outside of my own kind. I interacted with very few non-clones during my service—but I did meet one or two like Kara. Since Vuk, it looks to me like she knows her stuff. My instinct, for what it’s worth, is that she’s largely on the level.”

  “You think she’s just a pawn?” Onima had asked.

  “No,” Jace had said, “but neither do I think she’s an active spy for Rand. What’s the age-old saying?”

  “‘Keep your friends close but your enemies closer’?” Onima had replied.

  “Just that,” Jace had agreed.

  Yael had flown them down to Centaurus City. Onima requested that Yael stay with the shuttle in case they should need a quick pickup.

  Onima, Jace, and Kara made their way out of the spaceport. Onima had, without sharing the precise information about its origin, given Kara a list of Cadoret’s known associates.

  Despite the private log information Jun Varma had given them, it was quite clear that Palmer Cadoret had not been particularly social.

  “All business, no play,” Kara remarked as the trio looked at a projected list.

  “There are five names here.” Onima pointed. “I’ll reach out to these three, and you try these two. Then we’ll split business associates.”

  “Okay,” Kara replied.

  “What should I do?” Jace asked. As usual, he was receiving numerous dirty looks. A clone inside the busy city, without others of his kind. Even the CBI-issued jacket had only a negligible impact on that.

  “Stay near and keep an eye open,” Onima said.

  Jace knew what she meant.

  The trio stood back to back to back. Jace was casually on guard, in case anything untoward should occur.

  Onima got on her comm and reached out to the first name on her list. Jace was close enough to hear the exchange.

  “Yes?” the person responded.

  “Mr. Ahuja,” Onima said, “I am Marshal Onima Gwok, CBI.”

  “How can I help you, Marshal Gwok?” Mr. Ahuja asked.

  “I have some questions about Palmer Cadoret.”

  There was a moment of silence before he replied, “Yes, very sad, that. I’m sorry, Marshal, but there isn’t really anything I can tell you about him.”

  “Were you friends?” Onima pressed. “Did he ever talk to you about work?”

  “Palmer and I were classmates,” Mr. Ahuja said. “Not really friends. We’d not spoken in eight or nine years. Apologies for being abrupt, Marshal, but I really must be going. I’m very sorry I can’t be of any further help.”

  The connection broke. Onima looked at Jace, who shrugged.

  Kara was not having any better luck. “Mr. Davide? This is Deputy Marshal Kara Martinez, CBI.”

  “Yes, ma’am. How may I assist you?”

  “I want to ask you some questions about Palmer Cadoret.”

  “Oh,” he replied distractedly. “Yeah, so tragic. We were on the same hyperloop from time to time. Grabbed a beer after work occasionally and made small talk. Hadn’t spoken to him in at least a year or two.”

  “Did he ever mention his work?” Kara pressed. “Did he talk about what he did?”

  “Not really,” Mr. Davide replied. His tone made it crystal clear that he wanted to be offline. “Look, he was not more than an acquaintance, and I wish I could be of more help, but I have a prior engagement to get to. Sorry.”

  The line disconnected.

  Kara and Onima received the same response from their next two tries.

  “That’s curious,” Kara said. “It’s like nobody knew him.”

  “Or if they did, they really don’t care to say anything about him,” Onima added.

  “All of them sounded like they wanted to avoid the topic,” Jace remarked. “Each of them disconnected as quickly and abruptly as they could without arousing suspicion.”

  “Which does arouse my suspicion,” Onima said.

  “This implies to me,” Kara started, “that nobody is coaching anyone. They all just want to avoid talking about Palmer Cadoret.”

  “Right,” Onima conceded. “Kara, can you talk and comm?”

  “Yes,” Kara said.

  “Good. Reach out to these known coworkers of his and see if they are any more forthcoming,” Onima suggested. “As you do that, let’s go pay his apartment another visit.”

  Jace understood why Onima would have Kara make the contact. Gray and Chuang knew about Onima and her investigation. Kara, on the other hand, was presently an unknown.

  Steering clear of the Gray and Chuang campus, Onima, Jace, and Kara made their way to Mr. Cadoret’s former condominium.

  “Do you care to stop at Gray and Chuang’s offices?” Kara asked between sending comm signals to
Palmer Cadoret’s coworkers.

  “Not a good idea,” Onima said.

  “But surely there are people there who worked with him,” Kara stated. “He couldn’t have been a deputy director of the company without having made confederates and associates in the process.”

  “You’d think so,” Jace said, “but our prior visits to the Gray and Chuang campus went rather poorly.”

  “How so?”

  Onima sighed. “The security at the front door is none too keen on CBI visits.”

  Kara looked confused. “That doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “Nor to me,” Onima agreed. “Yet both times we’ve paid a visit to the campus, we were met with naught but opposition. And, with only a single exception, nobody is willing to speak about Mr. Cadoret.”

  “That’s odd,” Kara remarked. “I mean, you’d think they would want justice for their colleague, right?”

  Onima shrugged. Jace admired how well she was avoiding sharing any of the more sensitive info they had gleaned.

  “It feels as if they want as little outside probing of their business as possible,” Onima continued.

  “What are they hiding?” Kara asked.

  “Hard to say,” Onima said. “It’s something I have wondered about throughout the course of the investigation.”

  “I doubt my presence helped,” Jace remarked.

  “Why do you say that?” Kara asked.

  Jace chuckled. “High-end businesses only ever want clones for dirty jobs through discrete passageways and unobserved locations. A clone coming through the front door is undesirable.”

  Kara shook her head. “It really never ceases to amaze me how poorly many treat clones.”

  The conversation ended. Kara continued to reach out to Cadoret’s known associates as they made their way to his former home.

  Jace was again impressed by the high-end facility. It was all very simple, but at the same time opulent. Once more, Jace made note of the pub, café, and gym on the ground floor of the building.

  He observed that Kara was a few steps behind him and Onima, communicating with one of Mr. Cadoret’s former coworkers. Jace pointed and said to Onima, “Perhaps, after we look his home over again, we should pay these a visit? Maybe he frequented the pub or café and would be remembered.”

  “That’s a sound idea, Jace,” Onima agreed. She paused to allow Kara to catch up with them.

  When she did, Kara was cursing under her breath. “That was a total waste of time.”

  “What happened?” Onima asked.

  “All I got were cursory comments that yes, Mr. Cadoret was a coworker, but no, they didn’t know what projects he was working on. They were sorry for his loss but made it all too clear they could and would be of no further help.” Kara said. “They weren’t exactly rude, but they were not at all pleasant.”

  “You see what we have been working with on this?” Onima asked.

  “You’d almost think they had something to hide,” Kara surmised. “I suspect even a visit in person on my part, without you and Jace, would garner the same lack of results. Odd.”

  Neither Jace nor Onima remarked on that. Jace, however, once more saw Kara as an asset rather than potential impediment.

  The trio made their way to the lift and rode to the one-hundredth floor. They exited, and Jace once more noticed there were four units. The one to the far right corner was Palmer Cadoret’s.

  Onima still had the code for the unit from their first visit to Centaurus City. As they made their way to the door, Jace observed something unexpected.

  “Onima,” he said, getting her attention, “those weren’t there before, were they?”

  Onima looked where Jace was pointing. A pair of foot-high fu dogs sat on either side of the door.

  “No,” Onima stated, “they were not.”

  “I don’t follow,” Kara said.

  Onima was at the door. But rather than use the code to access it, she rang the bell.

  “Yes?” a voice said.

  “Marshall Onima Gwok, CBI. May I have a word in person?”

  After a pause, an elderly man opened the door.

  “Yes?”

  “Pardon me, sir,” Onima began, “but isn’t this the home of Palmer Cadoret?”

  “Who?” the man asked. Then, “Ah, yes, the previous owner. I had heard that he met an unfortunate and untimely end, ma’am.”

  “Pardon my saying so, sir, but that’s not really your concern. This flat should not be occupied, as this is an ongoing investigation.”

  “Oh,” the elderly man said. “Well, I was assured that this unit was free and clear. I have all the legalities covered and can show the paperwork for the sale, Marshal. I moved in just two weeks ago.”

  “Yes, I see,” Onima said, barely containing her ire. “Are you an employee of Gray and Chuang, by any chance?”

  The elder man chuckled. “Oh, no. I am Carl Yeong, a partner of Yeong, Aziz, Davis, and Weber Law Firm.”

  Jace knew nothing about law firms, apart from their existence.

  Onima took a deep breath and let it out. “Very good. Sorry to trouble you, sir. Have a nice day.”

  “Would you care for some tea?” Mr. Yeong asked. “I would be more than willing to let you and your associates look at my flat, Marshal.”

  “No, that’s not necessary, but thank you very much, sir,” Onima said. “Have a good day.”

  “You as well,” he said. Mr. Yeong paused, looking at Jace, but said nothing as he closed the door.

  Onima and Kara rang the bell for each of the other three units on the floor, but nobody else was home—or if they were, they did not respond.

  The trio returned to the lift and called it back.

  “Do you realize who that was?” Kara asked softly.

  “I do,” Onima said.

  “Carl Yeong?” Jace supplied helpfully.

  The lift arrived and the trio got into it.

  “Yes,” Kara confirmed, “but his firm is one of the ten largest law firms in the human galaxy. They have offices on every world.”

  “And more than once have represented opposition to Gray and Chuang, as I recall,” Onima remarked.

  They arrived back at the lobby and Onima led them to the concierge.

  “How may I help you?” the concierge asked.

  Onima flashed her digital warrant card. “Marshal Onima Gwok, CBI,” she said, then gestured to her partners. “Deputy Marshal Kara Martinez. Special Consultant Jace Rojas. Is there a building owner or manager here I may speak to?”

  “I’ll check,” the young lady said. After a moment, she added, “Yes. Ms. Tesfaye is the executive manager. I shall request her presence for you.”

  “Thank you,” Onima said.

  Less than a minute later, a woman in a smart business suit greeted them. After introductions, Onima got straight to the point. “On the one-hundredth floor, unit 10002—formerly occupied by Palmer Cadoret—is currently occupied.”

  “Yes?” Ms. Tesfaye said.

  “How can that be?” asked Onima. “There is an ongoing investigation into the death of Mr. Cadoret, the former owner. Under such an investigation, that unit should have remained unoccupied until it was completed.”

  “Of course,” Ms. Tesfaye agreed, “and we have been in full compliance with law enforcement. We would not have sold the unit to a new owner if the investigation were still ongoing.”

  “But it is,” Onima said. “The Bureau is still investigating. That’s why we are here now.”

  “The Centaurus law enforcement agency informed us that the case has been closed,” Ms. Tesfaye stated. “I have a signed statement to that effect.” She extended her arm and called up a 3D screen above it, projecting the proclamation of the closed case and legal right for the complex to sell the vacant unit.

  “I see,” Onima said.

  “Can you tell us where the law enforcement agency office that issued you this is?” asked Kara.

  “Of course,” Ms. Tesfaye replied.


  The address was only about a kilometer away.

  After a brief stop into the pub and café as Jace had suggested, it was obvious that if anyone remembered Palmer Cadoret, none were willing to say so. The trio left the complex and walked to the law enforcement agency office.