A Mystery to Solve

A Mystery to Solve Pt 01

I'm sorry this took so long to get out to you, faithful readers. A while back it was suggested I do a story based on Star Trek, Deep Space Nine, and while this story does that, there needed to be a hook beyond just sex, sex & more sex; at least for me, as I like to tell stories, not just write quick, rub-one-out tales. So, let's try a murder investigation. I hope you enjoy it. Please vote and let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You know," Quark said, speaking to Morn, "in the 5 years since the end of the Dominion War, things have gone pretty well; Bajor joined the Federation, Cardassia is rebuilding as a civilian run society as opposed to one led by the military, Rom hasn't ruined the Ferengi Alliance. Nog was promoted to Lt. Commander and is now the first officer on the USS Kimball. And I'm opening my first franchised 'Quark's Bar' on Risa. Things are good."

"Even with General Kira leaving to become a Vedek, that's been good. Colonel Lodrab Gailai has been supportive of the Promenade Merchants Association, and the Federation is pleased with her management of the station even though she was with the Bajoran military. Former military leaders generally aren't particularly friendly to businesses. The blending of Bajoran security with Star Fleet Security has gone well," Quark went on. "Everyone is much calmer since Odo left the station."

Morn simply nodded his head. "Dabo," some of the crowd yelled in the background.

"Of course, it is good to have someone occupying the tailor shop, even if it isn't Garak. I do miss Miles O'Brien though. No one seems to have the mechanical abilities to keep this Cardassian equipment running like he did."

"I miss him too," Julian stated as he walked into the bar with Ezri Dax. "Is the halo-suite ready?"

"Yes, still fighting the battle of Thermopylae? Or is it the French at Waterloo this time?"

"No, we're starting a new one today; the Battle of Kapyong."

Quark looked puzzled, "I didn't know you were interested in Klingon battles."

"This isn't a Klingon battle. It is from the Korean War on Earth way back in the 1950's."

"Let me guess, another one of your hopeless fights against impossible odds. Don't you ever want to be on the winning side?"

"Now, Quark, what fun is it to be on the winning side all the time," Ezri chided him.

"I know, I know, personal growth. Personally, my growth comes from winning, and acquiring latinum" Quark replied, sarcastically.

Dax and Bashir had just started ascending the spiral staircase to the upper level when, "Ops to Bashir. You're needed in section 21 Alpha of the habitat ring. Medical emergency."

Tapping his comm badge, "I'm on my way."

"I'll come with you," Ezri said, "Our halo-suite reservation is spoiled now."

"No refunds," Quark hollered after them as they left the bar.

~~~~~

Section 21 Alpha was just 6 doors away from the turbo lift, so Bashir and Dax were at the scene in no time at all. Station Security was already there. "Why didn't you have them beamed to the infirmary," Bashir asked.

"There was no point, the person is already dead," the security officer responded. "It's pretty messy in there, very messy in fact, so watch where you step. We're still halo-cameras to photograph the scene."

As they entered the quarters, Dax flinched and turned her head for just a moment. Still, after all the dead bodies she saw during the Dominion War, this scene shocked her. It was apparent this was a violent death. Lying on the bed was a middle aged male Bolian, based on his sexual organs and his skin color, though it had already started to turn ashen gray instead of his normal light-blue color. He was naked, his mouth was wide open. On closer examination, Bashir found that the individual's jaw appeared to be dislocated. It was a sexual encounter of some sort because there was Bolian ejaculate in several spots on the floor. At first glance, it seemed he had enjoyed himself prior to being killed.

Bashir and Dax took tricorder readings of the body, the ejaculate, and looked for DNA traces around the room. Bashir also took tissue samples before having the body moved to the infirmary for further investigation and autopsy.

In the meantime, Station Security determined that the Bolian, a travelling merchant, left Quark's with an extremely attractive woman, who appeared Bajoran, the evening before. Interestingly though, there was no record of who the woman was or when she arrived on the station. When questioned, Broink, one of Quark's waiters, stated he had served the two of them drinks at a table, after they had been playing Dabo together. Quark was busy and never noticed the couple though the bar records showed that the Bolian paid for his tab and the woman's drink tab before leaving the bar.

In the infirmary, Bashir did a detailed examination of the body while Dax cataloged the DNA and other organic samples obtained at the crime scene. Bashir confirmed his earlier suspicions when examining the jawbone, which showed his jaw was dislocated, but he also determined that it was done post-mortem. The Bolian was suffocated prior to the jaw being dislocated, though based on the lack of any significant bleeding in the tissues, it wasn't anything more than minutes between death from suffocation and the jaw being dislocated.

Bashir also noted that the anal cavity was distended and with several fissures in the tissues of the rectum. Bashir noted this in his autopsy report, but didn't have a medical file on this individual, so it was unknown if this was a condition he had before arriving at the station. He either enjoyed being on the receiving anal sex or he had another medical condition Bashir was unaware of.

Lt. Cmdr. Oliver, head of Station Security for the Federation, contacted the Bolian home world to let them know of the murder and contacted the planet side Bajoran Security regarding the woman. Bajoran Security had no record of her facial features in their database. So, the mystery grows. How did this woman get on the station? Who was she, and why didn't the Bajoran authorities have a record of her?

For some odd reason, Dax didn't feel they were getting everything known from the Bajoran Security officer regarding the woman's identity or regarding any similar cases reported on Bajor, so she reached out to the Calash Monastery to speak with Nerys. Dax was hoping Nerys, though a Vedek now, could still assist them with getting answers from someone higher up in Bajoran Security.

"Ezri, how are you? It has been quite a while. Oh, hey, I see you were promoted to Lt. Commander. Congratulations!"

"Yes, Nerys, It has been quite a while; I think we've spoken just once since you chose to follow the prophets and become a Vedek. How are you doing? Are your studies going well," Dax asked.

"Yes, I am learning a lot. And becoming more aware of my life choices and limitations as an individual. But I can tell by your face that this isn't a social call. What is going on?"

"We've had a murder on the station; and while that has happened before, this one is particularly odd. We have photos of the suspect leaving the bar with the victim, but no information as to how she got to the station. We sent her photo to Bajoran Security and asked for information on her and any similar murder cases on Bajor. The Bajoran Security Lieutenant, who did not inspire a lot of confidence with his answers, indicated they didn't have any information on the woman and said there is no record of her in their system. He also said they didn't have any similar cases in the files. I was hoping you could refer me to someone higher up in the ranks at security. It just feels like we aren't getting all the answers."

"Obviously, I don't have the pull I had as station commander but let me see if I can get someone to be more forthcoming. I'll get back to you in the next day or so."

"OK, I'll send you the information we have on the murder and the woman. Thanks, Nerys."

While that was happening, during his autopsy, Bashir noted a miniscule speck of matter on the back of one of the left lower molars in a ridge where the tooth had recently chipped. It looked familiar, but Bashir couldn't quite place it. He put it in a sample dish and set it aside for testing later while he finished the autopsy.

~~~~~

Fifty-two hours later, "Ops to Dax, you have a sub-space transmission coming in from Bajor."

"I'll take it in the infirmary, please."

The screen flickered to life. "Nerys, hello, were you able to find anything else out?"

"Well, I spoke to a friend in security who wanted to remain anonymous. They definitely do not have any info on the woman. She is not on any video leaving Bajor on a transport going to the station. However, they have had three other unsolved deaths with no perpetrator caught. It is like they vanished into thin air after committing the murders. All three victims died of suffocation. Two were women who according to the autopsy finding had sex with their partner before their death and apparently both women climaxed prior to death according to their endorphin and prolactin levels in their blood work. They both had their reproductive organs significantly stretched during the sexual encounters. The other a man who had his anus stretched significantly during the sexual encounter. He had two orgasms prior to death, based on his semen at the scene and his endorphin and prolactin levels in his blood."

"They have video of two of the victims leaving different restaurants, the man with a female partner. The woman is leaving with a male partner. Those were the last images of either of them before they were killed. The third victim, a woman, left a club she was at with another woman, but there are no images of those two. One of the servers in the club said the woman who left with the victim had a somewhat masculine voice and the server thought she might be a transgender."

"Everyone in the images appears Bajoran, but none of the suspects is in the Bajoran facial recognition database and none of the possible assailants had a d'ja pagh (Bajoran caste earring for those not familiar with Deep Space 9). The server said the same is true of the two women she served in the club, both appeared Bajoran. My source is going to send me the files, and I will send them to you once I have them."

"Nerys, I can't thank you enough. I'll be watching for your data link."

"I'm glad I could help, Ezri. Good luck solving this case."

A few hours passed before Bashir and Dax were finally ready to provide a more complete update to Colonel Lodrab on the case. Bashir, Dax and Lt. Cmdr. Oliver outlined the details of the case, the mysterious woman who could not be accounted for arriving on the station, the lack of details regarding her name, etc., from Bajoran Security, and finally the overall similarities to the three other cases on Bajor itself.

Dax explained, "Though, at first glance, the cases seem dissimilar; We believe they are connected. In all three cases, plus our case here, the suspect last seen with the victim has no record of ever existing in the Bajoran Security archives. We don't know yet if the person seen with the victim is simply someone in disguise, whether they themselves are the killer, or if they are a co-conspirator who leads the victims to their demise at the hands of someone else."

Bashir added to the conversation, "Whoever these people are, they have left no DNA behind to identify the suspects. Other than the victim's DNA, all the crime scenes were devoid of additional DNA that led to someone we couldn't rule out, such as family, friends, etc., those with alibis. On our victim here, we did find one unusual bit of evidence that I've cataloged, but it doesn't make any sense, well at least not yet. It was a miniscule speck of matter that didn't have its own DNA signature, but it closely matches something from 10 or 11 years ago here on the station."

Bashir continued, "Odo helped a gentleman who claimed he knew where Odo's ancestors lived, when in fact he was lying to escape a surviving Miradorn twin. He gave Odo a pendant that had a small shape shifting rock inside it after Odo assisted in getting him and his daughter to Vulcan. The physical characteristics of this speck closely resemble that shape shifting rock, but that is as far as I've gotten with it. Looking back at the log entries from that time period, the origin of the shape shifting rock was never determined and I don't know that it was conclusively identified as belonging to the Founders, either directly or ancestrally."

Dax followed up by also pointing out that Bajoran Security had been less than forthcoming regarding the three unsolved planet-side murders, and that she had to go through an anonymous third party to get the case files.

Colonel Lodrab shook her head in frustration. "Let me know right away if anyone planet-side gives you any further problems with your investigation. And, of course, keep me updated on your progress."

"One last item," Bashir said, "the sister of the dead Bolian is supposed to arrive tomorrow to take possession of her brother's body. I know it isn't customary to alter the body, but I'd like your permission to correct the dislocated jaw. She doesn't really need to see him like that. It will only require a few sutures to secure it in place."

"Proceed," Colonel Lodrab said with quiet empathy for the surviving family members. "And you know to share all the usual claptrap about how we are doing everything we can to locate and apprehend the killer. In fact, Dax, as a counselor, perhaps you should meet with the sister."

"I will do that Colonel."

"OK, excellent job the three of you. Thank you. Dismissed."

~~~~~

Elki was just finishing the day shift as the Dabo girl at Quark's. Mardah, her friend and night shift Dabo girl, was coming on duty to relieve her. Elki was excited, she was having a dinner-date with a very handsome Bajoran gentleman named Furel. She was to meet him at the Klingon restaurant at 18:30. She was going to her quarters to change. Mardah was excited for her as it had been several months since Elki had been on a real date.

Elki made her way to her quarters and once the door closed, stripped off her 5-piece Dabo outfit and simply threw them on the bed. Elki was a natural beauty. She was the child of a human (from the Mars colony) and Orion parents, and her light olive skin accentuated her beauty. When I say natural beauty, I mean it. She had perfectly shaped c-cup breasts, a perfect peach shaped butt, a slim waist and flat belly with a small naval piercing.

She began going through her closet looking for something to wear when the door chimed. "Oh Mardah, you're going to get in trouble with Quark," she muttered as she opened the door after covering herself with a towel.

To her surprise, Furel was standing there. "I thought I was supposed to meet you at the Klingon restaurant," she said suspiciously. "How did you find my quarters?"

"Oh, I have my ways," he said slyly, stepping into the room as Elki backed away from the door. "I thought we could have a little fun before we headed to the restaurant." Furel grabbed Elki and pulled her close. Elki didn't resist, she'd had anonymous sex with Quark's patrons on many occasions. After all, a little extra latinum helped her expand her wardrobe.

Furel kissed Elki, as he moved her hand down to his crotch. Feeling his huge bulge, she commented, "Oh my, you're really excited, and well-endowed too." A few more kisses and Elki suggested a quickie before dinner might be just the thing to relieve the tension. She turned to clear the clothes off the bed.

When she turned back to Furel, he was completely naked, and his cock was standing proud. It was every bit of 21 CM long and 18 CM around the shaft. Elki was mesmerized when she saw it, she had never taken anything that big before, but she wanted to try. She dropped to her knees in front of him and immediately began to caress and lick his specimen of manhood. She was known for her big mouth when calling for bets in Dabo, but this was different.

She stuck the cock in her mouth and began stroking and bobbing on it. Her pussy was dripping with anticipation, and it wasn't long before she stood and walked over to the bed, taking Furel by the hand. She climbed on the bed and spread her legs. Furel drew close and slipped his cock into her warm, wet vagina. "Oh god," Elki moaned as he entered her. He was really stretching her, but it felt extremely good to her.

The stretching of her vagina brought Elki all sorts of pleasure as she closed her eyes to enjoy the fuck. It did feel strange to her though, as she couldn't feel him thrusting like any other man. He was grinding her, but his cock felt like it was thrusting inside her pussy separately from his hips. There was none of the usual slapping of skin, hips to ass cheeks to accompany the thrusting sensations in her vagina. Despite this, she was enjoying it, especially since his groin was massaging her clitoris. Still, this felt off though and she sat up to try to figure out what was going on.

"Come here, babe," Furel said, pulling her close to his body, hoisting her up with his hands. The surging in her vagina continued. Elki thought to herself, bless the prophets this man knows how to fuck a woman. "Would you like a double penetration," he asked, placing what she thought were his fingers at the entrance to her anus. Without waiting for an answer, his middle fingers extended into her ass filling her like another penis and immediately sending her crashing toward her orgasm.

"What is that? Is that your fingers? Oh my. Oh fuck, that's nice. Oh, oh, yes, oh, yes," as she climaxed, stronger than any orgasm in recent memory for her. "Oh, fuck yes, that's nice. Ahh!"

Suddenly things changed, "Oh fuck, something is wrong. Something is wrong, stop, you have to stop. You're too big, I can't handle it." Furel kissed her, and she started to squirm and resist. She could not breathe and could feel herself slipping into unconsciousness. Suddenly the door chimed. This startled Furel and he released Elki. She started breathing again and collapsed from the bed onto the floor. The door chimed again, and Elki said "Come," and the door opened. It was Mardah, she came to give Elki a charm for her to wear on her jacket for her date.

Mardah looked at Elki laying slumped on the floor. "What the hell happened to you, and your room is a mess?"

"Watch out," Elki croaked. "He tried to kill me. He must be here somewhere; he was here when you touched the door chime."

"Elki, there is no one here but you and me."

"No, he has to be here. Call Security and help me up."

Mardah helped her friend up and got her a robe from the wardrobe. Security arrived moments later. They paged Bashir to the room.

Bashir and Dax arrived just minutes after the security team arrived. Elki was examined and Bashir found that she had indeed been deprived of oxygen and was close to death when Mardah arrived in the room. Elki gave them the name and a description of the guy who tried to murder her.

Station Security checked and Quark's internal security video showed the gentleman that Elki was chatting with in the bar, but the two left separately approximately 15 minutes apart. Elki told the investigators from Station Security, that she was supposed to meet the Furel for dinner at the Klingon restaurant.

The investigators showed his photo to Kaga, the proprietor of the Klingon Restaurant, who confirmed the man arrived around 18:30, and said he was waiting for his date, but no one arrived. He left around 19:00.

Interestingly, the transport records from arriving ships did not list anyone named Furel on their passenger manifests, and none of the registered guests on the station accommodations had the name Furel. Additionally, the closest security camera to Elki's quarters failed just 45 seconds after she arrived home. So now there was no indication of who visited Elki's quarters, nor was there any indication in the videos of the adjacent security cameras to the one that failed that anyone walked toward her quarters.