“Coma? Are you sure? Where is the Rheinon?” I blurted.

Mike pointed to the far corner where a crowd had begun to gather.

Another murder? Or at least an attempt at one? “Go get the medics!” I told Mike and he took off running.

Dino and I scrambled to the corner. After a glance at the Rheinon, Dino said, in an abnormally quiet voice, “I believe I know what has happened. This is nothing to worry about.”

“What do you mean? There’s a member of your own species collapsed on the floor.” Dino’s calmness upset me.

Dino shook his head. “Being in a coma is actually normal for Rheinon. It happens approximately every five yearly cycles. During the coma—which lasts about twelve days— we shed our skin and grow it back, tougher than ever. Ac- cording to our briefings, every Rheinon on Earth for the tournament was to be on coma-inhibiting drugs—at least the ones somewhat close to their time. Something must have gone wrong regarding the inhibitor.” Dino seemed concerned only about that aspect of the situation.

The medical staff arrived and quickly finished their examinations. Shortly thereafter they wheeled the Rheinon away.

The medical examiner happened to be with the ambulance staff today, so Raj came over and spoke to us before I had a chance to interrogate the doctors. “The victim is in a coma resulting from his normal skin shedding cycle.”

“Yes, Dino explained that to me.” Why does everyone else know about this phenomenon, except me?

“However, this particular Rheinon has had a reaction to the drugs. So we’re taking him to the hospital for observation. The Rheinon doctor believes he’ll make a full recovery, but it’ll take some time, so he’s not going to be available as a bowler for the competition. Ambassador, you’ll need to let your people know.”

Dino nodded, but I suspected other topics occupied his mind. “Do you want to go to the hospital with your colleague? Dino? If you hurry, you might catch the ambulance before it leaves,” I said.

“Excellent suggestion. Hopefully, I should not be long. Where will I find you?”

“I expect to be here at Revolutions all day. Give me a call before you return, though—just in case I have to leave.”

After Dino left, I said to Raj, “So, was anything interesting about aliens revealed at game night after Mom and I left?”

Raj smiled. “Only their strangeness. Ambassador Takka appeared quite arrogant. He kept commenting he thought the games were trivial, but I noticed he didn’t leave early. In addition, I received the impression he’s competitive. So I’m kind of confused about Itlans—especially since we were told they were conformists.”

“That was also my understanding. Perhaps it’s only our interpretation of their world that seems arrogant. Perhaps the universal translator is to blame.” At the moment, UT’s weren’t high on my approval list. “There’s so much we don’t know.” I needed to ask an insensitive question. “What about Dino? How did he act?”

“He seemed naturally curious. He quizzed us about the games, the food, why some games were only for four people, why the games were so different from each other, and so on. Partly, I think he wanted to understand how we thought. And the ambassador can talk a lot.”

“Yes, he can. He’s my sidekick, you remember.”

Raj laughed. “More’s the pity. I’m driving back to the morgue. You can catch me there.”

While I watched Raj walk away, I heard an agitated group of Itlans who had gathered a short distance away. I suspected a disagreement of some sort from the volume of their conversation. I strolled in their direction.

Noticing my approach, their noise level dropped considerably. The group included Takka.

“Ambassador Takka, I heard you enjoyed my board game night. I’m sorry I had to leave early. Would you like to know when the next one is planned?” I went out on a treacherous limb with that question.

His glance at my face revealed nothing to me, and he didn’t respond.

I needed to stir things up a bit. “You guys must be enjoying yourselves. The arguing was heard across the room.” Although I saw a lot of eye contact amongst the Itlans, no comments resulted.

Getting shut out didn’t please me, so I said, “Because of the ongoing murder investigations, I need to know what you were discussing.”

Takka hesitated, and then said, “Itlans like to discuss many things. We may get loud sometimes, but it is perfectly normal.”

“Ambassador Takka, a little more information would be useful.” Annoyance infused my voice, but I couldn’t determine if Takka caught the emotion.

“I understand. All I can say is that the discussion was about a part of our culture, and has nothing to do with bowling or the murders.”

“That will be for me to determine. Ambassador, let’s schedule a meeting for this afternoon at my office. Then you can tell me all about the Itlan culture.”

Takka didn’t look pleased, but he voiced no objections. For my part, demanding an appointment with an ambassador was either foolish or brave. Time would tell.

Without a word, the Itlans watched me walk away. I looked around the second floor and noticed Harrison waving at me. After I joined him, he said, “I just sent you a report. It’s the list of people who entered the washroom shortly before Skitem-Carry was found. I did more research and talked to the staff at The Peak, so the detail is pretty complete. Take a look; you’ll see something interesting.”

Looking at my com, I immediately noticed Ugon was on Harrison’s list, and right around the time Brian used the washroom.

“Did you see Ugon at the banquet?” I asked Harrison. “No. Did you?”

“Not at all, and I also didn’t expect him to be there. As far as I know, he’s banned from being around bowlers be- cause of the destroyed bowling balls. I bet he was up to some mischief, and somehow disappeared before anyone had a chance to interview him. And I need to find out how that disappearance happened.”

“Mischief like murder?” Harrison asked.

“We shall see. I need to talk to Dino about Ugon’s presence. In the meantime…”

Jack waved some papers in my face. “Ma’am, I need to talk to you. Harrison, it’s okay to stay and listen.” Harrison bristled at Jack’s remark. “I’ve sent you both a copy of my report.”

“What’s your report about?” I wondered what Jack had been up to.

“I examined the body of Keepe Style and discovered a fiber. It took me quite a while, but I managed to match it up with a piece of Ugon’s clothing. In fact, I found a bunch of Ugon’s fibers all over Keepe Style. I believe Ugon killed Keepe Style.”

I didn’t know whether to be jubilant or annoyed. This was the first I had heard about Jack’s activities. “Your reporting habits to your supervisor leave much to be desired. In the future, I need to know what you’re going to do ahead of time, not after the fact.”

“You’re not my supervisor,” said Jack.

“Actually, I am. I’m in charge of this investigation, and therefore you report to me.” I felt like stamping my foot, or maybe even both of them. Jack didn’t reply, but I knew he’d received my message.

“How did you get some of Ugon’s clothing?” asked Harrison, ever the diplomat.

“His garments shed quite a bit. And I noticed he was wearing clothing yesterday similar to what he wore on the day of the murder. So I scavenged a few threads at the banquet last night. And I have documentary evidence showing he wore the same clothes both times.”

“That’s not really good evidence,” said Harrison. “Ugon has been wandering around everywhere.”

“Did you interview Ugon last night?” I asked.

Jack shook his head.

“So no one did. Jack, pick up Ugon. In fact, bring him here. I want to stick around the alley for a while. We can use Smith’s office to interview him.”

“That is a good piece of evidence,” said Harrison, after Jack took his leave. “One fiber would mean nothing, but a bunch…”

“Yes, it helps our investigation, and it will be interesting to hear what Ugon has to say.” In the meantime, I needed to clear my head. “Let’s watch some bowling. Hopefully, it’ll help our investigation.”

My comment didn’t fool Harrison. He knew I was in withdrawal. Since I couldn’t bowl, at least I could study the bowlers.

Barb-Cole noticed me from having conversed a few times. “Join team?” she asked.

“No. We’re still in the middle of two murder investigations.” I sighed. “I do miss bowling, let alone being on Canada’s team.”

“Watch Round One?”

I decided her words were also a question. “I wouldn’t miss it. Should be exciting. Who are you betting on?” I really didn’t expect any answer.

“Tristorians small better chance than Itlans. Humans none. Tomorrow ten.” Barb-Cole walked off to join her team.

From her words, I understood she thought the Tristorians had a slightly better chance than the Itlans, and the humans had no chance at all. Her conclusions weren’t unreasonable. She also suggested she would see me tomorrow morning at ten when Round One started.

For some reason, Harrison had a confused look on his face, while he busily pecked at his com. “There’s something wrong here,” he said. “The schedule the RCMP received from the Intergalactic Bowling Congress has the competition starting at eight in the morning. What’s going on?”

“Confirm our schedule with the IBC. I’m going to talk to the teams. Catch up with me when you have the correct times.”

Since Round One started tomorrow, all teams were practicing at Revolutions today. I spoke with each group and determined their perceived start times. I had to make up a story about checking for glitches until Harrison reported in. It turned out the Tristorian, Bremen, and human teams had all been given the wrong start time.

After Harrison sorted it out with the IBC, I said, “It is curious three species received wrong start times. Something’s going on and it looks like the Itlans or Rheinon could be to blame.”

“I agree, but it’s going to be hard to prove,” Harrison said, “although the IBC assured me they would be looking into the situation. They’re going to do electronic tracing through the computers and coms.”

“It’ll be difficult to figure out, but we’re going to have to put it on our to-do list anyway.” I sighed. “So, we’re going to have to be more diligent and check up on everything to do with the tournament—start times, playoff schedule, and who knows what else. We may even encounter more sabotage like the melted bowling balls.”

“I have a headache,” said Harrison.

“That’s my line. By the way, where’s Brian? I haven’t seen him since our meeting earlier.”

“Ah, he called me and said he wasn’t feeling well. Sorry, I forgot to tell you. So much has been going on.”

“That’s fine.” It wasn’t fine, though. Brian should be calling his partner—me—about his status.

Noticing Jack and Ugon entering the bowling alley, I started walking towards Smith’s office. Harrison joined me. Should I have invited IBC officials or ambassadors to this meeting? Something to look into for next time. After the four of us were settled, I gave Ugon the Charter warning, and said, “We have evidence proving you killed Keepe Style. What do you have to say for yourself?”