A Strangled Cry of Fear. B.A. Chepaitis

stance, and how to make use of it. “So you won’t mind if I gather enough evidence to establish reasonable doubt for Francis? At least, enough to get rid of the execution order.”

      “You’d be doing us all a favor,” Regina said. “Aside from the humanitarian considerations, executions don’t do our reputation any good.”

      “Okay,” Jaguar said. “Then let’s start with the fact that Diane was strangled from behind and Francis always attacked from the front.”

      “No good,” Regina said. “His defense lawyer tried that, but Francis made those marks on her, and everyone knows that’s his signature.”

      Jaguar sighed. That was all she had. That, and the ephemeral Francis carried, but she couldn’t even mention that here. Regina wasn’t one to see the spirit realm as a solution to mundane problems. “Then I’ll need something else,” she said.

      “Like what?” Regina asked.

      “The most logical thing is finding someone else who might have killed her. Someone with motive, means, opportunity.”

      Regina frowned. “I—I hadn’t considered that, oddly enough. An interesting denial on my part. But I’m not sure you’ll find anything. Everyone liked Diane very much. Even though. . .”

      “Even though what?”

      “Well, there were some accusations about a relationship with a female prisoner—a pretty young schizophrenic woman, here for aggravated assault. She wasn’t responding well to medication, and we had trouble with her before Diane took over her case. Then, of course, she had to be removed from it. The girl didn’t make the accusation, though. Susan Eideler reported an incident she thought was suspicious.”

      Susan again, Jaguar thought. She was everywhere. “I thought you said they were friends.”

      “They were. Thick as thieves. But Susan’s a stickler for the rules, and she felt obligated, she said. There was a thorough investigation, but it came to nothing. You knew Diane, so you know how unlikely it was. It broke off her engagement with Ned, though. Or, something did. They broke up just around that time.”

      “And you think it was this accusation?”

      “I’m not sure. It could be just one of those things. In a closed system like ours relationships get heated fast. Sometimes too fast to realize they won’t work. But Susan and Diane patched it up, somehow. Diane respected what it took for her to make the report, thank God. You can imagine how difficult that kind of fight makes things. Here’s your room.”

      Regina stopped and opened a door, one in a long row that all looked the same. These rooms were for visitors and new workers. No point giving them the better housing until they looked like staying. She handed Jaguar her key card, and the two women stepped inside.

      Jaguar looked around. Her bags were already there. Other than that there was a bed. A desk. A bathroom. A kitchenette with a tiny refrigerator, a toaster oven, microwave, and a hot plate. She remembered the set up from her first six months here. That, at least, hadn’t changed, except for the small black circle on the ceiling she recognized as surveillance equipment, and a black box on the wall she knew as an intercom.

      “Cozy,” she said.

      “I know it’s not much, but you can take your meals in the dining halls, and this way,” she pointed at the circle, “we can keep an eye on you.”

      “Right,” Jaguar said. “What’s that for?” she pointed at the intercom.

      “So you can reach security quickly, or for security to reach you if they see trouble headed your way.”

      “Can I turn it off?”

      Regina raised her eyebrows. “Why would you want to?”

      “So I can get some sleep.”

      Regina closed the door behind them. “It’s for your safety, Jaguar. Alex was concerned. I think he’s overly cautious, but I didn’t want to take any chances, so I had this installed. It was the least I could do.”

      “I always thought that was a funny phrase,” Jaguar noted.

      Regina folded her hands together and regarded Jaguar thoughtfully. “There were other precautions I wanted to take. I wanted a guard or a laser fence for your interviews with Francis, but you wouldn’t have them at your initial interview, so that was voted down. Especially since you said he didn’t kill Diane.”

      “Hoist by my own petard?” Jaguar asked.

      “If there’s ever any hoisting around you, that’s usually what does it,” Regina noted dryly.

      “Yeah. And I’m guessing Susan was also loud about it.”

      Regina shrugged.

      “You couldn’t fight that? And here I thought you could do just about anything.”

      “Jaguar. That’s silly.”

      “No,” she said. “I really did. Especially when I first came here and saw how much you did get done.”

      Regina smiled, obviously flattered, but she was not an arrogant women. She brushed it away with a wave of her hand. “The moment of disillusionment comes to all students. All good students, that is. I’m glad our friendship could survive it. Someone will send your schedule of meetings by morning, but I’ll stop by and bring you to dinner tomorrow night. We’ll eat in the common lounge and I’ll introduce you around.”

      “As long as I’m not the first course,” she said.

      “Audiences don’t eat their entertainers. You provide a little thrill of adventure. Much needed on these sky islands.”

      “I suppose,” Jaguar said. “Though I could do with less adventure and more dancing.”

      “Well, on Saturday nights, in the Terra Lounge, we have that, too.”

      Regina left Jaguar unpacking her bags and wondering who would ever dance with her here.