It was a pleasant meal for the three of them. No one really seemed to care that one of the others was a murderer, Lefler thought. They talked and acted more like companions in crime—or like the murderer was none of them, but someone lurking somewhere else in the ship.
He wished he did not feel impelled to find out, if he could, who killed Makki. But he knew that Taat would be trying to find out, too—if Taat hadn't done it—because Taat was a psychologist and would look at it as a scientific problem. Robwood was the only one who might be temperamentally inclined to let the solution wait until they reached Mars.
When Robwood took over duty watch at 0600 hours, Lefler found Taat listening to a tape on criminal psychology on the centerdeck.
"Taat, didn't I hear you say you were working on some sort of an experiment on the storage deck while Makki was on watch yesterday?" asked Lefler.
Taat switched off the player.
"That's what I was doing," he said carefully, "but I don't remember saying anything about it."
"I listened to the reports you and Robwood made while I was recording them in the log," admitted Lefler. "I was interested in your estimate of Robwood's and my comparative abilities to commit murder."
Taat removed his spectacles, polished them and put them in his breast pocket before answering.
"I'm not surprised that you listened, Lefler—whether you're guilty or innocent," said Taat. "You probably noted that I mentioned I was recording my experiments on film. If you'll go below with me, I'd like for you to see that film."
Together, they pulled themselves down to the storage deck. Over near the main electrical switchboard, Robwood had torn out three empty spacesuit lockers and built a compact laboratory for Taat. A dozen white mice and some hamsters floated in cages attached to the wall.