"Yes."

"How did you do so?"

"Well, initially by the identification found on the body, and—"

"Excuse me, did you say identification?"

"Yes."

"Where was this identification?"

"In the man’s wallet."

"This body still had a wallet on it?"

"Yes."

"Was there anything besides identification in the wallet?"

"Yes, there were four credit cards — Visa Gold, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. There was also a phone card; an American Airlines frequent-flier card; a library card; a discount coupon for Bo-Jays, which is a pizzeria in Santa Monica; and the deceased man’s driver’s license."

"Did the wallet contain anything else?"

"Yes. It contained two hundred and fifty-three dollars in cash, plus one British twenty-pound note."

"Is it unusual to find cash on a murder victim?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because many homicides occur during robberies. Clearly, that was not the motive in this case, and—"

"Objection!" said Dale. "Speculative. Move to strike."

"Sustained," said Pringle. "The jury will disregard the detective’s comment as to motive."

"Lieutenant Perez, you said the wallet was only part of the identification."

"Yes, the body was also identified by two of Dr. Calhoun’s associates, Dr. Packwood Smathers of the University of Toronto — who was part of the international entourage accompanying the Tosoks — and Dr. Frank Nobilio, science advisor to the president."

"And who did the dead man turn out to be?"

"One Cletus Robert Calhoun."

"Detective, were you the person who arrested Hask?"

"Yes."

"Was the arrest warrant sworn out in your name?"

"It was."

"Your Honor, we introduce that warrant now, as People’s thirty-one."

"Mr. Rice?"

"No objection."

"Introduced and marked," said Pringle.

"Detective, is it therefore safe to say that it was you who made the determination that Hask was the most likely suspect in this crime?"

Rice nudged Michiko Katayama. "Objection!" she said. "Prejudicial."

"I’ll rephrase: you made the decision to arrest Hask, correct?"

"In consultation with District Attorney Montgomery Ajax, yes."

"We’ve already heard compelling evidence that the crime was committed by a Tosok, and—"

Michiko was warming to this: "Objection! Counsel is arguing her case."

"Your Honor, is Ms. Katayama now—"

"No sale, Ms. Ziegler," said Pringle. "Sustained."

"There are seven Tosoks on Earth, Detective. Why did you bring charges against Hask in particular?"

"Three reasons. First, Hask and Calhoun spent considerable time alone together. They interacted in different ways than did Calhoun and the other Tosoks, who never saw him alone.

"Second, the marking I believe to be a bloody footprint at the crime scene is smaller and shaped differently than the one made by Captain Kelkad at the Chinese Theatre — that eliminates Kelkad from suspicion, and we were also able to eliminate Dodnaskak, who at a glance anyone can see has much larger feet."

"Objection. Facts not in evidence."

"Sustained," said Pringle. "The jury is advised that the bloody mark at the scene has not been proven to be a Tosok footprint."

"You were saying, Lieutenant…?"

"Well, yes, then there’s the fact that Hask shed his skin. The murderer—"

Michiko again: "Objection — there’s no proof that a murder, as opposed to manslaughter, took place."

"Sustained."

Perez glowered at the Asian woman. "The perpetrator, then. The perp might very well have gotten covered in blood; shedding his entire outer skin would be a handy way to deal with that fact."

"Did you make an effort to recover Hask’s shed skin?"

"I did, aided by my colleagues. Hask said he simply bagged it up and put it in the campus garbage."

"And have you managed to recover the skin?"

"No."

"Do you in fact believe Hask when he says he simply threw the skin out?"

’’Objection!" shouted Michiko.

’"Overruled."

"No, I don’t. If it was blood-spattered, he’d have wanted to dispose of it more completely. It could have been chopped into small bits and flushed down a toilet; it could have been buried; it could have been eaten; it could have been burned—"

Dale’s turn: "Objection. Pure speculation. There’s no evidence that Tosok skin is flammable."

"Sustained," said Judge Pringle. "The jury will disregard Detective Perez’s speculation; he is not qualified as an expert on — on Tosok dermatology."

"Besides the fact that they’d spent time alone together, Detective,"

Ziegler, "and besides the shed skin, did you have any other reason suspect Hask over the other Tosoks?"

"Yes. He had no alibi. Most of the others were in broad public view attending a guest lecture by Stephen Jay Gould at USC during the time that Dr. Calhoun was killed."

"Thank you." Ziegler gathered up her notes. "Your witness, Mr. Rice."

Dale Rice squeezed out from behind the defense table and made his way to the lectern. "Detective Perez, is robbery the only human motive for committing murder?"

"No."

"Isn’t it in fact true that robbery represents only a tiny fraction of the reasons why one human being might kill another?"

"It’s a significant reason, but—"

"But it’s a minority reason, isn’t it?" said Dale. "There are all kinds of motives for one human being to kill another, yes?"

"Well, yes."

"You said Dr. Calhoun and Hask had spent considerable time alone together."

"Yes."

"Indeed, you testified that none of the other Tosoks were ever alone with Calhoun. Do you know that for a fact?"

"Well—"

"No, you don’t, do you? You don’t know that at all."

"Hask and Calhoun had a special bond; they had traveled together to the mothership from the Kitty Hawk."

"But you have no proof that over the last several months that Calhoun didn’t spend a lot of time alone with other Tosoks, correct?"

"Well, yes. I suppose."

"You suppose. I see. Now, about this bloody mark, which you referred to as a footprint. You said it didn’t match either of the ones Kelkad had left in cement outside Mann’s Chinese Theatre, correct?"

"Yes."

"But those are the only known Tosok footprints you have to work with, and it’s your testimony that the mark at the crime scene didn’t match them in size or shape."

"Well, they didn’t match exactly, but—"

"Not the same size, you said. Not the same shape."

"Not precisely."

"So, in fact, the bloody mark at the crime scene might not be a Tosok footprint at all."

"Oh, come on, counselor—"

"It doesn’t match your one reference sample. The best you can say is that it’s somewhat similar to a Tosok footprint."

"It’s very similar."

"Just as, oh, say, Canada is very similar to the United States. Similar, sir, but not the same. Now, sir, still on the matter of the footprints at the Chinese Theatre: Harrison Ford’s footprints are there — did you compare the impressions in the cement to Mr. Ford’s actual footprints?"

"What? No."

"Eddie Murphy’s are there, too. Did you track down Eddie Murphy and compare the shape and size of his actual feet to the footprints in the cement?"

"No."

"Dick Van Dyke? Tom Cruise? George Lucas? Paul Newman? Did you check to see how closely their real footprints match the cement impressions?"

"No."

"Cement expands in the heat and contracts in the cold, Mr. Perez; that’s why sidewalks sometimes buckle on hot days. Even if the mark at the crime scene is a footprint — which I doubt — the fact that it’s smaller than the marks you measured in the cement outside Mann’s Chinese Theatre doesn’t prove anything, does it?"

Ziegler’s second chair, Trina Diamond, decided that she, too, should get into the act: "Objection! Argumentative!"