[Han Solo] - 03(41)

Despite the fact that he had his undersized hands full running Besadii, Durga the Hutt refused to give up his search to find his parent’s murderer. Six members of the household staff had died under rigorous interrogation, but there was absolutely no indication that any of them had been involved.

If the household staff was innocent, then how had Aruk been poisoned?

Durga had another conversation with Myk Bidlor, who confirmed this time that there were traces of X-1 in Aruk’s digestive tract. The lethal substance had indeed been eaten.

Durga terminated the communication, and went for a long undulation, roaming the halls of his palace, thinking. His expression was so forbidding that his staff—already highly nervous, and understandably so—fled before his approach as though he were an evil spirit from the Outer Darkness.

In his mind, the young Besadii lord was going over the last months of his parent’s life, mentally ticking off every moment of every day.

Everything Aruk had eaten had come from their own kitchens, prepared by the staff of chefs—including the ones now deceased. (He made a mental note to hire two new chefs ….) Durga had had the entire kitchen and the servants’ quarters scanned for any trace of X-1. Nothing. The only place that they’d picked up even the smallest hint of the substance had been on the floor in Aruk’s office, not far from his usual parking spot for his repulsor sled. And that had been just the barest trace.

Durga frowned, contorting his birthmark-stained features into something resembling a demon-mask. Something was niggling at him. A memory.

Niggling … wiggling … niggling …

Wiggling… wriggling! The nala-tree frogs!

Suddenly the memory was there, sharp and clear. Aruk, belching as he reached for yet another live nala-tree frog. Up until now, Durga had never considered the possibility that the poison could have been delivered by means of a living creature—after all, it seemed only reasonable that the creature would die from the poison long before it could be ingested.

But what if nala-tree frogs were immune to the effects of X-1? What if their tissues had been filled with ever-increasing amounts of X-1, without affecting them?

Aruk had loved his nala-tree frogs. He’d eaten them every day, sometimes as much as a dozen of them every day.

“Osman!” Durga bellowed. “Fetch me the scanner! Bring it straight to Aruk’s office!”

The Chevin appeared briefly, acknowledged the order, and then vanished.

The sounds of his running feet faded into the distance. Durga began undulating at top speed toward his parent’s sanctum.

When he reached there, he was only seconds ahead of the panting servant, who was carrying the scanning device. Durga grabbed it from his hands, then rushed into the office. Where is it? he thought, looking wildly around.

Is, there! he realized, heading for the corner. Standing in the corner, forgotten, was Aruk’s old snackquarium. He’d used it to keep live food fresh, and, the last few months of his life, that live food had mostly been nala-tree frogs!

Thrusting the scanner’s probe-tip into the snackquarium, Durga activated the instrument. Moments later, he had his answer. The mineral deposits on the globe’s glassine sides contained sizable amounts of X-1!

Durga let out a bellow of rage that made the furniture rattle, then went berserk, smashing the snackquarium with one mighty blow of his tail, slamming his bulk into furnishings, crushing and destroying everything in his path. Finally, hoarse and panting, he halted in the ruins of Aruk’s office.

Teroenza. Teroenza sent the frogs.

Durga’s first impulse was to fly to Ylesia and personally smash the t’landa Til to a bloody pulp, but, after a moment’s reflection, he realized that it would be beneath him to soil his hands and tail on a lesser being.

Besides, he couldn’t just do away with the High Priest. Teroenza was a good High Priest, and would be hard to replace. The Besadii lord was uncomfortably aware that if he had Teroenza killed, the t’landa Til on

Ylesia might well refuse to continue their charade as priests in the Exultation. Teroenza was well-liked by those who served under him. He was also an able administrator, who had brought Besadii ever-increasing profits from the spice factories.

I’ll have to have a trained replacement ready to step in before I act against him, Durga thought.

Also, Durga reflected, the evidence against the High Priest was purely circumstantial. It was remotely possible that Teroenza was innocent.

Durga had kept a close eye on Teroenza’s expenditures, and no large sums of credits had left his account. He could not have purchased the poison unless he did it in a very clandestine way … and he did not have the kind of credits it would take to purchase large amounts of X1.