Illya swallowed and did all he could to keep his composure. The light was shining in his eyes, and the faces of the local sherrif and his deputy were lost to the shadows. He shifted on the cold, hard metal folding chair he had been placed on and spoke.

"I was speaking to the group when the young man had a coughing fit. I politely did not draw attention to him, as he was clearly embarrassed. He retired to his cabin, the doctor left, presumably to look him over, and then the next thing I heard, the man was dead."

"The secretary, the Japanese."

"The Japanese secretary." He nodded. His breath was starting to speed up. Why on earth were they questioning a holy man here? Couldn't they just interview him at the Shangri-La?

"And had you met the deceased before this?"

"I had never *met* the deceased. I saw him walking in the garden at dinner. He was not coughing, but he looked ill."

"What do you mean, looked ill?"

Illya took a deep breath. "He seemed a bit off-colour. He was clutching at his stomach, and he spent very little time outside before returning to his room. He moved slowly, and his balance seemed to be poor."

"A lot of things 'seem' to be in your story."

"I am telling you only what I know. I may be wrong, but I have told you all that I saw of him."

"It says here you're a 'guru'. What's that mean?"

"I am a spiritual leader--"

"Like some sort of priest?"

"No... I merely guide those who wish to follow along the path to greater enlightenment."

"Horse hooey." The sherrif spat. "Get him out of here, bring in the next guy."

The deputy shoved him out the door, and as soon as he was in the hallway, relief washed over him. The change in the air just between the interrogation chamber and the corridor was palpable. He stumbled a couple of feet, looking for his balance.

Napoleon caught him, helping him over to a chair, marginally more comfortable than the one he had left. "Hey... you all right?"

"Yes, of course. I don't see why you think I wouldn't be."

"He didn't have to shove you that hard."

"I'm sure it's his job to shove anyone involved in a murder that came to fruition past suppertime." Illya said coolly, glaring at the closed door. "I didn't catch my successor to the throne."

"Screenwriter, male." Napoleon informed, following his partner's line of sight.

---/-/---

"Scotty Nelson. I was at the Bed and Breakfast with my wife, Charlene. I didn't know the businessmen, or the dead kid."

"And what do you do for a living, Mr. Nelson."

"Scotty. Nobody calls me Mr. Nelson. I'm a screenwriter."

"All right, Mr. Nelson. Now, can you recount the events to me as you saw them?"

He rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Of course, officer. I was listening to the guru-- Russian guy, isn't he? I wonder if he's got any stories about-- Anyway, he was talking about fate, and I hadn't paid much attention to the poor secretary at first. I mean, he wasn't that close to me, so I wasn't really that concerned with him."

"Now you say he wasn't that close to you. Earlier you said you didn't know him."

"I meant physically."

"You didn't know him physically? Is this a spiritual thingy or do you just mean you never had--" The deputy jumped in.

"I mean, he was standing about five feet away from me, so I wasn't paying any attention to him."

"Oh. Right."

"I didn't pay any attention to him until the real big coughing fit started, and then he went back to his cabin, and I went back to listening to the guru. Then the businessman-- the Japanese businessman, the one whose secretary it was that died-- he comes running out of the cabin, screaming in Japanese. Now, I don't speak Japanese, except for a couple very basic words and phrases, you know, 'yes', 'thank you', 'goodbye'. I speak Chinese, mostly Mandarin, but I can understand a little Cantone--"

"Back on track, Mr. Nelson."

He sighed. "You don't have to call me 'Mr. Nelson'."

"Sure I do. Procedure. The Japanese businessman comes out screaming?"

"And then Gene-- that's the gardener, he's the proprietress' husband-- he speaks Japanese. He tells us that the kid's died. Then Bob-- I mean Dr. Jurado-- comes out and confirms it. And then Alma-- who runs the place-- calls you guys, and that's all she wrote."

"Thank you, Mr. Nelson. You may go now."

The deputy opened the door.

---/-/---

To be continued...