While the discovery that the human-sized prototype had never been used had shaken Maria's confidence to the core, it only seemed to embolden Malcolm further. As Charity Singh made her argument, one thought ran through his mind:

Maria is innocent. Therefore, there had to be a way for someone else to kill Johann Palmstroem. It's as simple as that.

"Begin with the forensics," said Agent Singh, as if laying out a geometric proof. "The gun from the locked room matched the bullet in the body. Based on the powder burns, it was a close-range shot. Therefore, the killer was in the room with the victim, and left the gun there."

Maria's mind seemed to be elsewhere while Agent Singh spoke. Oh, well. That girl often tended to get lost in her own little world. Distractable. But who could blame her, with all she'd been through?

"The security cameras cover all entrances, and we checked the entire day's footage. Every possible suspect who entered the building on the day of the murder was seen leaving before nightfall, with the exception of Maria Park and Felicity Crowe."

Vincent was listening with rapt attention and, as usual, gnawing on his fingernails.

"Felicity Crowe was patrolling the other wing," continued Singh. "The keycard records prove she couldn't have reached the murder scene until after the shots were heard."

So many assumptions, thought Malcolm. But which to attack first?

"The victim couldn't have locked the door behind the killer -- death came too quickly, according to the examination of the body. The time machine hasn't been used, so eliminate that as well. There was no way to leave that room until Maria Park broke the door open."

Why is she so sure? I can see another way out, no time machine necessary.

"Ms. Park is therefore the only possible culprit, and I see no reason not to take her in now. While she raised a few points in her defense earlier, such as the time she would have needed to fake the locked door and a struggle, these are mere probabilities. It would have been difficult for Maria to commit this crime... that, I will admit. But it would have been impossible for anyone else.

Her only defense was the use of the time machine... and that possibility has fallen through."

Time to counterattack. If she kicks us out of the crime scene now, we'll never get another chance to clear Henry's name and get to the bottom of this!

"Hey, kiddo!" said Malcolm, waving at Maria, whose eyes seemed focused into the far distance.

"What?" she said, roused from her thoughts. "I was listening," she added, clearly lying.

"I might need a hand with this argument. Fill me in if she tries to dodge any inconvenient details. You too, Vince. If we put our heads together, we can do this."

Confrontation: A Maze of Logic

Without invoking the time machine or repeating Maria's earlier arguments from Chapter 8, Malcolm, Vincent, and Maria need to counter Singh's claims.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

As before, you may press a specific statement by asking a question (for example, highlighting an unjustified assumption that Agent Singh is making), or make a counterargument to a specific statement, preferably from evidence that has been given already. This will unlock new statements.

Be warned: Not every unlocked statement will be equally useful. Some of them will lead you down the garden path of false assumptions.

Keep at it until you've forced Singh into a corner!

1. "The gun from the locked room matched the bullet in the body." 2. "Based on the powder burns, it was a close-range shot. Therefore, the killer was in the room with the victim, and left the gun there." 3. "The security cameras cover all entrances. Every possible suspect who entered the building on the day of the murder was seen leaving before nightfall, with the exception of Maria Park and Felicity Crowe. Nobody else could have entered the room." 4. "Felicity was patrolling the other wing. The keycard records prove she could not have reached the murder scene until after the shots were heard." 5. "The victim couldn't have locked the door behind the killer -- death came too quickly, according to the examination of the body." 6. "The time machine hasn't been used, so eliminate that as well." 7. "There was no way to leave that room until Maria Park broke the door open." 8. "Ms. Park is therefore the only possible culprit, and I see no reason not to take her in now."

"You've left a lot of room for doubt," said Malcolm, "And we can't wait for this to come to a hearing."

"All right by me," said Singh, coolly. "I'd hate to waste a judge's time with your sophistry, Fell. Let's see if seven years was enough time for you to learn competence. Your 'doubts,' then?"

Singh had been going easy on Maria; her earlier attack had been a test, which the suspect had passed. But it was time to go for the throat. She'd lead Fell into a logical minefield and force his surrender. That was how to gain a strong bargaining position, after all.

And if it put Maria in a bad spot, well, that would be a real shame. But what was one person's freedom against the lives of millions?

Use the threads below to press for detail and make counterarguments to specific statements! This will unlock more narration and statements. The story will only continue when the confrontation is over.

The time to complete this confrontation has run out. The story will advance regardless.

Fell tried to put the pieces together, but they all collided in his mind. Was there any way to prove that someone else could have been here? Was there any way out of the room?

"Hold on," he said. "I'll think of something."

But Agent Singh was unimpressed. "My patience is at an end. If the time machine was not used, there was no way the culprit could have entered or left. Come with me, Ms. Park."

(She was wrong about this - there were ways. But Fell had not thought of them.)

Vincent was shaking. "We should do the experiment," he said. "Then we can at least prove that the time machine works. Even if it wasn't used..."

"Not now!" replied Malcolm, snapping more sharply than he'd intended. "Maria's being dragged off to a dark site, okay? So clearing your brother isn't exactly my top priority right now! We need to find a way to stop this!"

Meanwhile, Maria was thinking hard.

The time belt in the safe had all three of its indicator lights on. This meant it had never been used. There is no other human-sized time machine here... but is there some other hole in Singh's argument? I've got to think.

I've got to think harder than I've ever thought before.