32 BBY
The soft blue light of the holocron illuminated the deepening lines of Dooku's face, casting the bags under his eyes in stark shadows. Despite his exhaustion, he carefully maintained his appearance, with his robes remaining unwrinkled and his chain of office untarnished. He even briefly considered asking Athemeene to use some of her cosmetics to try and disguise his exhaustion, but decided against it.
He wasn't that desperate.
It should have been obvious to him sooner, but Sifo Dyas' death did not mean the end of his involvement with the matter. A Jedi Master falling to violence in mysterious circumstances would be a complicated affair at the best of times. In Dooku's case, making the matters worse was a conflict of jurisdiction between the two temples - Sifo died on Raxus Prime, firmly within New Temple's territory, yet his status as a member of the Coruscant Temple meant the Council insisted on leading the investigation in spite of it.
Naturally, Dooku had protested, and so the Council had petulantly resolved to 'compromise' with him by allowing a knight from his Temple to be part of the investigation team. Surprisingly, Ky Narec had proposed entrusting the role to Knight Prialla. The waifish knight had not given Dooku the impression of being a skilled investigator, but Narec was certain she would be the best choice for the role.
In the end Dooku decided not to concern himself with the outcome of the investigation. It was Sidious and his pet's job to cover up their own tracks, not his. Perhaps it might even benefit him if the investigators did actually uncover the Sith.
Putting such thoughts aside, Dooku focused on his diplomatic work. The point of the New Temple was that it was supposed to focus on protecting the Outer Rim, and having a Jedi Master killed, apparently assassinated, had shaken some people's confidence.
Since the news broke, he had been rushing up and down the Hydian Way for the better part of a week, and even when he was home on Serenno was still making calls in his office.
The line he had to Mon Cala had dropped suddenly, and wasn't reconnecting even after multiple attempts to redial them. Dooku wasn't even sure if they'd hung up on their end, or that the connection was just too weak.
With a sigh, he pressed the button to hang up, and leaned back in his chair. The Mon Calamari had yet to even agree to the protection of the New Temple, but nevertheless as a potential future partner Dooku didn't want them unsettled, either.
Sifo had been on the Jedi Council, however short his tenure. It was hard to imagine a more qualified Jedi, and a more embarrassing failure when he died on a world that was composed of garbage.
The same excuses and reassurances had tumbled past Dooku's lips so many times he had almost begun to believe them himself. Sifo wasn't truly a member of the New Temple, merely staying there for its conveniently central location in the Outer Rim while pursuing other matters on behalf of the Jedi Council. His death would in no way affect the New Temple or its day to day conduct. Raxus Prime was a dangerous world and Sifo went there without backup, of course none of Dooku's Jedi would make such a mistake.
It was such a painful afternoon that Dooku was almost relieved when his service provider bounced his call to Mon Cala. He was halfway through typing up a letter for the ambassador when he was interrupted by a notification.
M8-ID had just alerted him that two Jedi had arrived from Coruscant. With a sigh, he got up and adjusted his robes, composing himself and getting his thoughts in order before going to greet his two guests.
"Knight Vos, Padawan Secura." Dooku met the pair of Jedi in the garden. The two had been led there by M8, and Dooku dismissed the protocol droid with a wave.
At a glance, the two looked less like jedi and more like ruffians who blew in from the gutter..
Vos was tall, powerfully built with wide shoulders, and a golden line running horizontally across the center of his face that looked like a tattoo, but was actually a feature of his human species, Kiffar. His unkempt black hair, stubble, and bare shoulders wouldn't have looked out of place in the Coruscant undercity, shaking down unwary travelers for loose credits, not helped at all by the angry glare that he sported at all times.
Aayla Secura was a Twi'lek, with lovely sapphire blue skin that she was all too happy to show to the world thanks to the tight leather outfit that barred her midriff and accentuated her curves. Combined with the reputation of her species, the padawan's choice of wear gave the impression of a slave girl, or a club dancer, not helped at all by her choice of lipstick.
To say that Dooku didn't approve of the way they presented themselves was an understatement. They looked like a gangster and his much too young girlfriend, not like a pair of Jedi investigating a murder. He would be damned if he ever allowed any of his Jedi to represent the New Temple looking like that.
"A bit annoyed today, Dooku?" Vos asked, and Dooku realized he had let more of his disapproval show than he intended.
"My apologies. I have been kept busy since Sifo's death." Dooku answered.
"Busy before that, too." Vos pointed out. "Can't be easy being the Count of Serenno and the Grandmaster of the New Temple. Not to mention the family. That's almost a full time job by itself."
"None of it would be possible without people I trusted overseeing certain tasks in my absence. My wife, Athemeene, manages the Palace and my children, while Jedi Master Narec is more involved in the New Temple's day to day affairs."
"And what was Sifo Dyas managing for you?"
"Is this an interrogation, Vos?" Dooku turned his back to the man, leading the two on a stroll down the path. "I'm sure you already know what Sifo was doing for me on Raxus."
The man smirked. "Why don't you tell me, anyway?"
"He was not there in an official capacity to the New Temple, but as a military advisor to the Count of Serenno."
"Yeah, it was an interesting way to get around anti-piracy sanctions."
"And perfectly legal."
"What did you even need the ships for?"
"To ward off pirates." Dooku replied. "Shipments going from here to the Core are uninterrupted, but trying to trade with other worlds in the Outer Rim is much riskier."
"Could anyone else have known where he was going?"
"Myself, Padawan Asajj, my family." Dooku answered. "I'm sure many of the servants knew as well."
Vos glanced over at his padawan, who took out her compad and began making notes.
"Are you going to interrogate the entire Palace?" Dooku asked him.
"We're going to follow potential leads." Vos answered. "An important one being, who was it that had access to Sifo's ship?"
Dooku paused. "Why does that matter?"
Something about his question seemed to catch the knight off guard. Vos looked at Dooku for a long moment, obviously trying to read him. "Sifo Dyas was killed in an explosion that originated from inside his ship."
Padawan Aayla spoke up for the first time. "Whoever killed him, presumably had access to his ship."
Explosives? That rabid Sith had used explosives? Somehow, Dooku couldn't even picture it. That hound had been so eager to do battle, rearing at his leash. Would he really have been able to slake his thirst for blood with something as cold and distant as a bombing?
"You look surprised." Vos said, watching the Count carefully.
"I am." Dooku admitted. "I wasn't aware of the details until this moment."
"Who had access to his ship?" Aayla asked.
"I'm not sure." Dooku answered. "He owned it privately, and I never used it."
"Not even once?"
"No. Not even once."
The two of them exchanged another look.
"Is there anything else?" Dooku asked them.
"May we speak with the Palace staff, and your family?" Aayla asked, politely. "We'll want to move about the Palace, freely."
"Go ahead." Dooku dismissed them. "We have nothing to hide."
Apparently, they did in fact have nothing to hide. Vos wished that Dooku would try to hide something, but so far there was no evidence of that at all. Three entire days were wasted trying to find a single member of Dooku's staff or inner circle who was anything other than sincerely trying to help. Heck, the family didn't even regularly wipe their droid's memories, so even they could provide clear, exonerating testimony.
Vos had been so sure it was Dooku.
The thing that really stuck in his craw was the way Sifo had died. Explosives were so intentional and specific. A jedi should have been warned by the force about any assassination attempt well in advance, and this was obviously planned. Especially a seer like Sifo, who had made a prophecy of his own. The only way the bombing could have worked was if someone had known Sifo would be blinded from the force on Raxus Prime, and had known his destination ahead of time.
Dooku knew Sifo's schedule. Dooku was the one who sent him to Raxus Prime.
Vos had been sure it was him.
"It can't be him." Aayla said, at last. It was the conclusion he was starting to reach himself.
"It has to be him." Vos countered. "Who else knew where he was going?"
"The entire Palace did, and none of them had access to his ship." Aayla replied. "It was biometrically sealed, no way to fake it."
"He could have cut his way onboard with a lightsaber."
"No evidence of holes cut into the ship. We would have found the offcut."
Vos grunted with annoyance. "Okay. Sifo was Dooku's friend. Dooku gave him a gift or something, and tricked him into carrying the explosives onto his own ship."
"Can't be. Sifo would have sensed it in the force."
Vos sighed. "Maybe he is a skilled slicer."
"If he was a skilled slicer, he would have had to sneak on board after the ship landed on Prime." Aayla pointed out. "Which he couldn't do because Palace security footage confirms he was here."
Vos grimaced. "Force, spare me from ever having another clever padawan."
Aayla smirked. "I just don't think it was him. There isn't even a motive."
She had him there. By all evidence, Sifo was a close friend to Dooku and an integral part of his operations at the New Temple. The Jedi Master's death had caused Dooku no shortage of headaches in its immediate aftermath.
But somehow Vos just couldn't shake the feeling that it had to be the Count. He had to be involved somehow.
His holocom rang, almost startling him. After a second ring, Vos answered.
Even through the blue projection of the holocom, Luminara Unduli looked tired. The Jedi Master had spent the better part of a week on Raxus Prime, which was not conducive to good rest for a force sensitive. The constant simmering of the Dark Side had worn on all the Jedi who went to investigate the murder, leaving even the strictly orthodox Mirialen worn and disheveled. Her normally immaculate headdress was creased, like she hadn't hung it up properly before going to sleep in the morning and just threw it on without bothering to iron it.
"Any progress?" The Jedi Master asked, without a hint of a formal greeting.
After he was silent for a moment, Aayla answered instead. "No. The Palace security record is clear, Dooku was here the entire time. So was his apprentice. Neither of them had access to his ship. His reason for sending Sifo to Raxus checks out."
Vos let his padawan go on,not quite ready to admit that he was wrong just yet. After she was done, Vos turned the question around. "What about you? Any new information on your end?"
Luminara scowled. "...Possibly. We found a witness."
"That's great."
"Sifo returned a rented speeder to the stand right out front from the shipyard, and we found the boy manning the counter at the time of the explosion."
"What's the problem, then?"
"There's three: One, he was running a side business as a spice dealer selling glitterstim, two, he was using some of his own supply at the time of the explosion, and three, his testimony is contradicted by the physical evidence."
Vos clicked his tongue in frustration. "How much of a contradiction?"
"He claims Sifo was outside the ship at the time of the explosion, when we found his remains on the bridge."
"Great." Vos grunted, frustrated.
"It gets worse." Luminara hesitated, before adding, "He claims he saw Sifo get attacked by another jedi before the ship exploded. One with a red lightsaber. Which we don't have a body for, despite supposedly being caught in the blast."
Vos' brow crinkled as he considered the implication. A Sith? They were extinct.
"I know. It sounds impossible to me." Luminara. "His testimony would be worthless before a court, and I'm not even sure if we can draw any leads from it.
"So dead ends in every direction." Aayla concluded.
"Yes, Padawan, it seems that way."
Hesitating slightly, Vos decided to ask another less tactful question. "And the New Temple Jedi? Priala? Anything suspicious there? Trying to cover something up maybe, or hide evidence? Anything that could link a Jedi from the New Temple to the crime scene?"
Luminara scowled. "She disappeared completely. No one from the investigation team heard a word from her, until she showed up again three days later with Sifo's missing lightsaber."
"...Where'd she find that?"
"With local security. They stole evidence from our crime scene and tried to pawn it on the black market. Priala also learned that planetary security was involved with the Black Sun, so she just arrested half the precinct with their own cuffs. All she's managed to prove since arriving is that our crime scene was completely contaminated before we even boarded the ship on Coruscant."
"Force be with us." Aayla groaned.
"One step forward, ten steps back." Vos summarized.
"There are no conclusions we can draw from our investigation." Luminara shook her head slightly, seeming disgusted at the words she was saying. "Sifo died in an explosion that originated from his ship. It's still possible that this was the result of an accident due to a malfunctioning plasma reactor. At the moment, I have two leads left."
"And those are?"
"Sifo's ship was insured. If we can find out who last serviced it we might be able to rule on whether this was an accident or not."
"That's not very promising."
"Secondly, if you can use your psychometry on Sifo's lightsaber, we can determine if he was attacked by a Jedi assassin or not."
"Oh, no." Aayla sighed. "We're going to Prime?"
"I'm afraid so." Luminara answered. "Finish up there and come back here."
Vos hung up, irritated.
After a moment of silence, Aayla spoke up. "A malfunctioning plasma reactor would explain some things. Like, how Sifo never detected the explosives on his ship, or sensed that someone was plotting to kill him. It would fit the available evidence."
"And the witness's testimony?"
"He was high at the time. He could have seen anything."
Glitter stims weren't known to make people hallucinate, Vos knew, but the witness could have had some other spice in his system or maybe a preexisting condition. Even the general population of Raxus was known to be crazy, the kid could just have undiagnosed schizophrenia.
"Well, we better get back there." Aayla suggested. "I don't think we can achieve much else here."
"...Not just yet. There's still one more person I want to talk to."
"Who?"
"His student."
Aayla looked like she thought that was a dubious idea, and Vos didn't blame her. Tan'ya was only seven, and it was doubtful she had any knowledge of the incident at all. Even talking to her was in poor taste, given that her teacher had been killed and she was likely grieving.
But despite the mounting evidence, Vos still wasn't able to shake off his suspicions towards Dooku.
"Come on, don't tell me you aren't interested in the prophesied one? Maybe helping our investigation will be how she tears that veil?"
That only made Aayla look even more uncertain.
The two Jedi eventually agreed to talk to Tan'ya, setting off towards the looming presence in the force. They didn't need to ask for directions - ever since they set foot in the palace, Vos and Aayla could feel the little girl no matter where she went. If Vos had to guess, the girl was at the stage of her training in the Force that she was learning to grow her connection, and hadn't yet mastered it enough to shrink her presence. Among Jedi, it was seen as rude for those more powerful to leave their power completely unmasked. It was unnecessarily intimidating.
The closest point of comparison Vos could find for the girl's power was Yoda, on the rare occasions the Grandmaster revealed his full potential.
They found her in what was presumably her bedroom, and after a moment of consideration Vos stepped aside so Aayla could knock. He suspected his apprentice would be much less intimidating to the child than he would be.
After a few moments the door opened to reveal an ordinary, seven year old human girl. She had dark hair that she kept only at shoulder length, and was wearing robes appropriate for a youngling.
"Hello there." Aayla said in a kindly voice, crouching down so she was at eye level. "We're investigators from the Jedi Temple. We just want to talk to you a little bit?"
The girl's eyes narrowed at that, her expression settling into a scowl that looked like a pout on her face. "Does Father know that you're here? Talking to a minor without their guardian present must be against procedure."
Aayla turned to look at Vos, her eyebrow raised.
"We're not here as part of the investigation." Vos lied, but given this conversation would never end up in his report, maybe it wasn't really lying. "We just wanted to meet you."
"Oh? In that case, I have nothing further to say to you." The brat then stepped back into the room, and closed the door in Aayla's face.
Maybe the Force preserve whoever was stuck as master to that awful brat. Shaking his head, Vos knew there wasn't too much he could do. He could not interview a minor in an official capacity without a parent or guardian present, and if she didn't want to talk to him privately there wasn't really anything he could do to force her. At least, not while the most powerful swordsman in the entire order was right down stairs.
Aayla stood back up, and turned to her master. "Well, if that's everything?"
"...I guess it is." Vos agreed, and together they left for their ship.
"...So this is your scheme, Being X?"
Surveying her room, she glared at the books on the shelf and the dolls arranged on the window sill. She expected that voice to come from somewhere, anywhere, but all the objects remained inert.
"You think this is enough? You think this is how you'll get me to bow down to you?"
She stood up, too full of energy to sit still. She paced restlessly, waiting for his mocking demands.
"I should have seen it coming. Of course this is what would happen to anyone I grew close to, wasn't it?"
Where was he? She searched the room again, not finding any sign of the monstrous entity.
"Giving me the silent treatment now? Pretending you've forgotten about me? But I wouldn't be here without you, X. I know you're watching. Now that I have a family, and friends, you think you can threaten to take them away?!"
Lips curled into a snarl, she spun on the spot, waiting for Being X to appear, yet seeing him nowhere. Eventually her gaze settled on the mirror, the sweet young face of a pampered, powerless princess staring back at her. A grimace of hateful wrath bloomed across it as she jabbed a finger at her reflection.
"I've had enough. Mark my words, Being X. One day I'll be powerful enough to make you bleed. And you'll never be able to take anything away from me ever again!"