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“Describe for us, please, your relationship with Corran Horn.”

“We were close, very close. About six months after I started working with him, Corran’s father was murdered. That event crushed Corran and I helped him through it. He’d been an only child and his mother had died previously, so he felt alone. The fact that Kirtan Loor freed his father’s murderer had Corran burning for vengeance, but Loor’s Imperial ties meant Corran couldn’t do anything, and that frustrated him. Gil and I worked at calming him down, and he came around. The point is that when you help someone through such a difficult time, you get to see his heart and get to know him very well.”

Halla Ettyk glanced at her datapad. “How well did you know Kirtan Loor?”

“He became our Imperial Liaison about a year before I was partnered up with Corran. I found him to be aloof and distant. We didn’t socialize—he made no effort to get to know the rest of us after work and didn’t socialize during office celebrations. He seemed to delight in frustrating investigations. In the three years I worked in the same office with him, I got to know him well enough to avoid him as much as possible.”

“Did you become good at avoiding him?”

“Yes. He’s fairly easy to spot, especially because of his height, and if he became too obnoxious, I could always retreat to the female officers’ refresher station and he’d not follow me.”

“You mention his height. How would you characterize his appearance overall?”

“Rather distinctive.” Iella brushed her light brown hair away from the side of her neck. “He prided himself on looking like a younger, taller Grand Moff Tarkin, and he wasn’t far wrong in that. He definitely stood out in a crowd.”

“Would you say Corran Horn knew Kirtan Loor as well as you did?”

“Objection, counsel is leading the witness.”

“Sustained. Rephrase the question, Commander.”

“Yes, Admiral. How well could you say Corran Horn knew Kirtan Loor?”

“Objection. That calls for speculation.”

“I’ll allow it. Overruled.” Admiral Ackbar nodded toward Iella. “You may answer the question.”

“I’d say Corran knew Loor as well as I did. Corran seemed to know where Loor would be before Loor did, and he programmed Whistler to give him a sign if Loor was around and he’d not noticed yet.”

“Thank you.” Again Ettyk checked her datapad. “Please describe for us the kinds of materials you have reviewed during your investigation.”

Iella started ticking things off on her fingers. “I have interviewed witnesses, I have listened to comlink recordings and read transcripts of same, I have looked at physical evidence and reviewed reports prepared by forensics concerning same, and I’ve reviewed the file evidence available.”

“What sorts of things are in that file evidence?”

“Reports by Commander Antilles, Lieutenant Horn, and Captain Celchu about their time here on Coruscant.”

Halla hit two buttons on her datapad. “I’ve now downloaded into the court’s evidentiary computer a report by Lieutenant Corran Horn that I would like entered into evidence as People’s exhibit 34. You have reviewed this report?”

“I have.”

“What does it say concerning Kirtan Loor?”

Iella looked straight at Halla Ettyk. “In it Lieutenant Horn reports that he saw Captain Celchu in conversation with Kirtan Loor at a cantina called the Headquarters.”

“Based on your experience as Corran’s partner, how would you characterize the nature of this report?”

“Typical Corran: concise, to the point, and unequivocal in his statement of facts.”

“And, based on your experience, how would you characterize Corran’s identification of Kirtan Loor?”

“He was absolutely certain he’d seen Captain Celchu talking with Loor.”

Ettyk smiled. “So there was nothing in the report, nothing in your experience that would lead you to question Lieutenant Horn’s identification of Kirtan Loor?”

Iella hesitated. “Actually, there is one little detail about which I do have a question.”

Surprise flashed across Halla’s face, but she smothered it quickly. “Move to strike as nonresponsive, your Honor.”

The Mon Calamari’s barbels twitched