Conspiracy of Silence

Fire Set to Destroy Evidence of Link to Norris

Once again the sniveling Regina press has not only abandoned any duty to report the truth to you they have also fallen sadly short of being able to just report the facts that we all witnessed on Tri-D in a coherent fashion.

Let's begin with their coverage of "Corina and Dirk", first she was so manipulative that she broke up with him when he was no longer useful, now they report that she was so overwhelmed by their breakup that she killed herself. Free Thoughts thinks that whatever the truth of their relationship and break up, the only person that could tells us the truth about that would be Dirk. And we sincerely doubt that his publicist will ever allow him to be that forthcoming, even if he should be of that inclination.

Let's back up a moment to the point where it became public and verifiable knowledge that Corina was the daughter of the late Duke Aledon. How did the Regina Times come up with the report matching their genetic material? Surely it wasn't through their tireless investigative journalism. Although Corina had recently left enough skin and blood scatttered around Regina for an exemplar, who had access to DNA material from the late Duke to conduct the match? It seems likely that the information was not released by Corina, because not only did she decline to comment to the Times, she did not act to capitalize on the potential political advantage that this gave her here on Regina. Of the many crimes and mistakes Free Thoughts might be willing to lay at Corina's feet, we are not aware of any time that she has misunderstood a chance for political advantage and failed to seize it. So unless we are willing to agree that she was so overwhelmed with a "savage man" at the time, we can only assume that she didn't want to take advantage of that information. And if it was her information to control, why release it until she was ready to use it? If Corina didn't release it, then who did and why?

Then there is the assasination attempt of Corina. Anyone with highly placed social skills, or friends who hang out in bars, had heard the rumor that a new Duke was on his way to Regina. No more "Acting Imperial Governor" for Corina and no purple velvet cloak for her. So why kill her now? Someone might want personal revenge for some reason, but remember that the person(s) that tried to kill her then were sophisticated enough to circumvent the protection of Regina Security, her Ling Security detachment, the fire and security alarms, and the automatic fire fighting systems in her apartment. Free Thoughts thinks that it was more than a grudge that night.

The reason Corina had to not only be killed, but also be burned up was to destroy the evidence. That DNA evidence. The thing that had changed that really threatened the power structure on Regina was that Corina was not only doing a competent job as governor, she was also able to prove a blood tie to Norris.

Corina says that it is a power struggle between her and Black for control of Regina. Free Thoughts is not obliged to believe that Black was the only power on Regina that wanted Corina dead. Corina said that "the powers of the Old Regina had to silence me" and that Black was behind the assasination attempt. We will never know what evidence she had of that, but it must of been good because she risked her future and life on it. The better question is why would Black, who has served at his current post through a long list of Regina governments, risk his position to kill Corina. As security director, we refuse to believe that he did not have information that a new boss was coming. Usually killing the old boss is a bad way to curry favor with the new boss, it makes people nervous around you. However, Collingwood, an Imperial noble with aspirations to the Regina purple clearly stood to gain, if Corina were "out of the picture".

Perhaps Black was not only behind the fire, perhaps he saw to it that "evidence" implicating himself made it into the hands of Corina after the fire. He clearly had access to security cameras, etc. He had fairly easy access to the necessary systems as well as the "know how" to do it. If Black had tried to kill Corina, do you think he would have been careless enough to leave evidence for anyone else to find? Even if she survived, if she had received proof that it was her "partner", Mr. Black that was responsible perhaps it would frighten her off Regina, again "out of the picture".

The duel itself could even have been Black's idea. Corina probably would have been swayed by a suggestion to "settle this" so that no one else is hurt.

The real question is: Did Collingwood order Black to kill Corina, or did Black take it upon himself to do so in order to get in good with the new boss?

If Collingwood did order Black to get Corina out of the picture, his new "anti-corruption" plan makes perfect sense. He has to get rid of the man that is too powerful and dangerous to him on Regina, the man that knows too much: Black.