Necessary Evil
A Bajoran woman pays Quark to retrieve a box hidden aboard the space station. She says it only has sentimental value.
Quark and Rom retrieve the box. Quark breaks it open and finds a piece of paper inside with eight names on it. He sends Rom to get an imager. A Bajoran man shows up before Rom returns with the imager. The Bajoran shoots Quark and takes the paper.
Odo investigates what looks like murder. He gets some information from Rom. Odo recalls another investigation he conducted when the Cardassians ran the space station. He was pressed into conducting the investigation by Gul Dukat. Vaatrik, the victim, was the husband of the woman who hired Quark. Vaatrik's widow accused Kira, who had just arrived on board the space station, of having an affair with her husband and murdering him when he attempted to end the relationship.
Odo talks to Major Kira in the present and then recalls a conversation he had with her when he was investigating the murder of Vaatrik. Odo flies down to Bajor (in the present) to talk to Vaatrik‘s widow.
Odo recalls his first meeting with Quark, which also occurred during the murder investigation. It turns out that Kira paid Quark to serve as an alibi. Odo isn’t sure if that means she was the murderer. Gul Dukat presses Odo to wrap up the case but he isn’t quite there yet.
Odo, in the present, suspects that the missing paper may have been a list of Bajoran collaborators who worked for the Cardassians. He is able to determine the names of the people on the list by studying Vattrick's widow’s communication logs. The man who shot Quark is still aboard the space station.
Odo and Kira talk, in the past. He presses her for answers. She reluctantly reveals that she is a member of the underground but explains that she had nothing to do with Vaatrik’s murder. She was there to sabotage some refining machinery. Gul Dukat walks in while they are talking and asks if Kira is the suspect. Odo says she isn’t and she is allowed to leave.
The man who shot Quark attempts to finish the job but Rom walks in as he is trying to smother Quark. Security shows up quickly and arrests the would be murderer.
Odo and Kira talk, in the present. She reveals that she lied to him in the past and that it was she who killed Vaatrik. He caught her searching his shop for proof that he was a collaborator. She didn’t feel as though she had a choice.
Thoughts
Katherine Moffatt played the part of Vaatrik's widow. This is her only appearance in this series but she also appeared in an episode of The Next Generation, playing a different character.
This episode focuses mostly on Odo, Quark, and Kira. Rom and Gul Dukat also play key roles in this episode. Doctor Bashir, Commander Sisko, and Lieutenant Dax are in this one but only to a limited degree. Chief O'Brien is not.
I love how the two investigations are layered together in this episode. I like the way the lighting aboard the station is different during the scenes that are set in the past. It is a subtle thing but it helps to distinguish between the two time periods. I like that they took a step back and spent at least part of this episode telling a story set in the past.
I thought this episode was excellent. It has a very noir feel to it. I would put it right up there with 1.18 Duet as one of my favorites.
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