Necessary Evil (DS9 episode)

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Star Trek: DS9 episode
"Necessary Evil"
Odo speaks to Pallra
Episode no.	27
Prod. code	428
Airdate	November 14, 1993
Writer(s)	Peter Allan Fields
Director	James L. Conway
Guest star(s)	Max Grodénchik as Rom Marc Alaimo as Dukat Katherine Moffat as Vaatrick Pallra Robert MacKenzie as Trazko
Year	2370
Stardate	47282.5
Episode chronology
Previous	"Rules of Acquisition"
Next	"Second Sight"

"Necessary Evil" is an episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the eighth episode of the second season.

Quick Overview: When Quark is shot, Odo reopens a five-years-old murder case.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A Bajoran woman hires Quark to retrieve a strongbox from what was formerly her husband's shop on Deep Space Nine. Once he has the box, curiosity overwhelms Quark and he opens it to find nothing but a list of Bajoran names. A stranger sneaks up, shoots Quark, and runs off with the list. As Dr. Bashir frantically tries to revive Quark, Odo becomes suspicious of Quark's brother, Rom, quoting the 139th rule of acquisition that says, "Wives serve, brothers inherit." As Rom panics, Commander Sisko coaxes him to divulge what was in the strongbox. All Rom knows is that the box was hidden behind the wall panel in the shop during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. Upon hearing this, Odo flashes back to that time.

He entered what was then a chemist's shop and Gul Dukat showed him a dead body, soliciting Odo to become an investigator for the Cardassian Empire. Although Odo detested the Cardassian occupation, Dukat claimed his superiors wished to "solve" the murder by executing ten Bajorans at random. As Odo was neither a Bajoran nor a Cardassian, Dukat believed him to be ideal in the role of investigator and convinced the shapeshifter to help. The only witness was Vaatrick Pallra, the deceased's widow - the same woman who would later hire Quark to retrieve the strongbox. Pallra acted the same as any widow would; however, Odo noticed that the flesh below her eyes showed no signs of swelling, indicating to him that she had not cried. She claimed her husband had been having an affair and was murdered by his mistress. When asked to identify the mistress, she pointed at Kira.

Odo reflects in his security log that there is no such thing as unfinished business and he never closed the case in the Vaatrick murder. He resumes interrogation of Rom and tries to jog the Ferengi's memory; all Rom can remember is that the first name started with "Ches'so." Outside Odo's office, Kira asks if he found anything. He tells her about the name and there is an air of awkwardness. Referring to the events of five years ago, Kira says she would have been executed had it not been for Odo's intervention, because the Cardassians did not care about innocence or guilt. However, it was important to Odo.

Flashing back to the murder investigation, Odo remembers his first conversation with Kira. He found her sitting alone and asked to sit with her, at which point she made it clear she would not do whatever sexual favors Odo was asking for. Embarrassed, he tried to explain his intentions, at which point she realized he was a security officer. According to Kira, Vaatrick had managed to obtain a type of tea not available to most Bajorans, which he had shared with her, but there had been no intimate relationship between them. she also implied that, regardless of his role, Odo was working for the Cardassians, which made him a "collaborator."

On a visit to Pallra, Odo asks why her husband would store a list of Bajoran names in his shop, to which she suggests someone else or the Cardassians put it there. At hearing the name Ches'so, she asks who it is and Odo replies that he does not know and would like to talk to whoever it is. Pallra adds before Odo leaves that, if his investigation is related to her husband's death, she wants to be helpful in any way possible. He mentions that her electricity was recently terminated and asks where she got the money to pay the bill. A loan from a friend, she says, but she intimates that her "friend" is married and she will not embarrass him. Back on the station, Kira tells Odo she has found "Ches'so," which is really "Ches'sarro" according to her contacts from the resistance. Odo realizes he is responsible for Ches'sarro's death for divulging the name to Pallra and immediately orders a patrol to be stationed with the still unconscious Quark at all times.

Dukat and Odo discuss the murder five years prior.

Once more Odo flashes back to five years prior and remembers asking Quark, Kira's alibi for the time of Vaatrick's murder, what the two of them were doing. Quark suggested that Kira was showing him her "credentials," at which point Odo knows the alibi is false: Kira nearly attacked Odo when she thought he wanted sexual favors. When he confronted her about paying Quark for an alibi, Kira eventually revealed that she was executing a terrorist attack on the station. Gul Dukat entered Odo's office shortly thereafter and Odo told him Kira was not the culprit in the murder.

The man who shot Quark incapacitates the officer guarding the Ferengi and attempts to suffocate him. Rom enters and saves Quark's life by screaming repeatedly and gaining the attention of other security forces. When brought to DS9, Pallra denies knowing the man, but Odo has confirmed that the two have been in frequent contact and she recently transferred a large sum of money into his bank account. Pallra has been extorting money from the people on the list, which contains names of Bajorans who collaborated with the Cardassians during the occupation, to keep their identities from becoming public. However, when she declares her innocence in the murder case, Odo replies, "I know."

Kira comes to Odo in his office and asks how he knew. When he heard the list was a list of Bajoran collaborators, Odo realized that was how Vaatrick had money for tea during the occupation. Kira killed Vaatrick, and Ches'sarro died at the hands of former resistance members, not Pallra, and as Kira reveals, she murdered Vaatrick for being a collaborator. She has never told him before because she was afraid it would affect their friendship. She asks Odo if he will ever be able to trust her again and he simply looks down at his desk.