A Study In Murder

?“Yes,” he confirmed, “which begs the question, whose pipe do the police have?”

?“Fancy seein’ you guys here,” a big voice growled.

?We both turned to see the huge shape of John Stewart. He wore his odd broken smile and his eyes were fixated on the pipe in Mark’s hand. He slipped his cell phone into his pocket as he approached us.

?“Hey! You found it,” he blurted, and bent a bit to look closely at the pipe with his good eye.

?“John!” Mark said. “What are you doing here?”

?“Came up to hear a lecture.” He gave us his twisted grin. “I got Hypno watchin’ the booth. Gotta have some fun while I’m here, you know.”

?“Of course,” I exclaimed, and exchanged a glance with Mark. My suspicions were aroused that his arrival was so timely.

?“Well, since you found that one,” John remarked. “I could take it back and give you a refund.”

?There was a dead silence as we all stared at the pipe.

?Then John added, “I mean, if you want. I’ll still be able to sell it.”

?He reached out for it, but Mark pulled it back.

?“Actually, I want to hold on to it,” Mark proclaimed, “I know some people who will be very surprised to see this.”

?“Mark, isn’t it time for that thing?” I attempted to sound chatty.

?“What?” Mark responded. Honestly, I thought he was better at picking up cues.

?“That thing we have to do, it’s time,” I pointed out with a glance to my watch. “Nice seeing you, Mr. Stewart.”

?“Call me John, everybody does.”

?I took Mark’s arm and led him down the hallway.

?“I have to ask,” I murmured as we walked. “Who knew you had the pipe, and who would be able to replace it at the crime scene?”

?“Anyone who saw me use it on the stage,” Mark pointed out. “But should we show this to DeStadler? The precinct is only a few blocks away—”

?“Not yet. He will confiscate it, and we still don’t have all the facts,” I protested.

?“Then what do we do now, Homes?”

?I turned to face him. The idea of going upstairs to one of our rooms and ripping each other’s clothes off was my strongest urge. It had been two years for Mark and over a year and a half for me. But I tried to think with my brain and not my loins.

?“Our first matter of business is to find if there is something special about this pipe. Let’s go to my place. I have a microscope and other equipment.”

?“Didn’t you say the police took your paraphernalia?”

?I dropped my head. “That’s right!”

?“Any other ideas?”

?The image of Mark in the bathrobe and the empty hotel room resurfaced, but I pushed it down. “Actually, I have one. Follow me.”

?We worked our way through the crowd and headed toward the escalator. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tallish man walk past us and realized it was Cliff from Norm Blake’s jewelry booth.

?He seemed in a hurry and rushed by without an acknowledgment. Perhaps he hadn’t seen us.

?I realized Mark probably shouldn’t carry the suspicious pipe out in the open. We had walked by crowds of people with it right in his hand in plain sight.