A Study In Murder

?Allen stood up. “So let me get this straight, are you accusing one of us or not?”

?“I am,” I asserted, and put the folder on the table nearby. “Mark do you still have that pipe—the smaller one.”

?“Uh, yeah,” Mark said as he pulled it out of his pocket.

?I held out my hand and he gave it to me. I took a firm grip on it with both hands. Then, in one quick movement, I lifted it up, then brought it down to break it across my knee.

?The whole room murmured in surprise.

?The stem was broken loose from the shank, and the now-loose stem hung from a pair of wires which held the two pieces together.

?“What the hell is that?” Mark gasped.

?“It is a global positioning system chip,” I announced.

?“Yeah!” DeStadler affirmed. “That pipe Jon Kane had that we picked up at Watkins’ place? Turns out there was a GPS chip with its own power supply in that pipe as well.”

?“Why would someone do that?” Mark wondered.

?“Best as we can tell,” DeStadler snapped, “it was used to track whoever had it, wherever he went.”

?“And with this,” I held up the broken pipe, “Mark, you were also being tracked.”

?“That’s how the mugger knew where we’d be!” Mark realized.

?“Exactly,” I said in triumph.

?“But why?” Mark reflected.

?I walked across the room until I was nose to nose with Hypno. “You want to tell them or should I?”

?Hypno broke eye contact with me and looked over to DeStadler. “I have no idea what this crazy bitch is talking about.”

?“Very well, then it falls to me,” I stated simply. “Where should I begin?”

?“I am so outta here,” Hypno rose to go, but the two officers blocked the door.

?“Oh no, stay. I think you’ll find my story very interesting,” I hinted. “It’s a delightful tale of greed and revenge.” I moved to the center of the floor. “It all began a few short years ago when a man named John invested everything he had with a shady financial advisor.”

?“I wouldn’t know anything about that,” Hypno grunted.

?“Then you'll like this part. You see, John owned an internet security company built on software he’d created. He made investments with Randall Lawrence, but Randall completely mismanaged his investments, as well as skimmed money from the account. Then John’s business went through a rough patch, which caused him to lose everything.”

?“Was he one of the names on the list?” Mark asked.

?“Yes, in fact, other than Winsley Cunningham, John was the one that Randall had stolen the most money from.”

?“I don’t see how this has anything to do with me!” Hypno prattled.

?“John lost his money, his business collapsed, his wife left him, and he suffered a debilitating stroke.”

?With a nod from DeStadler, the two officers drew closer to Hypno. She glanced over her shoulder and noticed their approach.

?“Now filling in the gaps as best I can, John received physical therapy from you.”

?“Yeah, I’m a licensed Physical Therapist, but I have more than one patient,” Hypno corrected.

?“I know. I had a friend look up your license. But here is where it gets interesting. Because as it turns out, you are also a janitor.”