A Study In Murder

?“Thanks,” I sneered. “I’m glad I could be so entertaining.”

?“Come on, Watkins,” John leered. “She knew about your wife, that you’d been alone. She figured it would be a thrill to have a woman like her chase after you. She was under the impression that after she drugged you, you’d be used as her alibi. She didn’t know we were setting you up to be the patsy. We considered using Allen Alexander-”

?“If you had, I would’ve paid to help you,” I offered.

?“Candy said no way she would even pretend to m

ake a play for that guy, even if to only drug him. Plus, you were a better choice. When we found out you had a gun and everything, the plan fell into place.”

?We reached the curtain under the exit sign, another part of the elaborate pipe and drape.

?“Hold up!” John said, and he moved from behind us and pulled the curtain aside. He gestured us to move in with the gun. The hallway beyond was dirty, dingy, and not well lit. It was as if the moment you left the public spaces, the hotel became a dark and sinister cavern.

?We passed through the curtain. He followed us into the gloomy hall.

?“Keep going straight. This is a hallway nobody uses.”

?“What was Candy’s relationship with you?” Sheryl inquired, as she tried to keep him focused.

?“Hypno likes girls as well as guys, and Candy was surprisingly creative. She was a lot of fun for both of us.”

?“So why kill her?” Sheryl asked. We were both panting hard from the weight of Hypno as we dragged her.

?“She decided to cross us. She made copies of the financial reports I gave her and put them on a flash drive, which she hid in the pipe marked with an ‘X’. It was a deal she worked out with Jon Kane.”

?“She was hedging her bets, in case you didn’t pay up.”

?“Yes, but we figured it out and Hypno—in a smart move—gave that pipe to Watkins instead. After he touched the display.”

?“The display pipe…I forgot I’d held it,” I said, as the realization sunk in.

?Stewart gave that grotesque smile. “There were actually four pipes! Though we had planned to use the pipe with the ‘X’ to leave at Randall’s.”

?Hypno’s head lolled to the side and a soft moan escaped her lips.

?“Until I left it on the podium,” I concurred.

?“We gave Candy the display one wrapped up with plastic so it wouldn’t get new fingerprints.”

?“Which she took to Randall’s,” Sheryl guessed.

?“Yes. Randall had asked her to come pick up reports he had faked for the Cunningham broad. Candy brought the pipe as a gift.”

?“They had planned to meet, which is why Randall let her in,” Sheryl reckoned.

?“And it was very convenient that your ex-husband already had the handcuffs and leg irons in a drawer at his place. Kinky bastard.”

?Sheryl flushed red at this but went on. “Candy knew where to find them, from previous ‘play dates.’”

?“Gotta hand it to her. She batted her eyes, made a few lewd suggestions, and got him trussed up like a turkey on Thanksgiving. I needed to go uptown and get Mark’s gun. All Candy had to do was let me in.”

?“I still don’t understand why you killed her,” Sheryl quizzed.

?“She didn't want anyone to get hurt. Not Randall, and not Watkins.”

?“Drugging me was okay?” I whined.

?Stewart ignored me and went on, “She was fine with cuffin' him and stealin’ his money. She felt he deserved that.”