|
Zippy stood there for a moment and started muttering to herself. I caught a phrase or two in French that I am sure my High School teacher never taught me. She looked up at me and said, "So I slept. No big deal. Everyone sleeps. It's not really a sign of weakness. Really. Not at all."
"If it's not a weakness, then why did you say that you sleep early and often, before?"
"I have my reputation to uphold!"
"If you were asleep, then you don't have any clue as to what happened, then?"
"I had some strange nightmares about a crowbar..."
Right then, there came a loud crash from one of the rooms. I ran over to see what had happened. On the door was written "NatCh." I eased the door open and peered around the frame.
"Never mind me," said the occupant, "I just broke my spleen. Lots more where that came from."
"Break it a lot, do you?" I looked around for the string. Right there in the shattered pieces of glass in the middle of the floor. i took out my notebook and started taking notes.
"Oh, it's a fragile thing. Around here, it breaks all the time. That's why I got the gross lot of replacements. From some place called Montsnamgs Enterpises. They were cheap, but I don't really understand the whole 'tenth part of your soul' clause..." NatCh looked worried for a moment.
"What can you tell me about the murder?" I was giving up on seeing NCIS tonight. I hoped it was a Kate and no McGee episode.
"Well, there was bad blood involved."
"Bad blood?" I asked. Hope took wing with a small quiver.
""Yeah. Once it leaks out of the body, you can't use it for anything except causing stains." And crashed to the ground in a fiery ball.
"Did anyone have it in for this pshrynk fellow?"
"Well, he seemed to have a lot of jealousy of people who had new toys. He was bugging Alex to change the rules of the contest so that moderators could be eligible to win if they were psychiatrists from a very cold state, as well."
"That didn't sit well with the people around here?"
"I don't think anyone really noticed all that much. He could be a pest at times."
I held back the urge to break the new spleen this moke was busy installing over his head. "So, was there anyone in particular who wanted to whack pshrynk over the head with a crowbar and then clean off said crowbar and leave a broken Nook behind?"
"Well, since you've been so specific, then, no. No one at all was in a situation to do all that."
These people played with language way too much for my tastes. I wrote down what he'd said and started to make little loops and squiggles in my notes to tie things together.
|