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Enough with the preliminaries. I walked over to the stiff and looked around. There was a crowbar lying next to it.
"So, what happened?" I asked. The milling group of people in the back of the room wearing green hats all tried to look as if they had really important things to observe on the backs of their hands.
"We think someone hit him several times with a crowbar," said "Pinwheel."
"How very astute. Did anyone see what happened?"
"Well, pshrynk, of course. And probably the murderer. Otherwise, no."
I was beginning to wonder if this was going to be a long day. The crowbar was clean. Either it had been wiped off, or it wasn't the murder weapon. Strange. Under the stiff there was a black pouch. His hand was clenched around something. His face had an expression of extreme surprise. Probably because this wasn't how he'd expected to finish off his day.
I pulled out my HTC Hero and took some pictures. It's a handy little device. I haven't found a good reader program for it, yet, but it's Android. Stable and reliable.
"Who owns this joint?" I asked.
"Alex Turcic. Very big name in the industry."
"The same Turcic who charges me rent every month, whether I want him to or not?"
"He said that he would be happy to deduct your back rent from your pay."
It was going to be another slim month as far as eating went.
I looked around some more. Against a wall, there was a large red button with a sign under it that said, "Do not push this! We mean you, pshrynk!"
"What happenes when you push that button?" I asked.
"Strange things."
"Stranger than being killed by what may have been a crowbar?"
"Most of the time."
I shook my head. This was a bunch of odd ducks, all right. I pushed the body over with my foot and picked up the black pouch. Inside was one of those new readers I had been hearing about. At the top was printed, "Nook." Strange name. The glass was broken on the face. Down in the corner, barely legible was printed, "Moby Dick." I clicked a photo.
Prying the hand open, I found a yellowish star with a red letter "Q" printed on it. Another photo.
"Should you be disturbing the crime scene like this?" asked one of the Green Hats. He looked like a rather large bird with protruding eyes.
"If the CSI kids ever get here, they'll just collect what I do as a part of evidence and file it under 'abetting.' That or 'Lobster was at it again.' I've actually seen that file folder. And who might you be?"
"I'm Nate the Great."
"I'm sure you are."
Miss "Pinwheel" came up and said, "He's on Wikipedia, you know."
Looking at the group of Green Hats, I decided that they were my best pool of suspects so far. I needed to get them isolated so they couldn't talk any more than they already had. "Is there a way we can get this bunch into separate rooms so I can interview them?"
"No problem," she said. "Pinwheel" walked over to the red button and pushed it. The walls of the Moderators Suite started to unfold and envelop the Green Hats. Some looked startled. Others merely annoyed.
"That's some red button you have there, lady!"
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