|
As we exited the room, I looked over at Zippy and said, "By the way, where were you when all this went on?"
"You couldn't possibly think that I had anything to do with this horrible crime?" She managed to look simultaneously offended and artistic. Must have been the beret.
"I can possibly think of anyone being the murderer, Doll. That's my job and I'm good at it. So cough up your excuse or alibi!"
She sniffed indignantly and said with an airy tone, "I was asleep, if you must know. I am in a different time zone that everyone else here."
"I can see that. So did you hear anything or see anything unusual?"
"More unusual than a dead body lying on the floor of the Suite?"
I was starting to get a little tired of the literal mindedness of this crowd. "Other than that, then."
"Well, pshrynk never wore a coat. He had more avatars than pretty much anyone, but a coat was not part of it."
I glanced down at the corpse. It wore a garish yellow and electric blue plaid sport coat. The tie was dull orange.
"Was he colorblind?"
"Most definitely. For him, this is toned down."
"Is there anyone who knew you were sleeping?"
She looked around, trying to avoid eye contact. "Everyone knows that I get to bed at the same time every night. Early to bed, early to rise and all that..."
"I see. So, tell me, why do you have that electric blue thread on your shoulder? It doesn't go with the all black motif."
She looked down and hastily brushed the string away. "What string?" she asked, looking up with innocent eyes.
"Yeah, right!" I said. I walked over to another wall. There were four readers encased in glass. Below each was a small hammer and a sign that read, "Break glass in case of emergency." One of the cases had cracks in the surface.
"What are these, then?" I asked, hoping to catch her off guard later.
"Those? Pfft! They are nothing!"
"An emergency supply of nothing, eh? This place is about as strange as any I've ever seen."
|