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Rock Lobster · 05-09-2010, 07:47 AM

Next was the door marked "Patricia." I was wary of these people using real names, by now. This had to be some sort of set up. Knocking briskly, I walked in and looked around. In the center of the room sat a woman dressed in what had to be Classic Greek attire, typing furiously on a laptop. She was muttering to herself, "Keep up! Have to stay in front! He's catching up to me!"

"Pardon, me, ma'am," I said when I realized that Patricia wasn't going to notice me by herself.

She paused and looked up. "I do not have all day. What is it that you need?"

"Did you notice that there was a murder in the Moderators' Suite?" I figured that with this one, I should start with the basics. She seemed sort of distracted.

"Of course, I did! Ghastly business. It interrupted my getting three books formatted in Mobi. Downright inconsiderate of him."

"The killer or the stiff?"

"Both, actually. There cannot be a criminal in the absence of a victim. Elementary logic, that. Why, I had to move my chair from my favorits spot clear over here..." She looked around as if noticing her surroundings for the first time. "Did pshrynk push the Red Button? Again?"

"In the habit of doing that, was he?"

"It only happened once, and then we made Rule Seven: Do not touch this Red Button! We mean you, pshrynk!"

"It was actually Zippy who pushed the button."

"Zippy?"

"'Pinwheel,' like that's her real name..."

"Oh, Zelda. That's not possible! Zelda never touches the Red Button. She was too fast asleep when all of this happened."

"Asleep, eh? And what were you doing at the time?"

"I was puzzling out a particularly awkward PDF. I was quite too busy to notice anything."

"Yet you noticed that Zippy was asleep?"

"It's such a rare thing that it was hard to miss."

"One last thing. Why do you have a piece of electric blue string clinging to the hem of your, er, toga?"

She looked down and plucked it up. "I suppose that this has to do with Nate's String Theory..." She turned back to the laptop and I knew that I'd lost her. I walked back to the door and found Zippy.

"So, tell me about being asleep, Doll!" She gasped in surprise.

05-09-2010, 07:47 AM	#12
Rock Lobster PI for hire. Posts: 94 Karma: 511896 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: I keep a notebook handy, just in case.	Next was the door marked "Patricia." I was wary of these people using real names, by now. This had to be some sort of set up. Knocking briskly, I walked in and looked around. In the center of the room sat a woman dressed in what had to be Classic Greek attire, typing furiously on a laptop. She was muttering to herself, "Keep up! Have to stay in front! He's catching up to me!" "Pardon, me, ma'am," I said when I realized that Patricia wasn't going to notice me by herself. She paused and looked up. "I do not have all day. What is it that you need?" "Did you notice that there was a murder in the Moderators' Suite?" I figured that with this one, I should start with the basics. She seemed sort of distracted. "Of course, I did! Ghastly business. It interrupted my getting three books formatted in Mobi. Downright inconsiderate of him." "The killer or the stiff?" "Both, actually. There cannot be a criminal in the absence of a victim. Elementary logic, that. Why, I had to move my chair from my favorits spot clear over here..." She looked around as if noticing her surroundings for the first time. "Did pshrynk push the Red Button? Again?" "In the habit of doing that, was he?" "It only happened once, and then we made Rule Seven: Do not touch this Red Button! We mean you, pshrynk!" "It was actually Zippy who pushed the button." "Zippy?" "'Pinwheel,' like that's her real name..." "Oh, Zelda. That's not possible! Zelda never touches the Red Button. She was too fast asleep when all of this happened." "Asleep, eh? And what were you doing at the time?" "I was puzzling out a particularly awkward PDF. I was quite too busy to notice anything." "Yet you noticed that Zippy was asleep?" "It's such a rare thing that it was hard to miss." "One last thing. Why do you have a piece of electric blue string clinging to the hem of your, er, toga?" She looked down and plucked it up. "I suppose that this has to do with Nate's String Theory..." She turned back to the laptop and I knew that I'd lost her. I walked back to the door and found Zippy. "So, tell me about being asleep, Doll!" She gasped in surprise.