MURDERED: Can YOU Solve the Mystery? (Click Your Poison Book 2)

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MURDERED: Can YOU Solve the Mystery? (Click Your Poison Book 2) Page 39

by James Schannep


  “Holy…” you mutter.

  “They were moving the crime scene,” Detective Dos Santos says, just loud enough for you to hear. “This is not good.”

  “Irma, what are you doing here?” her partner says, the calm in his voice straining.

  He puts his hand on his pistol.

  • Talk your way out of it.

  • Shoot first, questions later.

  MAKE YOUR CHOICE

  X-Rated

  “I hope you’re joking.” Viktor blinks at you in disbelief, but the prostitute is unfazed.

  She starts rubbing your thigh.

  “Hold on!” Viktor says. “Listen, Tourist, you want to come back here on your own time—have at it—but right now we’re on time I paid for, and this is not what I’m buying.”

  “Come back to me once you finish with your friend,” she purrs into your ear. “I’ll help you celebrate.”

  Viktor swears to himself in Portuguese and the working girl just giggles. She removes her hand from your lap, leaving you with only a wink.

  • Arrange the meeting with the dirty cop.

  MAKE YOUR CHOICE

  Yep, Still Wet

  Well, at least you got some sleep, even if you’re still a soggy mess. Agent Bertram looks like he just jumped in a lake and Maria look equally haggard in her muddy pilot uniform.

  “The plantation isn’t far,” Bertram croaks.

  “Back to the road or straight there?” Maria asks.

  • “Let’s get to the road. After that storm, the fields will be a swamp.”

  • “The fields. We’re still avoiding people, remember?”

  MAKE YOUR CHOICE

  You Can Run, BUT—

  You turn and sprint into the alleyway, Viktor following close behind and the cops just beyond him. Soon, the old woman and her children are within view and they all look back once they hear the pounding of your feet and your labored breath behind them.

  The eldest boy, who looks to be around nine years old, is the only one who doesn’t run. Despite the shouting pleas of his mother, he stands his ground. Even as you fly through the alleyway, you can see it—something has snapped within the boy.

  He moves toward the alley wall as you approach, and you assume he’s doing so to get out of your way, but you’d be wrong. He finds a loose board on one of the pallet crates propped up against the wall around every corner in these favelas, and before you realize what he’s done, he swings the plank at your shins.

  Pain erupts from your leading leg and you sprawl out along the alley floor. Even as you hit the pavement, the young boy takes out a lifetime of frustration—kicking you hard in the chest and face. Viktor pulls the boy off of you and extends a hand to help, but then gets tackled by the cops.

  Better call your lawyer; Brazilian prison isn’t supposed to be fun.

  THE END

  Young and Vulnerable

  The RSO smiles. “That’s the spirit! See that, boys? You could learn something.”

  As he leaves, you turn to Agent Danly. The man looks none-too-happy to have you tailing along, but makes no objections. With a quick snap of his head, he bids you follow. There’s a private room set aside so Danly can talk with the young woman, and she’s already waiting inside. He stops at the door.

  “You ready for this, Rookie?” Danly asks.

  Ready or not, you nod in acceptance of your duty and head inside behind the agent.

  The woman in question is a twenty-something petite blonde with hair pulled back so tight, it’s almost like she’s wearing a swim cap. Her face is unremarkable, she wears no rings, and only studded earrings, but she obviously put effort into her makeup. Most likely, she was overlooked in college and joined the ranks of the Foreign Service to see new places. Well, she ended up in Brazil, so it must’ve worked out. Though it appears, right now at least, that this conference room is the last place on Earth she wants to be.

  “Thanks for agreeing to talk to us, Miss Tompkins,” Agent Danly begins. “How long would you say you’ve known Miss Nightingale?”

  The secretary looks a lot like a scared rabbit. “Well, I’ve worked here three months. She’s been here the whole time I was.”

  “All right. Did you see Miss Nightingale socially?”

  “Sure, sometimes. We were friends. She spent a lot of time with her fiance, when he was in town, but there were nights out at the bars… sometimes.”

  “You never met this fiance?”

  “No, I did. But he traveled a lot, so when he visited they were pretty cozy. She just mostly joined in for ‘girls’ nights’ when he was away.”

  “And what did he do? For work.”

  “I’m…not entirely sure,” she says, her eyes tilting back, searching for the right memory inside her head. “Some kind of scientist or engineer, I think. Smart guy. Handsome.”

  “Glasses?” you ask.

  “Yes,” she replies, looking to you, thrown off-guard.

  Agent Danly glares at you, but you try to convey this could be our guy! through your own stare. “What’s his name?” Danly continues.

  “Viktor something, I don’t know. He’s not on Facebook or anything.”

  “Miss Nightingale doesn’t have him listed in her personnel file. Please try to remember his full name; it would be a big help.”

  “They were dating for a while, I think, but only recently got engaged. Maybe she hadn’t updated it yet? I think it was something Brazilian, though. He’s originally from here, I think. I know it was Viktor with a ‘k’ though. He said it like ‘veek-tor.’ I don’t know, I’m sorry.”

  She looks like she might cry. Like she’s already been crying all morning.

  “Okay, all right. Just a few more questions. Do you have any reason to believe someone would want to hurt Miss Nightingale? Any love affairs? Local ex-boyfriends? Maybe this fiance has a jealous girlfriend?”

  “No, nothing like that. She is…was…a really nice person.” Her lip quivers.

  Then the levies finally break and a flood of grief comes pouring out of the woman. She’s an inconsolable sobbing mess in less than five seconds.

  “That will be all,” Agent Danly says, dismissing her curtly.

  • Meet back up with Agent Bertram.

  MAKE YOUR CHOICE

  You’re Hilarious

  You bring your pistol to the side of the bird, looking as menacing as you can, ready to turn the chicken into a cloud of red mist and feathers. The kids watch you with true menace in their eyes. Then the leader laughs, and so they all laugh.

  “He says you’re funny and he likes you,” Viktor translates for the leader.

  “They’ll take us to Falador?”

  The leader nods, giving a wide, toothy smile, and bids you to follow him with a wave of his hand.

  • Go see the informant.

  MAKE YOUR CHOICE

  Your Partner

  You get across the street despite the angry protests of the Elite Squad members guarding it. A bullet explodes across the brick near your head. That must have been a warning shot; they wouldn’t have missed if they didn’t want to. Guess you won’t be going back that way.

  Irma runs behind you, her eyes wide, shaking her head in disbelief. You make it up to a corner and peer out. In the connecting alley ahead, you see Agent Danly and two Elite Squad members sweeping an open courtyard. You’re about to shout out to him, but the detective puts a hand on your shoulder.

  “I don’t recommend it, but if you choose to contact him, you do so on your own. I’m not taking responsibility for bringing you here, do you understand? You must tell him you followed without my help.”

  • “I understand. Thank you Irma, for everything.”

  • “He won’t be too happy to see us here, will he? This is ridiculous—let’s just go back to the hotel.”

  MAKE YOUR CHOICE

  You Suck

  You turn the device, but it just makes a dry “click,” like a bicycle lock on the wrong combination. Nothing happens; that wasn’t th
e right order.

  Viktor closes his eyes and slumps, nearly collapsing in on himself with despair.

  Then, in one final burst of effort, he leaps up from the ground and grasps Ambassador Mays by the throat. He actually gets a good grip on the man, but a second later, the armed guards in the room shoot Viktor, killing him and freeing the Ambassador.

  In the confusion of the violence, you’re shot too.

  THE END

  Zzzzz…

  Fluorescent lights flicker on, searing your eyes. What time is it? The haze of sleep is thick, and you can’t tell if you’ve been sleeping for minutes or hours. Blinking through the harsh light, you see a man standing by the bed. When his voice registers to your mute ears, you know it’s Viktor.

  “What?” you say.

  “I said we’ve been boarded by pirates. Get up!”

  Now you’re awake. “What do they want?”

  “Usually it’s a robbery. We could try and wait them out, see if they’ll leave us alone. Or we could try and warn the captain. It’s illegal for merchant ships to carry weapons, but most keep a shotgun or at least a revolver just in case.”

  You will your brain to think.

  • “Let’s barricade the door and wait it out.”

  • “Is there still time? Let’s warn him!”

  MAKE YOUR CHOICE

  THE END

  Things not going according to plan? No worries, super-sleuth. Unlike real life, here you get a chance to start over and try again. And now you’ve got the added bonus of starting the puzzle anew, with some pieces already in your head.

  Remember what the last chapter was called? Click it below. Don’t remember? Pay more attention next time and click here to start over from the beginning.

  Action-oriented

  Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That

  The American

  Armed and Dangerous

  Antitrust

  Ask Around

  Askew

  At the Copa, Copacabana

  Bad Cop

  Balls (or Ovum) of Steel

  Bare-handed

  Bathrooms

  Behind

  Bête Noire

  Better Left Unsaid

  Big Oil

  Blindfire

  Blind Pursuit

  A Bond Moment

  The Boogeyman

  Brazilian Triangle

  Break-dance Fighting

  Bug Out

  Bye-Bye

  Can You Hear Me Now?

  Carnaval

  Clueless

  Cocktail Hour of Need

  Cold-blooded

  Colonel Mays

  Coming Clean

  Commander Shift

  Company Man

  Computing

  Conference Rooms

  Confused

  Consolation Pizza

  Cookies, Milk, and Storytime

  Covered

  Cowboy, Baby

  Crossroads

  Crowd Control

  Dead Bastard

  Dead End

  Dead to Rights

  Dead (Wo)Man Kneeling

  Deputized

  Deputy Shift

  Detained

  Detecting!

  De-Tour

  The Devil Ray

  Did You Say “Tapas” Bar?

  The Difference between Dirty and Corrupt

  Double Agent

  Double Back

  Dropped

  Drug-addled

  DSS

  Easy Street

  Eavesdropped

  Elitist

  Employees Only

  Endangered

  Energetic

  Escaped

  Escape from Rio

  Even the Odds

  Evident

  Facts & Food

  Fanning the Flames

  Femme Fatale

  Field Day

  Flee the Favela

  Flandering

  Floundering

  Forgotten

  Fox and Hound

  Free as a Bird

  The Fugitive

  The Future is Now

  Ganging Up

  Geeking Out

  A Gentleman’s Agreement

  Get to the Chopper

  The Getaway

  A Ghost of the Past

  Ghosts in the Present

  The Ghost Yet to Come

  Going Green

  Good Cop

  Gopher

  Grounded

  GTA

  “Guests”

  Gung Ho!

  Happy Reunion

  Hard-boiled

  Hard Drive

  Hard Evidence

  Here There Be Monsters

  Here’s Your Sign

  Hero

  Hesitation

  Hide

  Higher Learning

  History Revisited

  Hospitality

  Hostel Environment

  Hot Pursuit

  House of Lies

  Imploded

  Instant Karma

  In Synch

  Interrogation

  Intercepted

  Interrupting POW!

  Into the Lion’s Den

  Investigate

  In Your Dreams

  In Your Sleep

  It Sucks

  Jacob Marley

  Jamanta

  Jane’s Addiction

  Journo

  Jungle Fruit

  Just the Facts, Ma’am, err, Sir

  Keep Moving

  Kick the Hornets

  Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (In No Particular Order)

  A Key Piece of Information

  Knock, Knock

  A Long-Awaited Discovery

  The Long Night

  The Low Road

  Lucky Strike

  The MacGuffin

  The Main Stage

  Making Enemies

  Making Green

  Making Up

  The Messenger

  Microwaved

  Mind the Car

  Money Talks

  Monopólio

  The Morning After

  Motorist

  The Mouth

  Nailed

  Narcotraficante

  Neither Fight nor Flight

  The Net

  New Beginnings

  Nightcap

  Nocturnal

  No More Easy Paydays

  No Thanks

  Not Much of a Comfort

  Not so Sweet

  Not White but Golden

  Now What?

  Off the Case

  Old and Experienced

  On the Road

  On the Run

  On a Walkabout

  One More Easy Payday

  Only Fools Rush In

  The Other Guys

  Overconfident

  Pacification

  Padded Ninjas

  Pays Off

  Pedestrian

  Petrol-fied

  Picked

  Predator

  Pressroom

  Prey

  Private Quarters

  Professor Exposition

  Punch Out

  Putting out the Fire

  Quick Decision

  Quietly, or With a Murmur and Not a Bang

  Quite the Cocktail

  Quitter

  Rain of Terror

  Raising Cane

  Rattled

  Recovery

  Redemption

  Rei do Açúcar

  Respect for Authority

  Return to Rio

  Rio’s Divine Comedy

  Roadblock

  Roaming Charges

  Room to Think

  Rude & Crude

  Run Away, Run, Run Away

  The Running Option

  Rush Back

  Safe/Deposit

  Safe… For Now

  Say Hello

  The Scenic Route

  The Schmoozer

  Security

  Seek


  Separate but Equal

  Shadow Empire

  Shares of Information

  Sheltered

  Shootout

  Sky Cab and the World of Tomorrow

  A Sleepless Night

  Sleep Tight

  Snapped

  Sobriety

  Stigmata

  Stockholm Syndrome?

  Suicide

  Suicide Mission

  Summited

  Support

  Surprise Attack

  Sympathy is for Suckers

  Synching Up

  Team America

  Team Bertram

  Team Danly

  There’s Always Backup

  This Stinks

  Time Bomb, Ticking

  Tiny Tinho

  Too Much Sugar Can Make You Sick

  Trespassers

  Trust

  Uncovered

  Undone

  Unreasonable

  (Un)Resolved

  Value

  Victory Pizza

  The Vigilante

  Viktor’s Way

  Visitors’ Entrance

  Waking the Dead

  Washing over You

  Welcome to the Jungle

  We’re Not So Different, You and I

  Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For YOU?

  What’s Black and White and Red All Over?

  Who’s There?

  Window Dressing

  Would-a, Should-a, Could-a

  A Wretched Hive

  Wrong Time, Wrong Place, Wrong Everything

  X-Rated

  Yep, Still Wet

  You Can Run, BUT—

  Young and Vulnerable

  You’re Hilarious

  Your Partner

  You Suck

  Zzzzz…

 

 

 


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