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