Murder Mystery Weeend

MURDER MYSTERY WEEKEND Part 4 Saturday - late

As I walked down the stairs, I realized that I had just had sex with two beautiful women within a span of 24 hours. That was a first, for me. I also realized that I reeked of sex. I slipped into the den, hid my pieces of paper, and changed into my swimming shorts. Regardless of how cold the water might be, I needed a bath - badly.

Leo saw me as I exited the den. "Swimming?" he said. "Now? Alright, I'll come and keep an eye on you."

- "Bring Eric." I suggested. "And a couple of beers."

I went outside. The rain appeared to be over, and there was some fog rolling in. I dropped my towel on the end of the dock, which was now up on dry land, and just ran in from the spot where the dock used to be. That sure as hell woke me up. I thrashed about a bit, and then climbed out and grabbed my towel.

Leo and Eric brought the whole cooler full of drinks. Then Eric produced some cigars, and we lit up.

- "Something on your mind, Colin?" asked Eric.

- "Quite a bit, actually. Either of you have a weapon?" I asked. "Not a real one - the paper kind, with Teresa's writing on it."

Eric shook his head. But Leo said "I might have a pistol. Hypothetically speaking."

- "OK. Just wanted to make sure that we're not completely defenceless out here." And then I told them about Ben and Barb's ambush earlier today.

- "Cool." was Eric's response.

- "Wait." said Leo. "Why are you telling us this?"

- "Simple." I answered. "There are two of them. Well, probably four. I'm feeling a bit exposed. Lonely. I can't believe that Teresa wouldn't have built some balance into her story. Somebody out there

has

to be on my side. And I know that you're not a pirate, Leo."

- "Fuck! Did you have to say out loud? You dick!"

- "Hey, man - it's cool." said Eric. "I already knew."

- "You already knew?" shouted Leo. "How?"

- "It was one of my clues. And I flashed you the pirate recognition signal yesterday, but you didn't respond." explained Eric.

- "I didn't fucking see it!" protested Leo.

I was shivering. It was a little too cool outside to be standing there in wet shorts. "Guys - I have to get dressed. And I have something to show you."

- "If it's your dick, I've already seen it." said Eric. "I still have nightmares."

- "Can you please just come with me?" I asked.

- "What? You need an escort?" said Leo.

- "That's exactly what I need. I don't want to run into Ben and Barb all by myself."

The three of us returned to the house. Eric held the cigars while Leo accompanied me inside. I got dressed, and retrieved the papers. On the way out, I saw Lena puttering in the kitchen with Teresa. I decided to invite her along.

- "Lena, would you like to come outside? We are having a talk you might want to hear. That is, if Teresa doesn't mind."

Teresa answered. "She doesn't mind at all. Go, Lena. I can finish this."

The four of us returned to the dock. Leo caught my eye, and looked askance at Lena.

- "She's not a pirate, either. Are you, Lena?" I said.

Lena shook her head. "How do you know this?" she asked.

- "Let me tell you what I know. There are many ex-pirates on board, but two of them - the Falcon and the Scar - want to kill me. I'm 90% sure that Ben and Barbara are the Scar and the Falcon. He wants to kill me now, while she wants to kill me

after

I find the treasure."

- "You know where it is?" asked Leo.

- "I have some ideas. I thought we could pool what we know, share our clues. We should stick together for protection, anyway."

- "Yes." said Lena, nodding her head emphatically. "I need protection also."

- "You do?" I asked. "From who? Or whom?" I shook my head. "Which person?"

- "Scar? He want to use me. To make me marry." she said.

- "He wants to force you to marry him?" said Leo. "Why?"

Lena took a good long look at the three of us. She was trying to decide whether she could trust us. Maybe the fact that I was her partner in the games earlier helped.

- "I am gypsy. In this game, not in my life. I am having visions." (She pronounced her 'Vs' as 'Ws', so it came out as 'wisions'.) "Scar is thinking I know location of treasure."

- "But you don't?" asked Leo. Lena shook her head again.

- "Look. I'll tell you guys what I know." I said. "If it leads to us figuring out where the treasure is, then we can split it four ways."

There was a little hesitation, and some shuffling of feet, but eventually they all agreed. We shook hands on it. And then I told them everything (except for the private bits with Claire and Barbara). I also showed them the Bible.

Eric laughed. "Claire just gave you this? "I'll bet that's not what Teresa had planned."

- "My sister." said Leo, shaking his head.

My three cohorts began to share what they knew.

- "My letter is 'E'." admitted Leo.

- "Interesting. So is mine." said Eric.

- "I am 'O'." added Lena. "And something else: code for treasure is three words."

- "That helps a lot." said Leo. "So, 10 letters in 3 words."

- "Why ten?" asked Eric. "Eleven makes more sense."

- "Teresa didn't give herself a letter. Only the rest of us have letters. She didn't put herself on the list in the kitchen." I pointed out.

Eric snapped his fingers. "I want to see that list." He started to walk towards the house.

- "Wait! Wait. Let's go together." I was getting completely paranoid. Can you blame me? All four of us headed inside. We waved at Eliza and Sheila, who were sitting close together in the living room.

- "Plotting our downfall?" I asked. "Where are the others?"

- "Downstairs." said Ee. "Probably also planning your demise."

In the kitchen, Lena opened the fridge, and some cupboards, to make it look like we were there for a snack. Leo and I kept watch while Eric quickly scribbled a copy of the list. We could have just taken it, but that might have alerted the others to its possible importance.

Leo watched the staircase, in case somebody came up, while I kept an eye on the two girls, hoping that they weren't paying too much attention to what we were doing.

- "Pretzels! Alright." said Eric. He took the whole bag.

I don't think that our feigned nonchalance fooled Eliza and Sheila, but we got back outside with the list - and the pretzels.

- "OK, Eric? What's this idea of yours?" I asked.

- "Ten of us on the list. Teresa deliberately left herself off. And everybody has a number. Anybody else notice that she always distributed the clues in the same order?"

- "Yeah. I saw that. It has to be important." I said.

Eric scratched his ass.

- "Really?" said Leo. "And now you're going to stick that hand in the bag of pretzels?"

- "I'm left-handed." said Eric. "Anyway. The list. What if the numbers represent the order of the letters?"

- "Oh! Yes." said Lena.

Eric started scribbled some more. I stopped him. "Here, Sherlock - give me that pen. Nobody else can read your handwriting, except me." I wrote what we knew.

1. CLAIRE

2. ELIZA

3. LEO E

4. CRAIG

5. BARBARA

6. BEN

7. ERIC E

8. SHEILA

9. LENA O

10. COLIN C

We all stared at it for a while. Leo was the first to admit defeat.

- "I don't see it. We need more letters."

- "Wait." I said. "Lena and I found out that the word 'THE' is probably in there." I reminded them of the French tea clue.

- "Could be 1-2-3, then." said Eric. "Or 5-6-7."

- "How many words end in 'OC', though?" I asked.

- "Havoc." said Eric. "Doc. Roc. Tic Toc. Postdoc."

Leo looked at him as if he had completely lost his mind.

"What?" said Eric. "Scrabble rules."

- "I don't know if postdoc is a word." I said. "Manioc is. But I don't think manioc will help us find the treasure."

- "Tic toc might." suggested Leo. "It could be in the clock. Or behind the clock."

- "Shit, I'm stupid." said Eric. "That means you guys are, too, of course. We forgot the 12 Apostles hint. What if there are twelve letters?"

- "Where? At the beginning? Or at the end?" asked Leo.

- "If they're at the end, that solves the manioc-tictoc problem." I said.

- "If they're at the beginning, then it doesn't start with 'THE'." added Eric.

We tried many combinations, trying twelve letters with three words. At first, we just came up with stupid phrases that made sense. Then we made ourselves laugh. But after a while, we started to get frustrated.

"Let's have a drink." suggested Eric. "I'm missing something. Just can't see it."

- "Or we could get some sleep. Come at it fresh in the morning." said Leo.

- "I will sleep." announced Lena. I volunteered all three of us to escort her inside. My paranoia was starting to get the better of me. I had 'wisions' of her getting kidnapped by the bad guys. Once in her room, Lena would be safe with Teresa. Leo and Eric shared a room, so they would be OK, too. That just left me on my own.

Sheila and Eliza were still up, knocking back what was left of a bottle of red wine. Once Lena was safely settled, Eric and I went upstairs with Leo.

We all heard the noises coming from Barbara's room. The wooden frame of the bunk bed was repeatedly hitting the wall. All three of us stopped. We could clearly hear her voice, from behind the door: "Yeah, yeah ... yeah ...". Apparently we weren't in danger of being ambushed - at least, not at that particular moment.

The little minx! I had fucked her twice only a few hours ago. And here she was, going at it again. It had to be Ben in there with her.

- "Same as last night." whispered Leo.

Eric and I wished him a good night, and quietly made our way back downstairs. I grabbed another beer, while Eric mixed himself a rum and coke. We joined Ee and Sheila, and drank a toast to their health.

If I had hoped to draw them into our alliance, it wasn't to be. They were both drunk, and well into the silly stage. Truth be told, Eric and I weren't making much sense either.

- "So? Did you find the treasure?" asked Eliza.

- "Right here." replied Eric, hoisting the bottle of rum. "Care for some?"

- "After two bottles of wine? That would finish me off."

- "Hey - where are Craig and Claire?" I asked.

- "Romance is in the air." said Sheila.

I don't remember what else we talked about. It was pretty stupid, for the most part. Eliza faded first, and toddled off to bed. At some point, Claire and Craig wandered in, from outside, looking a bit sheepish. Claire was blushing, and couldn't even look at me. They announced that they were off to bed.

- "I mean, to our rooms." amended Craig. They said their goodnights, and climbed the stairs.

Eric mumbled something about needing more ice, and wandered into the kitchen.

- "Bedtime sounds like a good idea." I said. I was starting to feel the effects of a long day, and of a few too many beers.

- "Wish I had a room to go to." said Sheila.

- "What? Oh - right." Her room was being used - by Barbara and Ben. Teresa was with Lena, and Eliza with Claire, so Sheila was stuck in the position of the roommate who comes home, to find a sock on the doorknob. "Where are you going to sleep?" I asked.

- "I dunno. Can I crash with you?" she said, softly.

- "Umm ... yeah, I guess." Maybe I was drunker than I suspected. Honestly, my first thought was that Ben and Barbara couldn't ambush me in the den if Sheila was in there with me.

We didn't wait for Eric to return. Sheila and I went into the den and closed the door. She started unlacing her granny boots, while I pulled the air mattress into the middle of the floor. I intended to be chivalrous and give it to her. While I placed a pillow for her, and pulled out the blankets, Sheila was loosening the laces of her corset, and taking it off. Then she plopped down on the air mattress, still wearing most of her costume: the long wig and head scarf, the choker and billowing shirt, and her voluminous skirt and sheer petticoat.

That left me nowhere to sleep. I got my boots off, doffed the coat and belt, and lay down on the floor a few feet away from her. I pulled my gym bag over to use as a pillow.

Sheila turned her head. "No. That's no good." she said. "Come on here with me. There's room for two. And we can share the blanket."

Having slept on that air mattress the night before, I knew damn well it wasn't a double. But Sheila insisted. "C'mon. Don't be a doofus."

I tried to arrange myself beside her. She had to turn on her side, to make space. I followed suit, so that we ended up spooning, with me directly behind her. Sheila made sure that I had a share of the pillow.

- "Now, don't fall off." she said. Then she took my right arm and pulled it around her to her stomach. She didn't let go of it.

We lay there for a few moments, with me trying to breathe normally. Her back was pressed into my chest, the long-haired wig was tickling my nose, and I was uncomfortably aware that there was something growing between us. My dick, to be precise. Her ass was pressed right up against my crotch.

- "Thanks, Colin." said Sheila. "I was feeling lonely."

- "You know you're welcome to join us." I replied. "You and Eliza both. If we can find the treasure, we would cut you in for a share. I doubt that Ben and Barb would, but you can trust us. If you still don't know what side you're on, we could just make some sort of deal .... I don't know, for mutual protection, or something." Yes, I babbled like an idiot, until she stopped me.

- "Colin?"

- "Yes?"

- "That's not what I'm talking about." she said.

I didn't know what to say. See, I had had a crush on Sheila for most of our freshman year. Nothing came of it, romantically, but a healthy, durable friendship did develop. We remained friends afterwards, while I fell in love with Teresa, and finally started seeing her. Sheila and I, I thought, were firmly ensconced in the mutual friend zone.

- "You should have picked me as a partner." she said. "We would have won the ping pong tournament. Easily."

- "I was trying to ffff-" I couldn't finish my sentence because Sheila turned her head, and half of her wig ended up in my mouth."

- "Oops. Sorry." she said. "Here - let me get rid of this." Sheila pulled off the wig and scarf, and put them aside. She rubbed her hand over her short, spiky hair. "What were you going to say?"

- "I was trying to balance the teams. I've seen you play before. You're really good."

- "Why did we never end up together, Colin?" she asked. "You

were

interested in me, once upon a time, weren't you?" Sheila sounded a bit maudlin. She was also changing subjects so quickly, I was having trouble keeping up.

- "It wasn't for lack of trying on my part, Sheila. I asked you out three times - and you said no each time."

- "I was busy. I think."

- "Three times?" I said. "You could have offered another day or time ..."

Sheila was silent for a while. Then she said something I couldn't hear.

- "Pardon?"

- "I was afraid." she said.

- "You? Afraid of what?"

- "Of you, Colin. Of everything. That it would screw up our friendship. Or that if I went to bed to bed with you, you wouldn't want me again."

- "What?" I genuinely didn't understand. "What are you talking about?"

- "Look at me." she said. Sheila pulled my hand up to her chest. "Flat as a board. Or, pirate treasure: sunken chest." Then she ground her ass into my groin. "No ass to speak of. Built like a teenage boy."

I had never heard Sheila say anything like this before. I wrapped both my arms around her, and squeezed her tight. "Listen to me, dumbass: you are a beautiful woman. I was so attracted to you, that I kept asking you out even when you shot me down in flames."

I wasn't about to lie to her, and suggest that small tits were nice; Sheila was literally flat-chested. And I couldn't disagree with her description of her ass, either.

"Tits and ass are nice, but they aren't everything. Sexual attraction is in all of the senses. You have a great mind, and a great sense of humour. I used to stare at your face, and your profile. And your voice - Jesus, Sheila, you and Lauren Bacall -"

She elbowed me in the ribs. "Alright, I get it." she said.

- "I was just getting started." I protested.

- "Easy to say." she countered.

Then I did something potentially stupid. I lowered my hand to her hips, and pulled her ass back, against my rock-hard erection.

- "How about that? Kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it?" I released her. "Face it, Sheila: you're an attractive woman, and you should be quite confident of the effect that you have on men."

She was silent for a moment, digesting that.

- "Thank you." she said.

- "You're welcome." I answered. "But you really shouldn't doubt yourself."

- "Colin?"

- "Yes?"

- "Do you think it would hurt our friendship if we fucked right now?"

That was not a question I had much practice answering.

- "Ummm ..."

She reached behind her, and her hand found my dick, straining against my pirate pants. She gave it a squeeze. "This guy seems ready."

- "I don't know, Sheila." I said. My protest didn't sound very convincing, even to me.

- "I'll admit it." she said. "I'm curious. I know that you still want Teresa. I can see how you look at her. It's like the way you used to look at me. I've always wondered what it would have been, between us. And our friendship is safe."

Sheila rolled over to face me. "I just want to fuck you this one time. Can we?"

It sounded like a reasonable request to me. I bent my head to kiss her. I tried to be gentle with her. From what she had said earlier, Sheila needed re-assurance. She needed to feel wanted, desired.

But she was also very horny, and quite aggressive. She unbuttoned my pants, and slid her hand inside, to seize hold of my hard cock. She started stroking it. Then she pushed my pants down past my knees.

I pulled her shirt out of her skirts, and slid my hand underneath. She had goose-bumps everywhere. I stroked her belly, and caressed her sides. She didn't have tits, but I didn't want to ignore her chest entirely. I found her nipple, and gave it a gentle teasing. Apparently, they were quite sensitive, because Sheila started panting, and trying to jam her tongue into my mouth.

Then she rolled over again. With her back to me, she unzipped her skirt, and slid it down her legs, petticoat, panties and all. She kicked them all off. Then she ground her naked ass against me, and turned her head so that I could lean over and continue to kiss her.

Sheila was showing signs of urgency. She had reached behind her again to grab my cock, but I slowed the pace. I continued to toy with her nipples, and then kissed her ear and her neck. Gradually, slowly, I began to work my hand lower. Over her belly, then down into her trimmed pubic hair. It was too dark to see, but I wouldn't have been surprised to discover that she dyed it too.

I bit her earlobe, and whispered "What colour is it?"

Sheila knew exactly what I meant. "Green."

I chuckled, and slid my hand past her pussy, without touching it. Instead, I found her knee, and slowly began to work up her thigh. Closer, closer ... and then I switched to her other knee, and started the slow climb again.

- "Fuuck." she groaned. Sheila lifted her top leg, and reached between to locate my cock. She pulled it between her legs, and then clamped down, trapping my engorged penis right under her pussy. She then started sliding her ass back and forth, masturbating us both.

I switched my attention to her ass for a while, then finally reached around and touched her pussy. Sheila spread her legs, to give me better access. She was very wet, but also very tight, as I discovered when I tried to slide a finger inside her. Sheila groaned, and clenched her pussy around my invading digit.

My coat was just out of reach. I had to pull my cock from between her legs, and climb off the air mattress to retrieve the condom in my pocket. Sheila protested when I left, but then moaned as I lifted her leg and slid my cock across her pussy. I rubbed my erection up and down, tickling her clit with the head, and parting her lower lips.