“Imagine you're Ted. You've switched tiles so the mail cart will cruise through here. And you're lying on the mail cart, with stage blood running down from your chest. Down your sides, your arms – and onto your throat.“
“And I stop right beneath the ladder,“ Dad said, throwing himself into his role. He walked along my theoretical mail cart path, leaning back to become as horizontal as he could without actually falling on his back.
“From up here, I wouldn't need that much strength to hit someone hard,“ I said. “Gravity's on my side. So all I have to do is take a step or two down and wham!“ I slammed the book down on an imaginary Ted's throat, with a violence that clearly startled Dad. Startled me, in fact. I was angry. Not at poor irritating Ted, but at the person who'd killed him. The person I'd considered a friend.
“And then,“ I went on, “if there happened to be a mouse cord on one of the pigeonholes of the mail cart – and there probably was since people were always sending each other stray bits of hardware on the mail cart – mice, disk drives, cables – all I'd have to do wduld be to pick it up and finish the job.“
Dad and I stood, looking at each other for a few seconds. Then he reached out and patted me on the shoulder.
“Good job,“ he said. “Let's take this book to the chief and tell him – “
“I knew I was going to have to do something about you,“ came a voice from behind me.
I turned to find Liz, standing in the library door, holding a gun.
“Liz, you – “
“Stay back,“ she said. “I'm a good shot with this.“
“Yes, I remember,“ I said. “You took lessons, when you lived in a bad part of East Palo Alto. For self-defense. I don't think this counts as self-defense.“
She shrugged. “Depends on your point of view,“ she said. “Here, catch!“
She threw something at us. Dad started and clutched his flashlight with both hands; I took a half-step forward and raised my good hand, out of reflex, to catch whatever it was before it hit him, I'd caught a roll of silver duct tape. “You win the toss,“ she said. “Tie him up.“
“Does it really count as tying up with duct tape?“ Dad asked. “I think taping me up would be more accurate.“
“I stand corrected,“ Liz said. “Tape him up. Just do it.“ She kept the gun on us as I taped Dad's hands behind him, and then she ordered him to lie down, facedown, so I could tape his feet together. And roll Dad's flashlight over where she could pick it up. Which she did, very, very carefully, feeling the floor for the flashlight with her left hand without taking her eyes off me. Or, more important, without taking her gun off me.
“Okay,“ she said when she had the flashlight. “Now you sit down and – “
“What's going on here?“
A stocky form appeared in the other library door. Roger.
“I said what's going on here?“ he repeated.
“Put your hands up,“ Liz ordered.
He bunked at her. She raised the gun a little higher. He raised his hands.
“Very good,“ she said. “Now lie down on the floor.“
He started to do so, slowly. But when he was down on one knee, and no doubt thought her suspicions were somewhat lulled, he suddenly lunged to the left, trying to duck behind a shelf.
It might have worked if he hadn't been standing on one of the loose tiles, which slipped out from under him as he lunged. He fell, hitting his head with an audible thud on the bookcase for which he'd been aiming.
And even so, his lunge might have given me a chance to escape and run for help. I threw the duct tape at Liz and made a leap for the door as soon as I saw him move.
Unfortunately, my throw went wide, and as I was trying to leap outward, I ran into someone else trying to leap inward. Luis. We cracked heads and both fell down in a heap in the doorway.
The grand escape attempt ended with the three of us lying on the floor, nursing our heads. At least Luis and I were. Roger seemed to be out cold. Liz stood looking down at us, still holding the gun.
Some people have far more luck than they deserve.
“Crawl back in here and lie on the floor,“ Liz ordered.
We crawled, Luis and I crawled, anyway. Roger only moaned softly.
“You were doing such a fine job,“ Liz said, kicking the fallen duct tape back toward me. “Carry on.“
So I taped Luis's hands and feet, and then Roger's. Roger began drifting back to consciousness only when I was finishing off his feet.
“That'll do for him,“ Liz said. “Lie down.“
I did – slowly – and then I steeled myself. She would have to get closer to tie my hands. And I had to make my move as soon as she got close. A move she'd be looking for, of course. But I was bigger than she was, and even with my injured hand, I could overpower her if I could just knock the gun away.
“Now – ,“ she began, and we heard the office door open and close.
“Now what,“ she muttered, and slipped into the shadows to one side of the library door. I couldn't see if she was looking at me – was now a good time to make another escape attempt?
We heard soft footsteps approaching.
“Hello?“ called a voice.
Dr. Lorelei.
Roger moaned softly.
“Is that you, Rosenkavalier?“
Rosenkavalier? Evidently Dr. Lorelei hadn't ignored my suggestion after all.
“Someone left the door open…. Did you come in here?“
Dr. Lorelei swayed into the room. Swayed, because she was wearing her four-inch heels again. I still found it hard to imagine someone her size wearing not only four-inch heels but also a low-cut, slinky black dress, but she was. And looking pretty damned good, if you ask me.
Of course, I might have been biased by the fact that another step or two would put her squarely between me and Liz. And more important, between me and Liz's gun. Come on, Lorelei, I silently pleaded. Just one more step and I can make a leap for the other door to fetch help.
Her foot moved. I braced myself for the leap. Then her eyes glazed over, her body stiffened, and she fell over, face first, revealing Liz standing behind her. Since the gun was now pointing straight at me again, I deduced Liz had beaned Lorelei with the flashlight she was holding in her left hand.
I followed Liz's glance from Dr. Lorelei to me and then back again. I did my best to look small and harmless. Normally it's hard for me to pull off, but compared with Dr. Lorelei in spike heels, even Godzilla would look harmless.
“Tie her up, too,“ Liz said, kicking the tape back to me.
“Tape, remember,“ Dad said helpfully.
“Meg, what's going on, anyway?“ Luis asked.
“Wha's going on?“ Roger slurred.
“Shut up, all of you,“ Liz said. “Tape her up.“
“Liz killed Ted,“ I explained to Luis.
“I thought you said Roger killed Ted,“ Luis said.
“1 thought he might have,“ I said. “Looks like I was wrong.“
I taped Dr. Lorelei's hands and feet. I pretended to have trouble getting the tape off the roll, in the hope that she'd wake up while I was still half-finished. No such luck.
“This is getting very untidy,“ Liz said, frowning at the litter of bodies spread across the room, “line them up.“
