Murder On The Mainline - S01 E75

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 75

Tony watches her in fascination. "Impossible." He breathes heavily. Now Trudy turns the box over and taps the ivory section that was a trap. It clicks. She smiles and murmurs, "As I thought, the trap is a trick. Now what?"

Tony speaks up, "I can't believe this. She's opening it. It's not possible!"

Now Trudy studies the sides again. She stops and takes a drink of coffee. "Logic says the next move should be in the top, so it won't be. It will be in a side and the least likely is the side we have already used, so that is where I'll look." She studies the side with the ebony protruding then puts her finger on a tiny square of ebony near the edge and pushes. It slides out away from the box on the next side and as it is fully pivoted, it clicks. She shakes her head with a smile and presses the ebony shaft in for another click.

Tony says, "Oh god, I've got to write this sequence down." He goes to a low table and opens a drawer on the far side of it. He draws out a pad and pen. "Tell me what you've got so far, love."

Tony sits on a hassock behind the table and writes the sequence she dictates. She then studies the box looking for a new move. On the top she depresses an ivory square for a click. Then seeks a long mahogany shape to turn. It clicks. She's smiling and moves faster. She turns the box upright and presses another ivory square for another click. She says under her breath in a voice hardly audible, "Three latches, not four." Mike glances at Tony. He is staring at her and appears stricken.

She goes back to the side with the last ebony piece protruding and seeks the small ebony square in the far edge. Triumphantly she pushes and it pivots out for a click. Her eyes light up and she pushes it in to hear a 'chunk' and the top of the box opens.

Tony is still just staring. She pushes back the lid and Mike sees a necklace, Flo's necklace.

Trudy lifts it out with a shriek, "It's Flo's, torn from her neck by the murderer!"

They both look at Tony who is holding an automatic pistol in his hand that he has lifted from the drawer. It is pointed directly at them. He speaks in a low menacing voice, "Mike, you know I know how to use this. Warn Trudy not to try anything. I would rather not kill either of you in this house, but if it becomes necessary." He shrugs his shoulders.

"You are such snoops. It never occurred to you that if I have films of Angel and I, I must have recorded them in the bedroom. There are camcorders in every bedroom that come on when the door is opened by a motion sensor. It's too bad Trudy couldn't talk you into trying the waterbed with the satin sheets. I would have enjoyed that."

He looks Trudy over and says, "I might still enjoy you, my dear."

Mike says, "So you murdered Flo. Why?"

"You mean there's something you haven't figured out? I'm surprised."

"Oh, I figured it all out. I just don't understand why."

"Then you haven't figured it all out. It's too bad, Mike. I always liked you. But then, I always liked Flo a lot more." He gets a mean look in his eye.

"Just out of curiosity, how close am I. You dated Flo and when she left you the note to meet her, you went to the Garden and proposed Fantasy Sex. She was elated. You came back here and Angel arrived. Then Ron and his date showed up. You played cards, sent them off, or they went on their own to the 'mirrors bedroom' and you took Angel to the master bedroom where she got high on drugs. While she was tripping, you left and you picked Flo up after work at her place. You had in the car a costume, Ray's coveralls, work boots and a pair of gloves. You drove her to the lot next to CPX and she followed you back to the hollow by the main line. You played with her and teased her so she removed her panties. Then you tied her hands and started to get rough."

"You tore her clothes and raped her with a piece of lead pipe, tearing her up pretty bad. You must have done this while the one fifteen was rolling through to hide the noise then you knelt on her pelvis with your knee and cracked it. You must have had a job holding her down but finally you choked her with your hands until she was dead. Then you opened her legs and poured artificial semen in and around her opening to make it appear a sex fiend had murdered her. Then you crept back to the yard and changed your coveralls and boots for Ray's. How am I doing, Tony?"

"Like you had a crystal ball, Mike. Go on."

This is where I'm stumped. I don't understand why you did it. Why Flo? I think you thought a lot of her."

"Hah! I did. Did you ever see the way the Vietnamese kill someone. It's sport for the drug dealers. They try to see how long they can keep you alive as they kill you. Flo got to know too much. She was against drugs. She threatened to call the police. She even wrote their number on a pad under the phone. She didn't think I'd find it. I just wanted to rough her up but she had seen two of the Vietnamese and could identify them. She wasn't supposed to be with me that night in Vancouver. They said, kill her or we will take care of you both. What could I do? They have made me rich. They would have replaced me like that. I tried to make it appear the work of a madman if the false rape was discovered. I didn't count on you coming along. They never could have made the charges stick on Ray. They would have lost that case and the murder would have gone unsolved. Too bad you butted in. They will be here soon for both of you. You will disappear. I feel sorry for you."

Trudy speaks. "The necklace is what did you in. Hiding it in this piece of junk was a foolish mistake."

"It's not junk! It's ancient and valuable. I paid a lot more than I told you for it. It's an art treasure of Vietnamese culture."

"I don't believe you." She says this quietly and tosses it into the air towards him. He grabs for it and Mike dives forward, pinning his arm to the table with the gun in it. It fires and punches a hole in the wall behind where Mike has been standing. Mike applies his knee to the arm as he raises the wrist and hears a snap. The gun drops to the floor.

Tony pulls free and rushes towards the far end of the room with Mike right behind him. He spins and a fist flies in a left hand uppercut, rocking Mike back on his heels. Mike shakes his head as Tony goes through the door to the basement.

Mike goes after him and Trudy calls, "Be careful, Mike." She's dialing the cell phone. Mike goes down the stairs and into the main room where the lights have all been turned off. Car lights flash beside the house and two cars come around towards the house at the back. Tony laughs in the dark and says, "You’re done now, Mike. They're here." The car lights light up the room and Mike sees him standing near the far door that was locked. He's nursing his right arm but in his left he has a wicked looking sword with a bamboo handle.

"Why don't you come and get me, Mike. Or you can try to run away. But they will find you now. It's too late, Mike. Your dead." Figures run from the cars around the house as two approach the glass door.

Mike sees their oriental features and knows the game is up, but he won't quit now. He approaches Tony cautiously and wait’s his chance. Tony glances at the figures entering the room and Mike's foot flashes to connect with his hand on the handle. The sword flies as Mike grabs Tony in an arm lock on his injured arm. He twist it and says, "Stop resisting now or I'll grate those bones till they stick out of your arm." He gives a tug and Tony almost faints with the pain.