Murder on the Mainline: another Mike Claymore Mystery Chapter 24 - Sex Stories

Murder on the Mainline: another Mike Claymore Mystery Chapter 24

... ahead. You sure you won't have a drink, Mike?" Mike studies Trudy for a minute and says, "Coffee would be fine. I'm closer. I can get it." Tony laughs and says, "Still leery of any pranks I might have up my sleeve, Mike?" Mike grins and says, "I'm not taking any chances." He sips on the coffee. Trudy has levered the side piece out and clicked it in. She is now turning the box over and depresses the ivory section and it clicks. This is as far as she got the last time. Now she studies the four sides of the box and the top. She moves a section of the wire lattice and slides her nail under a mahogany shape so it seems to change shape, but in actuality it’s turning on it's long axis with a click. 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 ...