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Inspector Pascal and Sergeant Braque will need strong grips to seize this killer! Inspector Pascal Mysteries 1000 #27 Spitting Murder ©2017 at TIPTOPduTOP ©2017-2023 New, classic-style short-story mystery-adventure in only 1000 words for all ages!  INSPECTOR PASCAL MYSTERIES 1000
#27 Spitting Murder by T.K. Naliaka ©2017-2023 The big, broad-shouldered uniformed policeman peered around the large room. Satisfied, he said, “Go ahead, sir.” The hazel-eyed brown-haired man in a neat dark suit at the opposite side of the doorway tapped his pen irritably against the small notepad in his palm, “Why the library, Sergeant Braque?”* Braque coughed slightly. “The man died here, sir.” “Yes… Hector… his body discovered without a mark on it, last night. What could be lethal about a classic old library with a bar and luxurious seating… with a rare 1805 twelve-volume set of the collected works of Shakespeare?” “Where do you see that?” “It’s in that locked glass cabinet.” At the bar, a tall man with the group – two men, a youth and two women – touched the arm of the smaller blonde man downing a shot of liquor. “Gil, it’s the police again!” He walked to them. “I’m Julian; I own this estate.” “I’m Inspector Pascal… and this is Sergeant Braque." Julian gestured to the others. “That’s Gil, she’s Laurencia, there’s Lucinda and my nephew, Seveso.” There was a skin-crawling howl. Startled, all turned as one to look. Gil flailed then cried out again as he spun around blindly, fell to the ground and writhed with his hands pressed to his face as his feet hammered against the floor. Pascal yelled. “What’s going on??” Laurencia raised her hands helplessly. “I don’t know! He was just pouring a whiskey!” Lucinda pointed towards the bar and screamed, “Snake! A snake!” Braque spotted a movement along the shelf of bottles then down the wall behind the bar. “It’s a cobra!” Everyone froze, then leapt up, vaulting over furniture in their fright. Pascal and Braque jumped aside as Seveso and Lucinda stampeded between them fleeing to the hallway. Pascal glanced disbelievingly to the sky, “A cobra… shelved alphabetically under ‘C’ perhaps!”** Braque quickly holstered his pistol, “Sir! It’s a spitting cobra!” Pascal muttered, “Under “S!’”*** Braque yanked out his nightstick and put on his sunglasses with no-nonsense determination. “I’ll get it!” As Braque ran to the potted green ficus trees in the south corner, Pascal dashed to the writhing man and pushed aside Laurencia who was trying to drag Gil by his right leg across the rug to pull him out the door with her. Pascal threw himself over Gil to pin him, yanked Gil’s hand away, pried open Gil’s left eye, leaned close and spat twice into it, then he pried Gil’s right eye open and spat hard. Appalled, Laurencia hauled on Pascal’s arm to pull him away. “That’s disgusting!! Stop!!” Lucinda grabbed an umbrella from the stand by the door. “Leave him alone!” Pascal reached out quickly and grabbed one of the big couch seat cushions to parry Lucinda’s frantic blows hammering down on him. The loud BOOM of a shot made everyone cringe. They turned, then cried out as one. Pascal lowered the cushion and twisted around to look. Sergeant Braque, with a large cobra wrapped around his left arm, its head locked in the vise of Braque’s grip and with his right hand brandishing his pistol strode back from the corner like an avenging mythological giant and roared. “Get off the Inspector!” Lucinda’s eyes rolled up and she toppled over onto Pascal in a dead faint. Braque pointed with the snake to Gil curled on the floor. “Saliva has enzymes that break down the poison!” Braque pointed the snake at Julian. “You’re all wasting time! Get him some water to rinse his eyes and call the ambulance!” The snake hissed and aimed a spit towards Julian, but it fell short, splattering across the coffee table. Braque jammed his left fist into a sturdy glass tumbler at the bar to cover the snake’s head. As not a soul had budged, Braque holstered his pistol, went around to the other side of the bar and rummaged through the bottles. He slammed one on the bar counter and yelled at the group staring at him, “WATER!” Laurencia, still cringing echoed, “Water?” “NOW! Pour it into his eyes! Keep rinsing! Get more, NOW!” Laurencia hesitated, “B-but that’s tonic?” Braque growled. “It’s good enough! Just start rinsing!” Pascal set the swooning Lucinda on the carpet and climbed back to his feet. “Thank you Sergeant!” “You’re welcome sir!” Braque lifted his left arm with the big cobra writhing futilely around his forearm and bicep and demanded. “Whose snake is this?” Julian exclaimed. “What do you mean - whose snake is that? What a ridiculous question!” Braque retorted. “This is hardly a native species in this locality!” After a long, long moment, a small nervous voice from the hallway finally replied. “Mine?” Everyone turned to look at Seveso. He looked at them all as he wrung his hands. “I ordered it?” Julian and Laurencia stopped their sloshing tonic water into Gil’s eyes and gaped at him, “Why?” “I like snakes? It was on sale?” Pascal demanded. “How did it get in the library?” “I don’t know!” Gil finally gasped. “Hector took it out of its cage for a practical joke!” Julian sputtered. “What kind of idiot plays practical jokes with a cobra?” There was an awkward silence. Laurencia finally whispered, “A dead one?” Pascal demanded. “For whom was this joke intended?” Gil wiped his eyes. “Hector… didn’t say.” “You kept quiet?” “I didn’t know what happened to Hector! It’s just spit!” Braque glared at him. “It’s not spit, it’s venom.” Pascal suddenly asked, “Julian. Who inherits this estate after you?” Surprised, Julian looked at Pascal, “Hector…” “And if not Hector…?” Julian was still, then he flushed and glanced at Gil. “Sir!” Braque gestured apologetically. “My hands are full!” As everyone turned perplexed to stare at him and the snake, Pascal quickly snapped handcuffs on Gil. “Thank you, Sergeant.” “You’re welcome, Sir.” Stone-faced, Julian quickly stepped away, turned his back on Gil, gave Pascal and Braque a curt, grim nod and left the library. Pascal turned to Gil. “Your too-clever murderous snake scheme just bit you. Prison is all you’ll inherit.” * Inspector Pascal Mysteries 1000 #17 No Exit ** Inspector Pascal Mysteries 1000 # 4 The Serpent’s Coils ***Inspector Pascal Mysteries 1000 #26 Odds by T.K. Naliaka ©2017-2023 all rights reserved |