Rubber and Smoke - Part 7

“May I first know what I’m accused of?” Martha responded, while remaining completely cool.

“Certainly!” The policeman answered, and was about to explain, when M. Sprüngli interrupted.

“May I suggest that we go to my office for the inquiry? My hotel already received enough bad publicity for one day.” The owner said. Since they all agreed, they followed him to the office. Once Martha, M. Sprüngli, Svetlana and the two policemen had arrived, the policemen started to explain.

“This morning, somebody took 5000 Franken from the cashier at the front desk. Miss Svetlana Petroskaja here accused you of stealing the money. And now we need to know where you’ve been this morning between 9:30 and 10 o’clock.”

“I was in the city with Carrie. There we were attacked. Your colleagues must surely have told you this.” Martha explained.

“They did. But it doesn’t cover the time in question.” The policeman answered and produced a notepad. ”What I know so far is this: you were last seen by M. Sprüngli shortly after 9 o’clock.. Svetlana saw you leaving the hotel shortly before 10 pm. And then you were attacked in the city at around 10:30.”

“As I told you, all the time I was with Carrie. She’s one of our guests and asked me to show her the city.” Martha explained.

“Then she can surely confirm your story. Where is Carrie now?” The policeman asked.

“I… don’t know!” Martha hesitated to answer.

“Doesn’t sound very convincing to me!” the policeman answered. “Is there any other witness or proof for your story?”

Martha thought feverishly. Then she had an idea: “Yes there is. Can you please follow me?”


Martha led her escorts back to the lobby while explaining. At one of the places, she found Conrad and one of the teachers. The teacher was trying to speak to Conrad but the boy seemed to be quite confused. “I have always loved her.”
“No, I hate her!” he babbled.
“Carrie why don’t you love me too?”
“Stupid bitch! I hate her!”

“What’s going on here?” the policeman asked.

“I don’t know. Since I found him a few minutes ago, he’s in this state of mind.” The teacher explained. “We’re currently looking for Carrie, but we can’t find her.”

“Actually, we would like to talk to Carrie too.” The policeman answered. “But for now, we would be happy to have a look at the contents of Conrad’s camera.”

“Did he do something wrong?”

“It seems that he has stalked some girls today. For this case and for another one, we need the contents of his camera”, the policeman explained. Faced with these accusations, the teacher handed over the camera. When the policeman inspected the pictures, all he saw were pictures of Martha and Carrie jogging through the town.
“You spoke the truth. The first picture is from 9:15 and then we have several pictures more that prove you were in town for the time in question. You’re free to go, but I ask you not to leave the hotel until we’ve finished our work there. We might ask you some more questions.” the policeman concluded. After that, Martha rushed off to Carrie’s lamp.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Part 1: [link]
Part 2: [link]
Part 3: [link]
Part 4: [link]
Part 5: [link]
Part 6: [link]

Part 8: [link]

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