Strangulation Point 4

Still missing part 3

       “Ronophe, you are my hero. But, I can’t help but feel that you weren’t meant to save me. In fact you were meant to do the opposite.”

6mins 23seconds remaining…

        “That’s all ancient history now.” He whispered.
Amy smiled a little. “Thank you. I’m glad to be out of that trap. Though my neck does hurt.”
        He thought for a moment as she rubbed the red welts. “Maybe someone here has a medikit. Painkillers or cream or something.”
        She nodded then sat up. “Go have a look then.”
        He was not standing for long when Sara strong armed him to one side. “What is all that about? Meant to do the opposite? Kill her?”
        “I don’t know.” He blushed then giggled nervously. “It’s all Greek to me.”
        His arm stung as she hit him hard. “It’s not funny Ron. How am I meant to trust you if she thought that you were going to kill her?”
        Now he was beginning to feel angry too. “How am I supposed to know? It’s the first that I’ve heard of it too!” He rubbed his arm. “You can trust me. I am a cop. I have honour and a noble job to do. I do it well…”
*
        “I’m waiting for an answer Everard. My patience is not unending.”
        Everard didn’t move. He said not a word. Instead he tried to think. “Jigsaw? It’s just a movie Sphingo. A figment of some Australian‘s imagination.”
        “Pull the other one floppy. One of these cops is bent. And I think it’s you.”
        “Sphingo.” He tried his best to sound calm. “How did it get to this? I am your superior.”
        “Not morally.” He cut in. “Just technically.”
        “Whatever. My point is you need to respect me. If there is a bent cop in this room it is not me. So, you need to tell me what you know. So I can help you.”
*
5mins 17seconds
*
        Sara let go of Ronophe and looked at the floor. “I’m sorry. Ask Epi if he has the medikit. I think he was meant to bring one.”
        “Ok. Thank you. Look after Amy for me.”
        Ronophe ran over to the other three who were still crouched around the boxes. Spears was the first to speak. “I think that it’s a monster. The horse and wings are a Pegasus. That’s easy. But, it’s not a real monster. Its too beautiful I think.”
        “Yeah.” Epi agreed.
        It was then that Ronophe noticed that Epi was wearing the fake nose. “Take that off Epi. This is a serious situation. And I need to know if you have the medikit.”
        Epi shook his head then threw the nose away. It landed in the sand which lined the bottom of Dora Pandleson’s box. “No medikit. Was stolen.”
        “Who would steal a medikit?”
        “A drug addict?”
        Away from the men Sara crouched down next to Amy and took up her hand. “Amy, what are you?” She whispered.
*
4mins 53seconds
*
        The gunshot resounded around the room. No one saw it coming except Everard and Sphingo. Yet, everyone heard the shell drop to the floor and bounce away. As their heads turned they saw their sergeant fall to his knees. The crimson sun spread across his shirt. Hands instinctively reached for the standard issue revolvers holstered by their hearts. “Don’t move or he will die.”
        Sphingo stood over the ailing Everard with his gun placed at the nape of Everard’s neck. “You’ve seen the movies. You‘ve seen San Francisco CSI. Hell, you’ve seen the victims. You know what will happen if I fire the gun. Now, I need to know something.”
        “What?” Several of them replied.
        “I’m glad you asked.” He spoke with more than a hint of sarcasm. “Which one of you betrayed us?”
        “What do you mean?” This time it was Gus Pesa in his thick Honduran accent. “I don’t understand what you are talking about.”
        “Yeah, me too.” Ronophe joined in.
        Everard’s head flopped forwards. Alberto just left it as it was. His fingers stroked the trigger. Not yet. He told himself. “Gustavo “Gus” Montepesa. Ronophe Bell. Sara Rhee. Epi Duso. Hugo Spears. And me, Texan Alberto Sphingo. Just think about it. Our names. They must mean something. They are the clues but not the answers. It’s a set up. How many other Police task forces have a Honduran, an Albanian, a Brit, a white girl, a Mexican like me and two guys who sound like porn stars? We’re all meant to be tall broad shouldered white guys with a couple of minorities to make up the numbers. So, I wanna know, who set this up?”
        “You mean.” Epi stood up. “We were chosen for our names?”
        “Why else would they chose a hooked nosed greengo like you?” Alberto snarled. “Look at you all. What kind of task forces need s***s like us? Now, I reckon it was this f****r.” He prodded Everard’s neck with the gun. “I reckon he chose us to play a little game. To kill us off. Send us to hell.”
        “But.” Gus broke in. “What kind of person would lay this kind of intricate trap if they were going to get caught in the middle. Why the illusion of escape? Why would the person kill themselves at the same time?”
        Alberto smiled. “Jigsaw did it because he had cancer.”
        “He’s not real.” Everard mumbled.
        “Shut up!” Alberto shouted. “Which one of you did it? Set us all up? Who helped Everard? Was it you Hugo? You both sound like porn stars. Maybe you worked together. Wanted to get a bit Full Monty on the cops? Take us hard working family men down.”
        “Ah, that’s it isn’t it Sphingo.” Sara shouted from the floor. “It’s about the corrupt cops Epi and I sent down last year. The drug dealers, the bribe takers and the pimps.”
        “Exactly. Innocent guys sent down.”
        “Your friends.”
        “While, the real culprits. The real murderers remain in work… No.” He seemed to speak to himself. “I’m talking to much. The point is that one of you set this up. Maybe it’s a suicide bid or maybe it’s a bid to change your reputation in the police force. But, I’m on to you. I know your game. And I want to know who set this up.”
        “Oh, so now you care for the innocent victims here and the injustice of a faked attempted murder?”
        “Sara, you are really making my blood boil.” His face flushed red with anger. “Maybe it’s you. You press all the right buttons to piss people off. It is like you know all of our weaknesses.”
        “But…” Ronophe tried to intervene.
        “Don’t defend her. Surely you must have noticed how she is. Hot one day. Cold the next. Sometimes kind. Sometimes the Narnian Ice Queen. You never can tell which version of her is going to clock in for work. Sara, you are totally inconsistent. It’s like you have two completely different personalities. Both of which like to play God with the culprits, suspects and victims alike. Policing is like some kind of game for you.”
        “No,” Amy croaked. “At least she has tried to solve the riddles and find the passwords. More than you.”
        “Oh, the little monster talks.” He lolled his head to one side to look at her. “I don’t know whether to stroke your chin until you purr or to put you in a pound for research. Human or monkey? But, I do know that you are some kind of mongrel freak. A filthy three-headed… Lioness.”
        “Got it.” Everard mumbled again before being clouted round the head with the butt of Alberto’s gun.
        “Shut it floppy. Let’s look at the rest of you. Gustavo Montepesa. Or just Gus Pesa to your mates. Just your happy, everyday, bad moustachioed, amigo. Family man. A big family of course. Foul mouthed, bilingual, what’s with that two-languages s**t? This is a monolingual country. But, I have one question. If this corruption case against our colleagues goes any further, are you going to confess to using your daughters as drug mules?”
        “Hugo, I’m fairly certain you are innocent. Though, there was that black kid you beat up. The whole story about self defence or possible weapon just seems… iffy. Maybe it’s just my police paranoia talking. Who knows?”
        “Ronophe. You spineless Brit. The war ended over two-hundred years ago. So, what are you doing here? Subversion? Or, it could be your lack of willingness to kill off the witnesses like you promised?”
        “And Epi. Always phoning your mum. How many times a day? Ten? Twelve? More? What is with that? Is she dying of cancer? Is she bewitching? Worth a f… The thing is Epi, I always wondered about you. Are you gay or…”
        “Well.” Epi sighed. “I’m not from Kentucky.”
        “Well.” Alberto smirked. “Did you know that Everard here fucked your mother for some porn video or whatever he does in his basement?”
*
2mins 22seconds
*
        Hands firmly gripped their pistols. Waiting. No one saw the clock countdown. All waiting except Epi who drew his pistol and pointed it at Everard. Alberto knew his work was done and gripped the door handle. The others, except Everard, were on the far side of the room. He had time. The door handle twisted in his hand. He swung the door open a little. “Hey!” Gus shouted. “You said the door was locked.”
        “I lied.” He withdrew an envelope then stepped out and closed the door behind him.
        Beep. Gus ran over and tried the handle. “He locked it. We’re so dead.”
        “Everard is first.” Epi squeezed the trigger a little.
        “I cant let you do that.” Spears pointed his pistol at Epi’s head. “Everard is a good man.”
        “A dying man if we don’t sort this all out.” Ronophe protested. “I don’t care if any of you were bad guys or not. We have very little time to solve it all.”
        It was then that he felt a gun pointed at him. It didn’t touch his skin but he knew one was. Turning around he saw Sara, still sat next to Amy, aiming at him. A cold look on her face. “You are… were?”
        “I am not British.” He protested and returned the compliment to Sara. “I’m Canadian.”
        “Canadian. British. It’s all the same. All strange. Now, what were you supposed to do for those fuckers?”
        “Nothing.” He protested.
        Gus withdrew his own pistol. “Now lets all calm down. We’re all in a lot of trouble. But, it is not the end of the world. We can fight like real men when this is all over.”
        No one seemed to listen to him. So, he withdrew his own gun and took it off safety. “I did use my daughters as drug mules.” He spoke to himself. He then realised his wife would kill him if she ever found out.
        As his gun rose up to look him in the face he noticed the envelope sitting on the floor. It was manila brown with no names written on it. Just a poem.

You seek to walk
Through walls of chalk
Rather than go around
Those, tightly bound.

Here’s a clue.
To you, the few
There is a world of trouble
Amidst the moral rubble

It’s easy, when boxed in
To fight your toxic kin
Indulge those demons summoned
And the things that shouldn’t be opened.

Beep. 1 minute remaining.
*
        Alberto shut the door behind him and withdrew a key. He used it to lock the door. Then he turned to the grey haired man waiting outside. “Deputy-Inspector, it’s all set up.”
        The man smiled through his snow white beard. “Are they as witless as you predicted?”
        Sphingo grinned. “More than you could ever believe. They have no idea about all the passwords let alone how to actually diffuse the bomb. I wonder if they even know there is a bomb inside the room.”
        The Deputy-Inspector placed a hand on the cold red bricks. “Yes, the wall. Cold. Impenetrable. Two layers of red brick separated by six inch thick sheets of lead.”
        “Yes, yes.” Sphingo sounded bored. “I should be going now. My work is done right?”
        The man nodded. “Go home. Do whatever you do. Strangle your wife a little. Watch the baseball. You’ve performed your duties perfectly.”
        Sphingo nodded and withdrew from the room. The Deputy-Inspector stood for a few moments then pulled out his cell phone. There was a single number in the address book. He pressed dial and let it ring three times then placed the phone back in his pocket. Two muffled shots went off outside.