"Curious."
	"Mmm."
	"Inspector?"
	"Curious."
	"How could a bald man survive the head-first flight through a pic-
ture window?"
	"How could a headless man drink two bottles of sherry?"
	"He was not headless when he entered the room."
	"Mmm."
	"The lady who called us -- her shoe was undone."
	"Nobody reties a shoelace before calling us."
	"The three of us do not constitute polite society."
	"If Inspector Oak were here..."
	"He demands certain niceties."
	"The matter at hand, Inspector."
	"In her haste, the lady neglected to conceal her fingerprints--
here."
	"In our haste, we did not obtain her name."
	"On the chaise lounge! Those documents may be hers."
	"Imprudent to assume. Inspector Elm, do you agree?"
	"Documents can be forged. I will check for more fingerprints."
	"Inspector Oak slumbers, slumbers..."
	"This man's pate bears not even one scratch."
	"The window--broken by other means?"
	"I adduce jealousy as the motive. It often is."
	"Hand me the powders, Inspector."
	"Me, or her?"
	"Ash, hand me the powders, if you would."
	"I hear Central withheld documents in the Mercy case."
	"The absence of documents can be forged."
	"On the bureau, see? An invitation."
	"Dirt on the vest but not the jacket. He was killed, given a suit,
then brought here."
	"Curious."
	"I detect a certain insouciance in his features."
	"The killer was known to him, someone he disdained."
	"The invitation is for us!"
	"Our presence, requested at a ribbon-cutting."
	"Formal dress required. But look, Yew. They misspelled your name."
	"Gloves with the victim's prints on them. I found them near the
dumb-waiter."
	"Inspector Oak will remain in his leafy prison until the day he is
needed."
	"The tree that conceals him has no name. We cannot find it."
	"This case is insoluble without him."
	"We have searched everywhere."
	"My pockets are empty, Ash."
	"Let us finish the sherry."
	"Central will question the woman."
	"Mmm."

written for Robert Mack in my kitchen 10/18/01

I promise: eventually, someone will solve a mystery. Probably not the Griffin Mercy case, though; that one's looking like a lost cause.

My plan, right now, is to write a novel in November for National Novel Writing Month. (See www.nanowrimo.com.) My fears are that by November 15th I will have (a) crippled myself with RSI (b) lost all my friends or (c) written 30,000 words of nothing but dialogue and still be trying to think of names for the main characters.

- everything is by Aaron Mandel; please ask first if you're about to steal something -

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