Emily secured us a room at the hotel, and we went upstairs to take a nap. We walked into the room and stood next to each other awkwardly looking at the bed. After a moment I declared, “Uhh…I’m gonna go see if I can get us the adjoining room.”
So, after going back downstairs to secure the adjoining room, I retreated to my side and she stayed in hers. If things could possibly have gotten more awkward with her, at least I could keep a locked door between us while I slept. That way I wouldn't wake up with my feet in her lap again, or worse. We rested for about an hour and a half before gathering ourselves to get something to eat downstairs.
As we came off the elevator, a cute little casino hostess approached me and handed me a little slip of paper. She smiled and said, “here you go, sir. Please enjoy some free play on the house!”
I looked down at the paper and read it. It was ten dollars in this world's currency worth of free slot play. Maybe a little fun wouldn’t hurt to kill the gloomy mood of this world for a bit.
“Listen. I’m used to things happening fast at this point. You wouldn’t believe what happened to me in the last world. But I have to ask a favor.”
“Yes?”
“Could we take just a little extra time before heading over to The Purple Rose? Sleeping and eating is fine. But I’d like just a little bit of leisure time in this world. Even considering the gravity of the situation.”
“Well, I already offered you sex and you turned that down. What do you have in mind?”
“Yeah, that’s not the kind of leisure I was talking about. I was hoping maybe you could give me just a little bit of money and maybe I could play some slots?”
I waved the free play coupon up to show her.
“I don’t see why not,” she said, “we have been moving rather quickly since leaving the D.A.’s Office.”
“Awesome. Thank you. I promise it won’t take too long. I know how these places work after all.”
She reached down into her purse and got out ten dollars for me, “Here. If you play the penny slots, perhaps you’ll last thirty minutes or so.”
We made our way over to the slot machines and I took my time picking a good one out. I ended up choosing one that was Devil themed. I thought it was funny and even Emily found my choice amusing. I inserted the money along with the free play and began playing. After a few minutes I was down to just four dollars. I decided to go out on a high note and hit the Max Bet.
*DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* *DING*
“Wow, I hit the jackpot!”
A crowd around me started to clap and the slot attendant made his way over and said,
“Congratulations, sir!”
Emily was smiling ear to ear and then suddenly, she had a look of panic on her face, “Wait! The game was rigged. They’re trying to buy you off the trail. Don’t accept the winnings! If you don’t abandon the investigation, they’ll find a way to say you messed with the machine!”
The slot ticket that printed off said $10,000K on it. I took Emily’s warning seriously and handed the slot attendant the ticket. He said, “right this way, sir. I’ll escort you to the claims counter.”
“Umm, don’t worry about it,” I said as we started to leave the casino, ”Here. You can keep it as a tip!”
“Thank you, sir!”
We made our way outside and onto the street. It was night now and downtown was bustling with people. Just up the road I could see the neon sign for The Purple Rose nightclub. As we made our way to it, Emily gave me yet another warning, “just a heads up Eric. But this club has a lot of strange people who hang out there.”
“Hmm, strange? You mean like every other person I’ve encountered since I’ve been here?”
“I’m serious, Eric. The types of people who congregate there are real oddballs. And they listen to really strange underground music. I’m sure one of those bands is playing there tonight.
In fact, I’m counting on it. I want to question them.”
* * *
When we stepped into the club, Emily got carded, but I didn't. Go figure. I tried to peer over to get a look at her I.D. out of curiosity, but it was too dark at the entrance. They let her in but I had no way of knowing if it was a fake I.D. or if she gave them a bribe or if the laws of this world were just different than my own.
Inside the club everyone seemed to be pretty normal. Exceptionally normal by this world's standards. There were guys and girls standing around talking. A lot of the guys were wearing washout jeans and polo style shirts. Some of the girls had crop tops, halter tops, and capris. The biggest standout was obviously Emily. Even I blended in better.
The band was about to hit the stage when Emily turned to me and said, “here it goes.
These weird, creepy, anti-social punks are about to go on.”
The club announcer came on the mic and said, “everyone, please welcome to the stage,
The Purple Rose’s own hometown boys…Bromance 5!!!”
The crowd started cheering and the curtain dropped. Five guys with way too much gel in their hair were standing there with microphone headsets on. They started dancing in unison and singing some crappy pop song.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
(Girl, when I see you walking down the street
My heart starts to race, it's hard to keep a beat.
I know you're the one for me, I can feel it in my soul
I'll do anything to make you mine, that's my ultimate goal
I wanna be with you, every single day
Take you to the movies, and to the beach to play.
Hold your hand and kiss your lips, that's what I wanna do
I'm just a boy in love with you
I'll be your knight in shining armor, your prince charming.
Hold you close and keep you safe, it's my calling.
I know we're meant to be, it's destiny calling.
Just take my hand and don't let go, we'll keep on falling)
Emily looked absolutely disgusted. She told me to hangout by the bar and look out for anyone suspicious that might have followed us in. She was going to ask a bouncer a few questions. I tried to remain inconspicuous and look at the people who came in after us, but no one seemed out of place. A few minutes later, Emily came back.
“We might as well go ahead and go for the night,” she said, “the bouncer said I wouldn’t get a good chance to talk to the band tonight. But I could come by tomorrow for their band practice.”
“Why do you want to interview those guys so much?” I asked.
“Because the club manager was also the band manager. They would’ve been really close to him so they might know something. I’m sure the police have already spoken to them but
I may be able to get some kind of discrepancy they didn’t pick up on in the band's story.”
“Okay, that makes sense.”
The band continued…
(I'll climb the highest mountain, swim the deepest sea.
I'll do anything to prove my love, just wait and see.
I'll be there through thick and thin, always by your side.
Girl, with you, my love will never die.
I wanna be with you, every single day.
Take you to the movies, and to the beach to play.
Hold your hand and kiss your lips, that's what I wanna do.
I'm just a boy in love with you.)
“Come on, let’s get out of here. I can handle any more of this.”
* * *
We went back to our hotel rooms and got a full night's rest. The following morning, we went down for breakfast, and she briefed me on the day’s events.
“We’re going to head over to the club first and interview each of the band members separately. That may take some time but when we’re done, we’ll come back here and scope the casino floor and nearby establishments. We may not find anything that sticks out as a potential lead to incriminating evidence, but it’s worth the time we have now to see if anything comes up. After today we might be too pressed for time to do anything like that before the trial.”
“Got it. I wish there was more I could do to help you. This sleuthing stuff isn’t really my thing and even if it was, you’ve pretty well got it covered.”
“Don’t worry, you can leave all that to me. Just like back at the Manor, all you need to do is watch out for me and keep me safe. The closer we get to the trial and the more stones I unearth; the more likely Alabaster will do something brash.”
“I hope not,” I stated, uneasily.
Afterwards, we made our way back down to the club. The dance floor was of course empty, but the bar was open. Emily spoke to some staff members and secured some time to interrogate the band members who were currently spinning in circles on stage and singing acapella.
We were allowed to set up in the band's dressing room. Emily and I sat next to one another and one by one each member of the band came in to speak with us.
First, there was Brian, who seemed more concerned with his hair than answering any questions. I seriously had never seen a man that carried a compact mirror before.
Second was Tommy, who was equally as unhelpful to us but that’s because he was an airhead. He completely forgot who the band manager even was.
Next was Jason, who started balling at the mention of Mr. Maven, the band manager’s name, “he was so good to us!!! Why did he have to die like that?!”
“Please, try and calm down sir. Here, take my handkerchief,” said Emily as she handed off a silk black hanky.
He started snotting into it while balling but then abruptly stopped, “Oh! Hang on a moment. Gotta check my socials.” He pulled out his phone and got distracted.
The next guy seemed the most normal of the ones we had met so far. His name was Chris.
“So why do you think Mr. Maven was killed?” Emily asked.
“To be honest. I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t know him all that well and have only recently joined the band. But I can tell you one thing…he and Nick were the closest.”
Nick was the lead singer, who we were intentionally saving for last in hopes the less invested members coughed up something important about him. That strategy seemed to be working.
“What do you mean by close?” I asked.
“I mean, Nick was the only one of us who spent time with Mr. Maven outside of the club scene. To be honest, I think he favored Nick and if any of us were to go solo, he’d be the one to do it.”
That was an interesting lead. Knowing that the other members weren’t around Mr.
Maven as much as Nick meant that he could’ve known more about the reason for his murder. His official police report was no different than the other guys though, so we’d have to see what we could get out of him.
When it came time to interview Nick, he came into the room looking nervous. He was a medium athletic build young man in his early twenties. He had frosted tips in his hair and vibrant blue eyes. A teenage girl's dream in my world. Emily, however, was not impressed.
“So, what did you personally think of Mr. Maven, Nick?” asked Emily with a softball question to start things off.
Nick sat there nervously rubbing his hands together before replying, “I don’t know. I mean, he believed in us. Said he could take us far. I didn’t know how true that could be though. I mean, as you know, simple repetitive catchy pop tunes don’t exactly fill the airwaves. What with all the chart topping Death Metal and Screamo.” He shrugged and shook his head.
“Yes, I understand that,” Emily sympathized, “it must be tough being an underground musician trying to make it somewhere. But can you tell me why you think Mr. Maven thought you guys were special?”
“I don’t know. The past few months he was leaning more into trying to change our sound more than anything. He just kept saying things like, ‘why don’t you guys just try adding some blast beats. Maybe a few death growls, or at least some electric guitars with some distortion.’ I could bring myself to do it because it felt like selling out ya know. For me it's always been about the music…the art you know.” he had tears in his eyes when he said this.
Emily continued her questioning, “what did you know about the relationship between Mr.
Maven and his employer, Alabaster Creole?”
Nick fidgeted around on his chair and seemed even more nervous. He said, “what’s there to know? I mean…I know Mr. Creole is a very powerful man.”
“Was he at all dissatisfied with Mr. Maven’s work with the club?”
“...There was probably some dissatisfaction,” Nick reluctantly answered, “I know he didn’t think that Maven should try to change Bromance 5’s musical direction.”
“Oh really, it came up before?” Emily pressed.
“Yeah, it was mentioned.”
“By Creole directly…I didn’t realize you two spoke directly often.”
Nick was clearly taken aback. His eyes widened. Emily had exposed the fact that Nick and Alabaster had communicated separately from Maven. But why would they have? Maven was Alabaster’s employee through the club but worked separately for the band as their manager.
“Well…you see…I…,” Nick was clearly at a loss for words and started breaking down, “I’m sorry…I didn’t want it to be that way. Creole said he would get us a big record deal and tour through his connections and that he wouldn’t try to change our sound like Maven was trying to do!”
“Listen, Nick! Are you trying to say you had something to do with Maven’s death? If you did and are afraid of Alabaster, we can offer you protection if you’ll testify against him.”
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to kill him. I couldn’t see any other way at the time,” Nick broke down even harder during his confession.
“Eric, make sure he doesn’t try to run. I’m calling the police to get him down to the precinct so we can protect him.”
“Right!” I agreed.