December 20 – 6:25 AM.
Diamond Hotel
Karl Hoffman was already waiting in the middle of the lobby. It was quiet, not a customer or visitor in sight. At most one or two patrons who are going on a morning jog in the fitness room or a dip in the hotel pool.
He resisted the urge to rub the exhaustion from his eyes, taking in deep breathes to get more oxygen into his lungs to sharpen up his senses. Every two seconds he would check his wrist watch, counting the ticks as they get closer to the deadline.
Unable to wait the rest of the five minutes, he took this time to examine the lobby. Whenever he saw a smudge on the windows and handlebars he would grab a sanitizer bottle and a clean rag, spray and wipe. Refill complimentary hotel pens, organize the hotel pamphlets, and glance at the security feed for any last minute crime.
Anything to make time move faster for him.
6:28 AM........6:29 AM........ 6:30 AM.
“It is time for Room 777 to check out.” Karl Hoffman would say on the dot while standing in front of the front counter. The cute clerk lady from the previous night would bolt to her feet at attention. She didn’t want to mess up like yesterday.
They waited......and waited...and waited...
The hotel manager snapped, “Did you give the patron his morning call?”
“Y-yes sir!” The cute clerk lady squeaked. “I called at 6:15 AM. He picked up saying he was taking a shower said he would come down before...before I could say Bazinga...sir.”
Karl Hoffman gave a deadpan stare, before he checked his watch.
6:32 AM..... 6:33 AM.
“Please call his room to—”
Ring-ring. Ring-ring.
Before the hotel manager could finish his sentence, the phone at the front desk rung. The cute clerk lady snatched up the call and listened. Her eyes widen and she started to shake all over when she made eye contact with her supervisor.
“Er...sir.”
“What is the matter? Is he on his way?”
“...The guest in Room 777. He...he requested for back up.”
“................Back up? What for?”
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“Oh my geeeerd! Oh my geeeerd! Where is iiiiit!”
Merlin could be found in the middle of Room 777 – turning the entire place upside down.
He whipped off the golden blankets to check underneath, catapulting the discarded snack bags and crumbs all over in an explosive shower across the floor. He dragged the bed side table to check under its spaces – not even dust bunnies!? The hotel patron even dove across the ground to peek under the bed as if sliding to first base in a baseball game.
“Where!? Where did it go!? Oh sh—”
Beep. The door opened to room 777. Karl Hoffman and the cute clerk lady – only to freeze at the total mess of the entire room. As much as Karl Hoffman wanted to raise his voice, just watching the Shaggy Mongrel crawling around like a lizard and making hissing noises caught him completely off guard.
“D-Detective Merlin? What are you doing?”
BONK. “OW!” Merlin bumped his head under the bed and he struggled to pick himself up. As he staggered he called out. “I can’t find it! My precious!”
“C-could you explain what is it that you are missing?”
Merlin dove into the bathroom, dunking his head into the Jacuzzi he used last night. Nothing, and he popped his head back out of the bathroom door to wave over to get help.
“M-my wristwatch! It’s very precious to me!”
“Your...wristwatch sir?”
“Y-yes! It’s a gift from my coach, back in the police academy. I-it holds HUGE amount of sentimental value...Oh god. I forgot there’s going to be an academy reunion next week. Wh-what do I tell my coach? ‘Sorry cap, I was a dum-dum and flushed your prize down the toilet’—NO! This did not happen at all!”
Merlin snapped both fingers – hoping time would stop or reverse in a heroic time loop....Timespace went nah, and kept driving.
Karl Hoffman didn’t know if he should spend the 10 seconds to stare at this man or start searching. Having no time to pinch at his nose bridge, he waved a hand to his employee. “We’ll help him search.”
Both members of the hotel staff would quickly scattered to different corners of the room. While the cute clerk lady worked with Merlin, Karl Hoffman went to the living room. He knelt down to dip in between the couch and the glass top coffee table. He quickly reached down to pick up the--
“Oh?” The hotel manager padded his hand under the couch. He looked right beneath it. Nothing, at most some clumps of dust that vacuum cleaners could not reach so conveniently. He even pulled out his phone, to switch on the camera light, shining it about under the couch.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Nothing.
“D-did you find it!?” Merlin squawked while scouring a closet.
“........I’ll look for more hands to help. You continue.” Karl Hoffman called to the other staff and rose to his feet.
Immediately Merlin rushed up to him from behind the couch, popping out like a shaggy jack in the box. “Wh-what do I do? I’m a dead man if I can’t find my coach’s watch! Sh-should I call 9-1-1?...Wait no, I am the police! I’ll be a laughing stock!”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions.” Karl Hoffman assured, “It’s most likely your watch should still be inside the room. I will go downstairs to call for more assistance.”
“Oh yes, please! My life depends on it! Go, go, go!”
Karl Hoffman nodded and head out of the hotel room. He didn’t take the main stairs down, neither the elevators down. Rather he decided to use the emergency escape stairs UP.
Never once stopping or bothered to look around, he made a beeline for a single room among the many.
800.
It wasn’t a guest room, but a technical room only staff would use. Usually by administrations, like Karl Hoffman. So it made sense he could easily walk in with a swipe of his key card.
“Where did it go?”
The hotel manager entered what looked like another surveillance room. There were multiple computer screens lit up and on active duty for possibly 24/7, judging by the heat and brightness they radiated. There wasn’t much space for a team of eight, six, five, four, or even two people.
A security room fit for one person.
Karl Hoffman had no issue to sit down in the big leather chair and log in with incredible speed on the keyboard. A few wave of his mouse, click click, and he gained control over the camera recordings to manipulate their contents on screen.
“...Here?”
The hotel manager twisted a knob until he stopped at a certain moment of time. He stared intently at a single screen in the dead center as it played a certain event.
“Oooooh!” Merlin hopped side to side in excitement at the hand-free controls. It was like something out of a sci-fi movie! With a little dance, he went. “Computer. Activate TV!” The plasma screen in the room clicked on. The first channel to show up was a food channel, a celebrity cake baking competition in full swing. “Yeaaaaah! Computer, call room service!”
A small digital voice chirped from a small speaker on the bedside table. Essentially, the hotels’ own A.I. home assistant.
[WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ORDER?]
“Earl Grey. Hot.”
[PROCESSING ORDER!]
“Computer. Cancel room service.”
[CANCELLING. HAVE A LOVELY NIGHT.]
“No,” Karl Hoffman shook his head at the clip from the past. “Should be little bit further.” He twists the knob to the right and watch timespace within the center screen accelerate. There! Right when the detective leapt onto the couch for the night!
“...Oh son of a—” Merlin mumbled and whipped out his arms. He pulled off his wrist watch from his arm and dropped it on the glass counter top. “There, now sleeeeep.”
The hotel patron flapped his towel blanket over his body as he rolled onto his side. In doing so a corner flicked at the watch and it tipped over the edge.
It dropped onto the carpet, tumbling right under the couch.
“ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!”
“Should be there, under the couch,” Karl Hoffman whispered to himself. “I am sure that’s where it is.”
Figuring out the answer, he stood up and straighten his suit. Just as he was about to log out and head out--
--A Shaggy Mongrel shoved his head through the crack of 800’s door.
“Are you sure about that?”
The hotel manager bolted from his seat and backed away into a corner – as if the Shaggy Mongrel was some eldritch abomination! Sweat broke out all over his skin, when more people marched in after the mongrel.
Detective Merlin, along with Inspector Saul, Constables Romanov, Constable Sally, as well as Constable Barry and Allen, all filled the room. They made sure their Police ID cards hanging on their lanyards were visible as they introduce themselves.
“I am Inspector Saul, Crime Investigation Detective Unit. Precinct 9. Mr. Hoffman, you are under arrest for the murder of Liam Ferguson. You have the right to remain silent, but we will record everything you say and use it against you in court of law.”
“Wh...what? How? Did you all find me!?”
Detective Merlin hooked his own police lanyard around his neck as he approached the screens. He watched it with amusement, as if it was a magic show. He eyed the center screen, which had switch back to live feed.
The cute clerk lady still searching high and low for a certain wrist watch as they spoke.
“Mr. Hoffman,” Merlin chirped, trying not to eye the lovely clerk too hard, “Really loving this magic trick you’re rocking out here. Top of the line PCs, and your own personal server. Did this come out of the company’s pocket?”
The investigators started to confiscate whatever that wasn’t bolted to the ground, or at least didn’t require a moving company to shift out. Computers, PC towers, server data drives, as many as they could.
All the while Detective Merlin smiling with hands in his pocket, “They say a magician should never use their same trick twice. Not only would the ‘magic’ disappear, hecklers can figure out the secret to your trick. But you, ha – Do, Re, Mi, every time you kept popping up whenever I set foot in this hotel.”
Karl Hoffman was seething, but he didn’t have much chance to voice his frustrations. Not when a half giant was breathing down his neck, while hacking on handcuffs on his wrist.
Merlin then tapped a knuckle against the center screen, “You had me you know. I honestly respected your attention to detail and your baloney about being the eyes and ears of the hotel. But to think you have your own private watch tower to monitor every square root—”
Constable Sally whispered, “Square foot.”
“S-square foot, of this entire hotel. Honestly with a set up like this and you appearance act, you kind of remind me of a certain caped crusader.”
“How.” Karl Hoffman had to ask, or he will never properly rest, “How did you know about the camera?”
“I didn’t. No one did. Hell, not even our glorious Inspector Saul thought of it.”
“H-hey now.” Inspector Saul mumbled, while staring in amazement at the private surveillance set up, “Who is in charge here hmm?”
“Yes sir, sorry, sorry.” Merlin chuckled as he cleared his throat, “Simply put Mr. Hoffman, you had us chasing after a woman the whole time. A man as charming and successful as Liam, of course girls young and old flock to him like bees to honey... You were in the lead, but you lost to a pair of underwear.”
There was this awkward silence in the room, before Merlin added one more thing.
“I had an educated guess, and I set you up...Now, I deserve my prize after finishing this cat and mouse game... Karl Hoffman. Why did you kill Liam Ferguson?”