The Cupcakes Murder Part 4

This is part four of the Cupcakes Murder for part one click here, part two here and part three here
There is a slight problem with the last two words of the audio, apologies for this I am working hard to fix it.
When the woman with two faces had heard the owner of Cupcakes had got a private detective on the case, she began to worry. Private Dicks had the habit of sniffing out the truth, they had their ways and means and this Archer Stanley was meant to be one of the best. She really didn’t need to worry. She was always careful, very careful. Most people put layers in between them and the killers to safeguard themselves, but the woman with two faces thought that the more layers there were the more chance of someone talking out of turn. So she dealt directly with her assassins, always face to face, paid only in cash. There were no middlemen to blab, no paper trail to follow. It was just two people doing business and if it came down to it, her word against theirs. But she used the best, and trusted her men not to squeal, after all she paid them enough to buy their silence. But still she didn’t like the thought of a pesky detective meddling in her business.

This whole affair had been strange. She’d been tipped off about the sleazebag Santa by some anonymous voice on the phone. At first she’d decided to ignore it, but the claims that voice had made echoed round her mind. It wasn’t the way she usually did business, victims were usually brought to her attention by people she knew or she read about them herself not anonymous tip offs. So she’d been suspicious about this voice but against her better judgement she’d decided to look into it anyway and when she did, she drew the conclusion that Santa had to be eliminated for the sake of womankind. As usual Vinny had done a good job, he always did, she felt safe using him, he had skill and luck; a winning combination.  But now she had an uneasy feeling, the strange voice on the phone, the private detective, was the net closing in on her?  It was time to talk to Vinny.

Vinny gave her a tingle of excitement every time she saw him, she wasn’t sure if it was sexual or just the illicit nature of their business but she felt her hairs stand on end as she looked into his haunting eyes. He blew out a lungful of smoke as he waited for her to speak.

‘There’s trouble brewing VInny? There’s a detective poking around the Cupcakes business. He’s asking too many questions by all accounts. ’

Vinny looked unconcerned, if he was worried, he didn’t show it.

‘I’ll sort it.’ he said hardly moving his lips. ‘Don’t worry.’ He smiled slightly letting the light catch his diamond.

‘Be careful.’ The Woman with Two Faces said.

‘Don’t worry.’ Vinny repeated as he got up to leave, lighting a new cigarette as he did so.

So Vinny retraced his steps of a few days earlier. It was a long journey but that was good, it would give him chance to plan.  He closed his eyes and cleared his mind. He recalled what The Woman with Two Faces had told him about the detective. Archer Stanley, works alone, drinks alone, no one to miss him when he was gone. This was a case of making someone disappear, no body left behind, no evidence. By the time anyone noticed he was gone, no one would remember who he was. it was an easy job.

Vinny got off the coach, stretched his back and lit a cigarette. He looked around him and chose his direction. He’d walk to Archer’s office, lose himself in the crowd. The sun was beginning to set over the building causing strange shadows, this was Vinny’s time of day. He found the building he was looking for, an office above a bar - typical for a detective he thought, slightly more tricky for a disappearance. The light was on, Archer was in. He climbed the stairs and tried the door, it swung open. He had his gun in his hand ready.

But unless Archer was a woman it wasn’t the detective who was sitting in front of him.

Vinny watched as the smile that greeted him turned to horror when the secretary saw the gun. He wished it hadn’t because it was a beautiful smile.

‘Where’s Archer?’ He said, his voice rough and angry. He was angry with the woman for not being Archer, angry with Two Faces for not giving him the right info, angry with himself for not fact checking and angry that he wouldn’t see that smile again. 

‘He’s’ her voice was scared. ‘should be here soon.’ she managed to say.

‘I’ll wait.’ Vinny said looking around the room for a chair. He needed time to think. He needed a plan B. But he didn’t have long, within minutes there were foot steps on the stairs and the door swung open.

A look of relief came across the girl’s face as Archer Stanley walked into the room.

For Part 5 click here