chapter 191

word count: 1000

before trudy even had the opportunity to congratulate herself on the success of her most amazing (even to herself) jump kick,, the TSA had descended on them like vultures on a still warm corpse.. within what seemed like seconds,, they had the whole crew of them,, trudy, rudy, and the rainman restrained and on the floor forming a circle around the already chemically subdued doctor..

trudy could feel the piercing weight of a knee as it came down hard on her back,, then a set of hands grabbed her by the hair,, and brutally slammed her face into the cold tiled causeway..

it all happened so fast,, not one of the TSA had even bothered to notice the diamond as it skidded off disappearing into the crowd rubber necking travelers..

five of the TSA agents swiftly cleared the disturbance by dragging trudy, rudy, and the rainman off to a nearby office, while the others waited on a gurney with which to transport the doctor.. as the remaining TSA officers milled around the doctors clearly comatose body, the diamond came to rest at the feet of a pair of young mormons on their way to serve their mission in el salvador..

one of them quickly bent down to retrieve the diamond before anyone else caught sight of it.. once the diamond was safely in hand,, the two of them found a deserted gate,, and took a seat as far away as possible from the overly excited throng of onlookers still focused on the deathly still body of the doctor surrounded by the TSA..

“we can’t keep it!” one of them blurted out as thoughts of running away to a secluded island and living in the lap of luxury fought for prominence in his thought pattern..

“i know!! but what do we do with it??” the other responded dutifully,, all the while picturing himself with a harem of beautiful island wives all eager to appease his every beck and call..

“well i am not turning it over to those TSA guys that’s for sure. i’ve seen enough of their rent a cop mentality to realize they’ll probably arrest us for being in possession of it!!”

“so then what do we do? call the cops? if we do that we will miss our flight out for sure!!”

“i’d rather have to take another flight than get locked up for god knows how long until these ignoramuses figure out we didn't steal the darn thing.”

together they decided not to bring attention to themselves by turning the diamond over to the local authorities here in the airport.. instead they thought it wiser to take it to the police station themselves,, so they made their way toward the exit,, where they promptly hailed a cab…

as the cab slipped expertly into the crush of airport traffic the boys looked on in awe as a swarm of police cars,, lights and sirens blaring descended upon the airport..

“pull over driver!!” the boy that had possession of the gem at the time called out.. “it looks like the police department has come to us..”

***

as winifred and algernon sat around kitchen table sipping tea and discussing their next rightful step, neither of them was any the wiser as to trudys having packed up and left the house.. 

“i really ought to get to the precinct winnie..” algie said abruptly changing the direction of the conversation.. “i promised the officers at the scene of the accident that i would drop in this afternoon and do the needed paperwork.. and you know me,, forever true to my word..”

“yes,, there is that..” winifred found herself agreeing with him,, “but we must follow through on the task at hand first,, don’t you agree?? i mean there is the proper handling of priscilla’s remains to be seen to,, and i am still awaiting a return call from detective miller.. we wouldn't want you caught up in routine police paperwork should the location of the diamond become available now would we??”

“i say winnie,, about that you are absolutely correct..” algie said as he finished off the last of his tea.. “then we are off to the coroner’s office, eh?? dear priscilla,, how unfortunate it is they we have to give her such a rushed sendoff.. the poor girl definitely deserved better..”

“even i will agree with that.” winnie said in genuine affirmation.. although she hadn't always agreed with the way priscilla got things done,, even she would concede that (as far as she knew) priscilla had remained loyal to the crown until the end,, and what a sad end it had been indeed..

as the two of them were getting ready to leave,, the house phone rang.. winifred answered it with a dutiful, “detective millers residence. winifred dunn speaking.”

alige looked on as winnie’s breathing became more rapid,, and a flush of red began building up in her cheeks..

“yes. i will confirm that detective miller has in fact given her permission to stay here,, however,, detective miller himself is indisposed at present.. he is a ward of the new albany general medical center.. i would suggest you contact him there as this would be a matter he must deal with directly.” winifreds frustration was growing more evident with every word..

“yes,, then.. that is what i would suggest you do..” winnie agreed with the TSA agent as he reiterated what she had just said to him.. “you may contact detective miller personally at new albany general.. his room number is 2112..” without so much as a goodbye,, she hung up the phone and looked distressingly over at algie..

“i’m afraid it is that dreadful mrs. hunt again.. this time she has gotten herself into a spot with the transportation authority at the airport.. what on earth she was doing there i cannot even begin to imagine..” she said disgustedly..

“oh my,” algie puzzled. “and to think i never even heard her leave the house..”