Hotline to Murder

“How was your day?”
    “Tiring,” Tony said warily. “And yours?” At least he hadn’t called him Noodles.
    “Swinging. We got a scoop on network news in the case of the kidnapped little girl.”
    “Wonderful,” Tony responded, but he was already down the stairs and headed back into the kitchen. Josh didn’t seem to be in a bad mood. Now if only he didn’t notice that his papers were messed up. And if he didn’t bring up last night, Tony wouldn’t. Tony retrieved his TV dinner from the microwave, poured himself another glass of wine, and sat down at the table in the family room, which doubled as a dining room.
    Josh came downstairs five minutes later, looking comfortable in baggy shorts and a T-shirt. He opened the refrigerator. After a few seconds of searching, he said, “Looks like I blew it. Drank up all the beer. Sorry about that. You want me to make a beer run?”
    “Don’t do it for me,” Tony said. “I’m going to bed early tonight.”
    “I’ll get some tomorrow.”
    The area between the family room and the kitchen was mostly open, so Tony watched as Josh poured himself a glass of wine from the bottle on the counter and then took a package of wieners out of the refrigerator. He stabbed one with a fork and held it over the flame of a burner on the gas stove, as if he were at a wiener roast. He whistled as the wiener started to sizzle. Tony cringed as he watched the grease drip onto the burner, but he was determined not to say a word, especially one that might upset Josh.
    “I haven’t heard anything new about the Hotline murder for several days,” Josh said. “Have you got any inside information for me that I can put on the air?”
    “Nothing new.”
    Josh ate this wiener right off the fork and then stabbed a second wiener and held it over the flame.
    Tony saw his chance. “Detective Croyden has been checking the alibis of everybody who was connected to Joy in any way. When he asked me about my alibi, I realized that I didn’t have anybody to vouch for me that night.” He forced a smile. “I went to a movie all alone. I don’t remember where the hell you were. Where were you, anyway?” He said this in what he hoped was a jocular tone.
    Josh turned his wiener over to sear the other side. With his free hand he scratched his head. “Where was I the night of the murder? I’ll have to think about that.”
    Josh fell silent as he finished cooking his wiener to his satisfaction and ate it off the fork. Tony felt frustrated that the opportunity to get Josh’s alibi had apparently been lost. If he asked again, Josh was sure to get suspicious. Josh brought his glass of wine over to the table and sat down.
    He said, “Was Joy one of the girls that was here the day you had the Hotline people over when I was out of town?”
    The question startled Tony. He had never told Josh that he had invited the class over and had hoped he wouldn’t find out. He said, “What are you talking about?” still trying to maintain a bantering tone.
    “Don’t pull that shit with me. Rob told me all about it. He said the pool was full of young babes in bikinis. He and some of the other guys who live here sat around the pool, drank beer, and watched. But you did it behind your old roommate’s back.” Josh affected a hurt look.
    Watched. Ogled. Tony remembered that well. Rob was a neighbor. Since the pool was in the common area, he couldn’t exactly drive them away.
    “They particularly mentioned a tall, gorgeous blonde,” Josh continued. “Stacked.” He placed his hands around imaginary breasts. “I kind of figured that might be Joy.”
    “It was Joy,” Tony conceded. “In fact, that was the only time I ever saw Joy.”
    “You’re one up on me. I have to live with the pictures we got from her parents. But I’m still pissed that you left me out.”
    “I didn’t want you ravishing all of them. My reputation is that of a good guy, and I can’t let them know I have you for a roommate. They’d probably kick me out of the Hotline.”
    “That might be the best thing that could happen. I don’t like what you’re turning into.”
    Josh kept score of all the beautiful girls he saw, dated, bedded. It was a contest for him. Still, he had no reason to kill one.
    “In a theoretical sense, I can understand the attraction,” Josh said, as if analyzing a movie. “A beautiful but unobtainable girl. If you can’t have her, then nobody can have her. Kill her while she’s still perfect. Then you’ll