The Maze

haven't moved from that desk since this afternoon. Come along. I won't throw you around because you ' have this wimp excuse about your arm."

    She could barely walk. Nor could she talk. She was still using all her breath just to pull oxygen into her lungs. It was just as well because Hannah Paisley turned up just before they were ready to leave. She looked fit and strong, and just about every guy in the gym was staring at her. She was wearing a hot-pink leotard with a black top and black thong.

    Savich gave Hannah a salute as he said, "Come on, Sher-lock. I told you you've got to work on your breathing. More breath or you'll collapse on me just the way you're almost doing now."

    She eyed him and gasped out, "I'm going to kill you." "Good. An entire sentence. You're getting it together again. You want to go shower?"

    "I'd drown. I'd fall down, plug the drain, and that would be the end of it."

    "Then let's walk home. A nice walk dries all the sweat." "I want to be carried. These legs aren't going anywhere on their own."

    Hannah was standing behind Savich. She lightly touched her fingers to his bare arm. His skin glistened with sweat. "Hello, Dillon, Sherlock." Lacey only nodded. She was still breathing hard. "You're looking good, Hannah," Savich said. Lacey realized at that moment how clear it was to her that they'd slept together. They were both magnificently made, beautiful specimens. She could imagine how they'd look together, naked, all over each other. She forced herself to smile. To look the way the two of them did, they had to sweat a lot to build those sleek muscles. Lacey wasn't too fond of sweating. She watched Savich squeeze Hannah's biceps. "Not bad. Look at poor Sherlock here. She's threatening to collapse on me all because she got her arm hurt and we had to spend the time on her legs."

    "She does look a bit on the edge. While she rests up, could you come coach me a minute on my bench presses?"

    "Sorry, not tonight, Hannah. Sherlock has to get home, and I promised I'd drop her off."

    Hannah just nodded, smiled at both of them, and walked off, every man's eyes, except Savich's, on her butt.

    "She's very beautiful," Lacey said, pleased she could talk without wondering if she was having a heart attack.

    "Yes, I guess so," Savich said. "Let's go."

    They stopped for a half-veggie, half-sausage pizza at Dizzy Dan's on Clayton Street.

    "You only left me two slices," Savich said, picking up one slice quickly. "You're a pig, Sherlock."

    Cheese was dripping down her chin. She was so hungry, she was pleased she hadn't started chewing on the red-and-white checkered tablecloth. She quickly grabbed the last slice. It was still hot enough so that the cheese pulled loose and dripped down the sides of the slice. She couldn't wait to get it into her mouth. "Order another one," she said, her mouth full.

    He did, and this garden delight pizza he ate himself. She was so full she didn't want to move, didn't even want to raise her hand from the tabletop.

    "You stuffed?"

    "To the gills." She sighed, sat back in her chair, and crossed her arms over her stomach. "I didn't realize I was so hungry."

    "If Marlin didn't kill Belinda, then someone else did. Who was it, Sherlock?"

    "I don't know, truly, I don't."

    "But you've been thinking about it a whole lot, ever since Marlin told you he didn't kill her. Who had access, Sherlock? Who?"

    "Why don't we talk about Florida instead? Or Mississippi?"

    "Fine, but you're going to have to face up to it soon. I do have some new information from Florida for you. The latest murder wasn't on the projected map matrix, as you already know. MAXINE is trying to come up with something else. We poor humans are trying too. This time the police made an effort to question everyone in sight. They herded all the residents into the rec room. They wanted to catch your old woman in disguise. The initial word I got back, and what you heard, was that it wasn't someone disguised as an old woman. However, I found out just before we left this afternoon that a new cop had had two of the old folks get sick on him because of the murder and he'd let them go. One was an old woman, one an old man. Was one of them the murderer? No one knows.

    "As for the new young cop being able to identify the two old people, we can forget it. All old people look alike to him. He just remembers that one was an old man and he fainted, the other was an old lady and she puked. You can bet your life that he got his ears