Murder Under the Boardwalk

[PinkGirl]

Agnes was a bit embarassed at having called Mr. Rockhead by
his first name. She had never before used his first name and had
to chalk it up to her mental fatigue. Agnes Beasley made a mental
note to take an ativan later that evening and hopefully get a good
night's sleep.

"Mr. Rockhead", Agnes said, "you have told me that the woman on
the carpet identified herself as Sienna Coddingham from London,
England, is that correct?" Agnes, from her days working in the
office at the spray cheese factory, knew that there was also a
London, Ontario in Canada. She knew this from the repeated requests
from a company there to be given a franchise to start a spray cheese
factory in Canada. Agnes was forever indebted to her co-worker
Bertha Hollis who repeatedly helped her with the metric conversion
on the application forms from London, Ontario. Luckily for Agnes, the
requests were always denied and to this day there is no spray cheese
in Canada.

"Yes", replied Jim Rockhead. "She's from London, England and told me
that she came here because her boyfriend Geoffrey is looking for
domestic employment. Apparently Geoff was axed from his job as
Prince Stuart's personal valet." "Hmmmm", Rockhead mused. "There
is a connection here Aggie". "Valerie Vavoom's sister was fooling around
with Prince Stuart and now the woman on the carpet claims to be the
girlfriend of the Prince's former valet". "And, come to think of it, the
carpet woman said he was her ex-boyfriend". Agnes was taking in all
of this information. "I wonder why", Rockhead said, "she would be
helping her ex-boyfriend look for employment, and how did this woman
from London, England end up in Austin, Texas dog sitting an apparently
missing pooch from California?"

Agnes could see that they had a lot of work to do. If only they
could arrange some kind of a meeting with Valerie, Vivian, Sienna,
Geoffrey, Mrs. Ellingfish and the mutt. As far as Agnes knew, the
whereabouts of Vivian, Sienna and Geoffrey were not known.

They had their work cut out for them. Hopefully Sienna would make
contact with the Rockhead Agency and shed some light on the
situation.

Agnes thanked Mr. Rockhead for allowing her to keep the money from
Mrs. Ellingfish. However, it was too much. She gave Mr. Rockhead
$500 and only kept the other half for her back wages.

"If it's alright with you Mr. Rockhead, I will just do some tidying up
in the waiting room and pay a few of our bills before heading home"
inquired Agnes. "I am really tired and need a good night's sleep."

"Of course Aggie" said Rockhead, "you take all the time that you...."
Agnes and Jim both turned towards the top of the stairs. Someone
was crashing up the stairs towards their office ...........

[Becky]

Sienna paced up and down the long corridor of the studio apartment. It was always something with Geoffrey and they weren't even together anymore. That was her decision. He was a lady's man and she couldn't really stand it anymore. Bottom line, he was a world class liar. They had to leave England asap because he was caught with Prince Stuart's latest gal pal Vivian Vavoom. And it wasn't just a smooth. It was a peck alright but not a peck on the cheek. She and the Prince could attest to that.

Vivian was the last straw, the very last straw. What a humiliation!!! At least all the others were assumptions but Vivian was real. All 36-24-36 of her.

But, none-the-less, Sienna left her home to come to the U.S. with Geoffrey. She just decided she couldn't stay with him. She didn't think she could initially get by without him until that poof-ball dog came into her life. What a pain and what a salvation all in one fluffy bundle. But now there was no turning back. The plan was in motion and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She regretted the weather too. Why did it have to rain so hard, and in Texas no less. She had been a sopping mess in that private detective's office. What a shame because he was awfully cute.

[StephN]

Showered and primped, Siena was still terribly confused and had a list of questions longer than the Tower Bridge.

OK, first she hoped Geoffrey would not come back to this little dive of a place, but she could not be sure he had turned in the key to the manager and did not want to ask.

Next, who in the devil was that man who had approached her about sitting the furball?? Who was he really?? Ned Snodgrass seemed like such a made up name, but she had noticed a lot of weird monikers here in the states. Assume that is an assumed name.

What had she noticed about him, besides his dark good looks and smooth manner. When he picked up his drink he used his left hand. He also wore his watch on the other wrist. THAT was unusual.

He also had a small tatoo on the upper knuckle of his left pinkie. Some kind of an odd pattern of interlocking rings. Where had she seen that before??

Then it came to her. The furball's collar had a similar motif. What the hell? Maybe she was trying too hard to piece this puzzle together.

Better she get something to help her relax, then she might have a clearer picture of what she thought she saw. Maybe a nice crisp gin and tonic would calm her nerves.

The fact that she had felt in danger in the quaint Austin neighborhood, was also unsettling. Who had been following her and why had the pom pooch been so scitzy at the person's scent?

There must be a nice hotel bar around where she could show off her stunning legs as she sipped and ruminated.

[chrisy]

Meanwhile, back in room 203 of the Motel 7, Valerie had exhausted her supply of quarters for the magic fingers. Feeling very relaxed, and very tired - and still slightly bedraggled from the rainy adventures of the day, she decided a refreshing bath would be in order. Stepping into the bathroom, she was APPALLED to see that the advertised "jacuzz" was nothing but a small bathtub with a single jet! What a dump this place was.

Despite the strange phone call from Jim Rockhead, he had not met her in a few hours as planned and it was now nearly 5 o'clock. "Well, I'm not getting stood up by that lowlife PI", she fumed, and decided it would be a good time to go home for a real bath. Then she'd go back and return the car. She left the key in the room, coaxed Rockhead's old beater to life, and headed for her luxurious home with a real jacuzzi overlooking the bay.

Calling it "her" home was a slight exaggeration, she was actually renting her beach bungalow to Mrs. Ellingfish and was staying at one of the several houses owned by her friend Sharkey, the wealthy surf bum who had made his fortune selling skateboard wheels and speculating in real estate. He was known as a bottom-feeder, never having paid more than 50% of market price for a house, always just beating the realtor (whom he referred to as "land pimps") to the deal. She'd never known him to sell any of this properties, thus he had numerous homes available to let to friends at reasonable rents, in Valerie's case, free.

The rent from the Ellingfishes was all that was keeping Valerie going - having run through most of her cash trying to keep Danny one step ahead of the loan sharks. She shuddered as she remembered the TV picture above the bar at Mr. Chills.

Valerie arrived home and was greeted at the door by Ferrari, her long haired dachshund-labrador mix (so named because his hind legs were considerably longer than his front legs thereby giving him the jacked-up look of a racecar). Ferrari was a delightful companion, so well tempered and loving. Not at all like that pom, Pom Pom. She knew secrets about Pom Pom, for example, Pom Pom was not a purebred pomeranian, but was in fact a cross between a pom and a bichon-frisse. Valerie almost laughed out loud at how she had convinced the Ellingfish woman that mutt was AKC registered!

Dog breeding was Valerie's secret passion, and soon, she hoped, would make her a wealthy celebrity in her own right (not just another Santa Cruz socialite spending daddy's money). She would finally get the respect she so craved, and deserved once she introduced her new breed of dog - the pompador - to the world as the newest animal star in the next Harry Potter movie.

That was how she had become involved with Geoffrey...whoever he was...
ve

[PinkGirl]

Losing her footing on the poorly maintained stairs leading to James Rockhead's office, Valerie Vavoom broke yet another heel
off of an expensive pair of shoes and dropped the pile of papers
she was bringing to Rockhead. Regaining her composure she
entered the waiting room to find Rockhead and his secretary
Agnes Beasley.

Valerie looked refreshed. She had left the seedy motel and gone
home for a luxurious bath. Rockhead and Agnes had both noticed
the waft of lavender fragrance before Valerie even entered the room.

"I waited for you at that dump of a motel and you didn't show
up" she yelled at Rockhead. "I apologize Mrs. Vavoom, I tried
to call you but the switchboard operator told me that you were
not in your room" replied Rockhead. "I am very, very sorry".

"I don't understand why you want me to hide out in this run down,
shabby, poor excuse for a motel" she said. "You see Mrs. Vavoom, I
just need some time to investigate all of the strange happenings of the
last few days. There is now a police investigation and I don't want you
talking to them until I get more information from you" replied Rockhead,
desperately trying to calm the waters and gain Valerie Vavoom's trust.

"I might be able to shed some light on the situation" said Valerie. "I've
brought these papers for you to look at. It's a business proposal that
I have been working on. I think it will be clear to you that there are
a number of people who would not want this business to get off the ground".

Valerie handed the papers to Rockhead. Agnes noticed a pencil drawn
sketch of either a logo or a letter head - she wasn't certain what it was
but did notice a sketch of the strangest looking dog she had ever seen.
The animal had some of the poofy characteristics of that little creep
Pom Pom that she had searched the entire city for, but there was also
something that reminded her of her cousin's Chocolate Lab that she saw
every Christmas. 'What a strange looking creature', thought Agnes.

Jim Rockhead took the papers from Vavoom, briefly glancing at them and
then turned to his secretary with a total look of disbelief on his face ......

Agnes made a mental note to pick up some Tylenol for the office First
Aid Kit.

[Becky]

The little dog was very agitated. He had been all over the place and was now back with the weird lady, Mrs. Ellingfish. Gloria Ellingfish, Gory Glory as her friends called her, was old money. Her great grandfather made his fortune teaching the Japanese how to cut and serve the delicious but possibly lethal sashmi called Blowfish. If not disected correctly, the chef could include the poisonous glands that contained the most deadly serum in the world. One small bite has done in famous Sumo wrestlers!

Gloria was known for her weird hobby of collecting pictures of the victims of famous serial killers. She had shots of the best - Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Son of Sam. You name it. Money was no object and she knew how to get them. The only way in was through the police department. The best contact was someone who really needed the money and that tended to be rookies - most cops weren't paid all that well and rookies, well, they were paid the worst.

Gory Glory first met O'Hare when he was a rookie. It was weird because just yesterday she saw him with the rookie she was working with now. Poor boy had to wait in the car while O'Hare went and bought the donuts - what a drag not to be able to pick out the donut you wanted. Jelly was her favorite, with the red gel oozing out after a big bite.

[PinkGirl]

There were a few awkward moments of silence before Jim Rockhead spoke. "I know that you are used to far better accomodations than that motel I sent you to, but please understand Mrs. Vavoom, it is extemely important for you to avoid speaking with the police". Rockhead hoped with all his heart that the wealthy Vavoom would co-operate.

"Yes, you already told me that", replied Mrs. Vavoom, with a roll of her
eyes. "I'll go back there right now if that car of yours will start. I was
heading back there now but just stopped here to give you these papers."

Without looking at either Rockhead or Agnes, Mrs. Vavoom turned and
headed toward the stairway. When Agnes was certain that Vavoom had
left the building, she turned to Mr. Rockhead and began to speak in her
usual quiet, unassuming voice.

"Mr. Rockhead, I have a telephone message for you", said Agnes. "I
am not certain but I think it may be important."

"What is it?" asked Jim Rockhead as he put out his hand to take the
small piece of paper from Agnes.

"The message is from a newspaper reporter, in London. She requested
that you return her call as soon as possible", said Agnes. "She indicated
to me that she has information pertaining to the Vavoom case".

"Well, I suppose then that I should call her back", said Rockhead. "What
is her name?"

"Cava", said Agnes. "Her name is Vena Cava."