Columbo

Chapter 2

Columbo was at home. He was calling the hotel, it was 11:04 P.M.
"Are you sure she's not there?" He asked
"I'm sorry, I-" The hotel manager got interrupted by the maid.
"Sir, sir!" The maid was running to the desk.
"What is it, Ilene, I'm on the phone."
"There's been a murder!" She looked terrified.
"A murder?"
"Oh, yes." Tears were rolling down her face.
"Wait, what do you mean 'murder', what happened?" asked Columbo
"Did you say you were a detective?" The clerk asked
"Uh, yes."
"Would you mind coming here to investigate?"
"Sure, but, it wasn't my wife who was killed, was it?"
The clerk looked at the maid, "I don't know."
"Alright, I'll be on my way, O.K., bye"
Columbo put the phone back on the receiver and then packed his bags to go to Florida. Before he went he called the police station to let them know he'd be gone for a few days.
After he got his ticket, he got on the plane and left.

Back at where Kate Columbo's at, she was slowly waking up, she noticed she was tied up and gagged. She looked up to see the oldest looking at her, he had some paper in his hand. He took the gag off and turned the paper to show me and asked, "How did you get this?"
She looked at him, frightened.
"Answer me!"
"Hey, Jack, take take it easy." said the youngest
The oldest just gave him a look, then, turned back to Kate.
"Where did you get this?"
"I found it."
"Where?"
"It fell out of Jane's robe, what were you-"
"That's none of your business."
"We robbed a bank and someone took the picture-"
Jack looked at him.
"Wait, so, why did you want the photo?"
The youngest started to open his mouth, but, Jack stopped him.
There was a silence for a little while, then, Kate said, "Can't you at least tell me why you've taken me?"
"Think about it, you saw a murder right in front of your eyes, do you really think we'd let you go after what you saw? No, we wouldn't." He got up.
"You're here to stay and that's final."
Then he walked out.
"He can be a bit stubborn." said the youngest
"Do you really think this is right?" she asked "Do you think, that what you are doing is right?"
He scoffed.
"Have I seen you before?"
He looked away.
"Yeah, yeah, you two are the ones who killed a man for his possessions."
He gave a little laugh, "Yeah, you got that right, gosh, now that was an adventure, I still can't believe we got away with that."
"You're telling me." She said, annoyed, then said, "If you're not going to let me go, can't you at least untie me?"
"Oh, right, yeah."
He untied her, then got up and left, shutting the door.
She was in a small room, no windows just a mattress on the floor and a light on the ceiling.

Back where Columbo is, he finally got to the hotel, it was 3:27 A.M. He walked in, to see a police officers and a maid were talking to the clerk. He walked up to them.
"Hey, Lieutenant Columbo, LAPD." He showed them his badge and put it back in his raincoat.
"Oh, thank goodness, you're here." said Ilene, the maid.
"Hang on," He said he searched his coat for a note pad and got it out then searched for a pen and asked the clerk, "Can I borrow a pen? I seemed to have misplaced mine."
The clerk gave him a pen and Columbo said, "Thanks, I promise I'll give it back, so, what happened?"
"No one's exactly sure, but all we know is that there were two guys who checked in." said the clerk.
"Do you remember what they looked like?" Asked Columbo
"One guy looked older, he went by Harrison, he wore a black suit and a white shirt and the other one looked younger, he went by Hoffman, he wore a white shirt and back pants."
Columbo wrote this down in his note book.
"Hmm, Harrison and Hoffman."
"Do you know the name?"
"Sounds familiar, I'm not sure where I've heard this. Any idea where they could of gone?"
"They could of taken the emergency exit."
"Where would that lead to?"
"The alleyway, that's where the trashman picks up the trash. Anyways, Ilene will take you and officer Battistelli up. Ilene?"
"Yes, sir." said Ilene
Columbo put his notebook back into his pocket.
"Oh, hang on," said Columbo, handing the clerk his pen back.
"Oh, no, you can keep it, I have plenty."
"Oh, are you sure?"
"Yes, yes, I'm sure." The clerk gave a little smile.
"Thanks, that's very kind of you."
Then, as they walked into the elevator as they were in the elevator, Columbo put the pen into his pocket and pulled out a cigar and lit it.
"So," he said "What happened?"
Ilene shook her head. "I'm not sure, Mr. Columbo, but, I heard a gunshot and screaming, as I came up there I saw her on the floor and I screamed."
Columbo put that cigar in his mouth, holding it by his teeth. "Hmm, I see." Then he took out the note pad and wrote it all down, he put the notepad and pen back into his pocket.
The elevator doors opened and they walked towards the room, where the murder took place. The door was half way opened. Before, Columbo opened the door, Ilene looked away.
"I can't go in, it's too much." she said
"Don't worry, ma'am, I got all I need from you, thank you."
She nodded and left.
Columbo opened the door and looked down. Outside of the doorway was a blue button. He put his cigar in his mouth, holding it by his teeth and put his hand in his pocket and grabbed a tissue, from it and picked it up, with the tissue, he had in his other pocket.
"What did you find, lieutenant?" Asked the officer.
"A blue button. Similar to the buttons on my wife's shirt, that she wears to bed."
He put it in a small, small, orange envelope, which was then put in his pocket. Columbo grabbed the cigar out of his mouth, then, they walked in. There were a few officers in there.
"Everything was left in its place, nothing was touched."
Columbo put his hand on his forehead and groaned.
"What is it?"
"It's her."
"Do you know her?"
Columbo sighed, "Yes, that was my wife's friend, oh."
Her body showed blood all around her stomach. There was a little bit of a blood stain through her shirt and stained a little bit her robe. He came close to the body. He saw she had a hole in her shirt the size of a bullet.
"She's been shot."
"Yeah, that's what we thought." said the Sargent. "Sargent Johnson." He reached his hand out.