Murder

It was getting quite late and I knew that if I did not find a hotel soon I would have to sleep on a park-bench or in a police station.  I had been searching in vain for three hours and was feeling so hungry that I decided to go into the little restaurant I had passed some moments before. The drawn curtains and the dim light coming from inside did not make the place very attractive, but I had no choice and went in.

The bell above the door rang when I opened and closed the door, announcing every one of the presence of a new client. The restaurant was empty, except for two women standing at a table, with their backs turned on me. The atmosphere was really strange as the silence was deeper and deeper. The women weren’t talking or eating or, in fact, moving. There were no sounds coming from the kitchen. All I could hear was the muffled sound of the refrigerator and a wise owl hooting. I went to the bar, where I saw a young girl sleeping on the counter. I tried to wake her up by shaking her, but it was pointless. I was ready to leave the restaurant, but it just hit me. Something was terribly wrong. Fear started to gather inside me as I looked around again listening carefully and observing every detail. I moved the girl again, trying to raise her head, but she fell on the ground. I couldn’t find the power to look at her because I already knew she was dead. I slowly walked to the women, knowing what I was about to find. I closed my eyes before I turned one of them towards me. I could see the large blood stain right beside her heart and the hole the bullet had made into her blouse. There was no exit wound so the bullet had got stuck inside her. She was young and beautiful. I couldn’t help myself and wonder if she died in pain, but I had my answer right in front of me. She hadn’t moved or fallen so she had probably died instantly. It was tragic and the annoying voice in my head kept telling me that it could have been me lying on that chair. I grabbed my phone and called 911.

‘911. What is you emergency?’ I almost choked with my own words. That had never happened to me before and I had no idea what I was supposed to say or do. What was expected from me? Why me? Why did I have to walk in right at that moment? ‘I… I am in a restaurant. I would like to report a murder. Three women are dead, at least as far as I know.’ ‘What is your location?’ ‘I’m at The Diner on Fifth Avenue.’ The man told me not to panic and that help was on the way. A police officer interrogated me and then he escorted me to the closest hotel.

I tried to go to sleep, but could not. There was a strange sound coming from the room next door and the noisy music from downstairs was unbearable. I could hear people walking and talking in the corridor outside and had the feeling that something odd was going on. In the end I got up, turned on the light and went to the door. I tried to open it and found that it had been locked- from outside!