Hope you've enjoyed this story so far. The final chapter should be up sometime this weekend.

Maximilian Arturo knocked apprehensively on Charles Carson's door. A few moments passed and there was no answer. Perhaps he wasn't home. The Professor could always try back later...

He had to rid himself of such fears. He had to do this to clear Quinn's name. Still, the fact that he could be facing a coldblooded killer in a matter of minutes was never very far from his mind. As the door opened, he prepared himself for anything except...

...the kindly old man who opened the door.

"Mr. Carson?" the Professor asked incredulously.

"Yes," he answered. "What can I do for you?"

Arturo started to just walk away, but he couldn't rule out the man simply because of his age. "I thought I might ask you a few questions, I'm investigating the murder of one Joseph Brighthod..."

At the mention of Brighthod's name, he went livid. "Brighthod?! That incompetent imbecile! They oughta give the guy who did it a medal!"

Now he was getting somewhere. "Not a pleasant relationship with the deceased, then?"

"That jackbooted moron kept me from making millions of dollars on my suit of invisibility," he continued. "Now that I was denied a patent, they'll probably just make their own suit without having to pay anybody, just like they did those 'glider' people."

Arturo ignored the gaffe. "May I see the suit?"

The man sighed. "Sure. What's the harm? Not like it's a secret now." He led the Professor down into the basement, pushing away cobwebs. Finally, they reached a sleek black suits with some lights sewn on, hanging on an improvised suit rack.

The man donned the costume. "Now if I can just fire up the machine, here, I can show you how it works." After pressing a few buttons on the big mechanical monstrosity, the suit lit up like a Christmas tree.

Charles Carson laughed hardy. "Can't see me, can ya?" Indeed, Arturo couldn't see Mr. Carson. In fact, he couldn't see anything at all.

"Yes, that's quite an invention you've got there," Arturo agreed half-heartedly. Carson was clearly not his man.

"Now let me just switch this sucker off," the man said to himself. Before he could do so, however, one of the lights on his suit burst and caught on fire. "Oh dear."

"Have you got a fire extinguisher?" Arturo asked, concerned about the man's safety.

But he waved off the Professor's concern. "I've got a system." With those words a soaked mattress on a cart with wheels rolled him down towards a sprinkler system that put out the fire. It was actually quite clever on his part to come up with.

Seeing that demonstration gave Professor Arturo an idea. He thanked the man for showing him his invisible suit and left, with renewed determination to prove Quinn's innocence.

***
Wade entered Police Chief Gounard's office without ceremony and slammed it firmly behind her. "We have to talk," Wade said grimly.

"What about?" Gounard queried, eyeing her suspiciously.

"One of us in this room is a murderer and I think I know which one," Wade said coldly and with a smirk on her face.

"And just whose murder are we talking..." he started to ask her sarcastically.

She interrupted him. "Jennifer Lewis. You had an affair with her, right?"

"How dare you accuse me..." he started to huff.

Wade smiled. "I have pictures. And you really should just let me do the talking. You don't seem to be doing a very good job of it."

His eyebrows raised. "You're meddling where you shouldn't be, girl," the Chief responded gruffly. "You're way over your head and about to drown."

"Maybe," Wade replied. "Then again maybe not. We have a lot to talk about, you know. Let's start with these tapes I have. It's very interesting what wiretaps can turn up." Gounard looked ashen.

***
Rembrandt looked at his check. It would be enough to get them some food here and maybe support them on the next world, depending on the length of their stay. The piece of paper in his hands was like a Godsend. Now he could quit. But not without doing one last number.

"Hello, folks," Rembrandt spoke smoothly into the microphone. "What I'm going to play for you tonight might not seem familiar, but I hope you like it anyway."

"What?!" squawked Patti from the bar. "He was supposed to do an encore of 'Alley Cat'!!"

Smiling broadly, Rembrandt sang his heart out.

"I don't remember when I first saw you
And I don't remember what I said
You must have caught my eye
Must have really turned my head
And soon the room was empty
Except for you and I"

Some in the crowd were unresponsive, but others were really getting into it. It seems there was a market for new music after all. He wound his way into the chorus and then moved on to the second verse.

"But I remember
All the things you did
That made my heart yours completely
And I remember
How you looked at me
And how you always smiled so very sweetly
I just can't remember
How to stand all the pain,"

The second verse flowed easily from the chorus.

"I don't remember why we fought
Or why those tears were in your eyes
If it was over some petty jealousies
Or whether one of us had told the other lies
And I don't remember why we said goodbye
Or why you walked out of that door
The truth is I don't want to
I can't stand this heartache any more..."

The last chorus poured out of his throat strongly.

"I remember
All the things you did
That made my heart yours completely
And I remember
How you looked at me
And how you always smiled so very sweetly
I just can't remember
How to stand all the pain
How to make my heart again
Remember what I did without you
Remember what I did without you,"

Rembrandt's fingers eased away from the piano keys. The crowd went wild...well, as wild as this bunch went anyway. Patti wasted no time in telling Remmy he was fired. He couldn't have cared less.

***
Maximilian Arturo entered the room and sat on the uncomfortable stool they provided for those visiting prisoners. He looked at Quinn, who was clearly not happy.

"Where the hell were you today?!" Quinn asked irritably.

"What...?" Arturo replied, not figuring out what his young friend was referring to right away.

Quinn spoke as though he were scolding an infant. "The arraignment. You are my lawyer, you know. It would have been nice if you had showed."

The Professor was at a loss. How could he have forgotten? "I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Mallory, I..."

Before he could finish, Quinn interrupted. "Are you going to leave me here?" His voice was half-angry, half-anguished.

"Don't be preposterous!" he exclaimed. "How could you ever come up with such a ludicrous notion?"

"I was going to leave you behind," he stated simply. "Not like I don't deserve the same fate."

"We're not going to leave you here, Mr. Mallory," the Professor stated with assurance. "Much has changed since our first few slides together."

Quinn nodded. "Hard to believe that was only a few weeks ago. Still, it doesn't change the fact that I was in the wrong. I was being a jackass. I don't even think an apology could convey..."

Arturo did not want this to become a sorryfest. Their time was limited and there were other things on his agenda. "It will suffice for me, Mr. Mallory. I cannot speak for the others." These days, that was more true than ever. "Now to the matter at hand. I'm trying to arrange a deal for you to be transported elsewhere tomorrow. I believe I can conclusively reveal the identity of the killer and if I can do so, you can be released immediately. But we have to go back to the patent office."

"But why?" Quinn asked, elated that he might be released in time for the slide, worried that it might not pan out and curious as to what Arturo had planned all at the same time.

"My dear boy, you've forgotten one of the cardinal rules of mysteries," Professor Arturo grinned. "The killer always returns to the scene of the crime."

ThomasMalthus