Agent Rhianna Hixen drummed her fingers on her desk. It wasn’t like Luigi Trilliani to be late, especially for appointments he had set. Though, Rhianna didn’t care much, she had enough time on her hands to be wasted. Not many things went on where she worked, or really, there wasn’t anyone who would look in the yellow pages for a cheap detective. Hixen’s only client was Mr. Trilliani, a friend from high school she had met up with at a coffee shop. She figured he felt sorry for her, that’s why he’d as for her help whenever he needed something to be investigated.

Just as Rhianna began to lose hope and pack up for the day, there was a knock on her office door. The heels of her red shoes clacked on the hard floor as she went to answer it.

At the door was her client. “I’m sorry I’m late,” Trilliani apologized and walked inside the office without and invitation. He sat in the chair that stood before Rhianna’s desk. Rhianna sat behind her desk.

“Its fine,” she assured him. She twisted her brown locks around her index finger. “What was it you wished me to look at?”

Luigi Trilliani was the owner of the finest hotel in town. Many tourists would check into his hotel rather than others because of the great service. He told her that the previous night there had been a murder.

“I still haven’t told the police,” he told Hixen. “Nor have I touched a thing in the room. I figured it’d be best for you if I left everything as is.”

“I know you mean well and want to help me out a bit with my business, Luigi, but you’ve left the dead bodies in your hotel for a day now. There will be reports soon and the police could arrest you. If you really wanted me to investigate, why did you wait until today and not call me yesterday right after the incident?” Hixen asked.

“Trilliani shrugged carelessly. “They were booked for three nights, yesterday was their first, so I figured no one would be suspicious.”

Rhianna was taken to the hotel. She had wanted to go as soon a possible so she could commence the investigation and call the real police after hand for more investigation.

The elevator took them up to the top floor of the building. At the end of the hallway beside the stairs was the room where the murder had occurred. Trilliani led Hixen to the room and left her to do her own investigation.

The room reeked of rotting bodies. Hixen could smell them, but not see. Blood was smeared onto one of the walls, revealing a message. Hehehehehe, it read. The carpets were soaked; every step Hixen took drying blood would crinkle under her feet. In the far back corner of the room they were there. The family, who had been killed, all stacked up neatly in a pile. Every inch of their clothing was drenched in their own blood.

Hixen quickly backed out of the room and shut the door. What she had seen made her heart beat faster. Her stomached threatened to regurgitate the peanut butter sandwich she had eaten for dinner that night. “Luigi!” she called down the hallway, but there was no reply.

She knocked on the door beside the room she had recently entered. This door was on a slant and knocked off two of its hinges, Hixen was too terrified to notice.

Creeeak.

The door opened automatically. Hixen dashed into the room to find the same thing she had in the previous room. She entered every room on the floor and every room was the same. Hehehehehe was written in blood on the walls of each.

She ran to the end of the hallway and began to descend the staircase, but not for long.

“Hehehehehe,” a voice laughed maniacally. Hixen went back up to the top floor. She stood in front of the staircase, terrified and not knowing what to do.

Click.

The light above her turned off. The rest of the lights in the hallway remained on. Hixen stepped under the light of the net one. Click. That one turned off too. She moved onto the next one. Click. Every light Rhianna Hixen went under would turn off. She begun to run down the hallway, every light she passed would turn off.

“What the hell is going on here?” she asked herself.

Hixen reached the end of the hallway and walked to the elevator.

“Hehehehehe…”

Rhianna’s heart jumped. The voice laughed again, only this time it was louder. It laughed again and again, each laugh louder than the previous.

Hixen tapped the elevator button as fast as she could. The detective had to get off of the floor she was on or else she, like the others who had been on that floor, would perish.

Tears trickled down Rhianna Hixen’s cheeks. She was afraid to die. The laughing got louder and faint cries escaped her cherry red lips.

“Help me,” she whimpered. Her demand was answered. The elevator doors opened, Luigi stood before her.

“How was your investigation, Ms. Hixen?” he asked. His smiling face changed from happy to shock. “My, you’ve been crying! What’s wrong?”

“I just want to go home,” Rhianna said harshly and dashed into the elevator. Luigi closed the doors and the two headed for the ground floor of the hotel.

“Couldn’t take the scene, I suppose,” Luigi stated quietly. “Can’t be helped of course, hehehehehe.”

Rhianna’s eyes widened. His laugh…it was the same as the one she had heard earlier!

“My laugh?” Trilliani asked as if he had just read the detective’s mind. “I guess it doesn’t suit me. Lately I haven’t been very pleased with my normal laugh so I’ve been trying out different ones.”

Detective Hixen calmed down. Trilliani could be telling the truth, he had always been a little weird, especially in high school. Trying out different laughs seemed like something he’d do. Hixen let the suspicion leave her mind. What would Trilliani gain from murdering all those people anyway?

The two reached the ground floor and Hixen left.

“I’ll come by tomorrow,” she began as she walked out of the hotel. “I need to investigate some more.” Though, I don’t really want to, she thought.

“Okay!” Luigi responded, giving her two thumbs up.

Flashbacks of the hotel rooms kept coming back to Hixen like a paddle ball going back to its board. They’d come for a second and Hixen would try to forget. The gruesome scenes would go away for a bit and come back. Back and forth. When she retired to bed that evening she had nightmares about what she saw.

Woken by the sound of her telephone ringing, she sprang from her bed. Rhianna Hixen did not have a good sleep. She picked up the portable phone that sit on her end table and answered, her words barely comprehendible. “Hello?” she yawned.

“Hello, Rhianna? It’s Luigi,” Luigi Trilliani’s voice boomed through the receiver. Why did her have to call so early? Rhianna looked at the clock on the other side of her bed, it was already 11:00; she had slept in.

“Hi,” she groaned, getting out of bed.

“I was wondering when you’d be coming by, I’m a busy man, I am sure you’re aware of that.”

“Yes, give me and hour. I’ll be there by then,” she replied and, without even saying bye, hung up. Hixen walked into the washroom, she showered and put on makeup. Once she was changed she ran out the door.

As soon as she arrived at the hotel, Ms. Hixen was greeted by Luigi.

“Would you like to start the investigation right away?” he asked.

“Yes, I’d like to go quickly today,” Hixen stated, walking past Trilliani. “There’s no need for an escort, I know where I’m going.”

Rhianna Hixen entered the room she had first been in the day before. The stench was much stronger. Time to get clues, she thought. I have to calm down and run a proper investigation. No matter how bloody and gross it is. The detective walked directly to the bodies. She wanted to find a clue as to how the murderer killed the family.

On each body’s arms were slits, either from sharp nails of a knife. Rhianna didn’t touch the bodies, but the one that was on the top had a deep gash in their back. Rhianna suspected that each person was murdered with a knife, now she had to find that knife and use it as a clue. Even the brand name of the knife would be useful. Hixen searched the room and found nothing.

I should check the other rooms, she thought, walking into the room beside the first. It wasn’t until the last room that he searched that she found a clue. A blade, stained with blood, so sharp that even the softest poke would make one bleed. Etched into the wooden handle, the brand name read “Sharpe Cuilinaire”.

Rhianna had seen a commercial on the television for that brand of knife. The set was very expensive. Only a very important person would have this kind of knife.

In the bathroom of almost every hotel, one will find a plastic bag. Hixen used that bag and plopped the bloody knife into it. This is enough for now, she thought and hurried downstairs. She already had an idea of who the killer was. As much as she didn’t want to believe it herself, at this point the suspect looked to be Luigi Trilliani. All Hixen had to do is interview him and see how he answered to the questions.

“Finished?” Trilliani asked once Hixen got out of the elevator. It seemed as if he had been waiting.

“Yes,” she replied. The knife was safely hidden in her purse. “I’d…uh…like to ask you a few questions.

“Like and interview? Sure! Of course.”

Trilliani led Hixen to his quarters in the hotel. His room, or really, rooms were huge. Hixen looked around amazed. She had expected Trilliani’s quarters to be about the same as the hotel rooms, if not bigger. He had his own kitchen, living room and dining room.

“Amazed?” Luigi asked, guessing Rhianna’s emotion by the expression on her face. She nodded. “Well, an important and wealthy man like me would feel cramped in a room like the ones provided in this hotel. Come, let’s have out interview in my kitchen.” Rhianna followed Luigi to his kitchen. “Sit,” he ordered her as if she were a dog. Rhianna obeyed.

Luigi made coffee, once his was made he sat down across from the detective.

“Ahem,” Hixen coughed and sipped her coffee. “Where were you the night of the murder?” she asked. Crap, she thought. I forgot a pen and a paper pad! Hopefully I can record this mentally.

“I was—shopping. Buying groceries,” Luigi replied slowly. It seemed as if he hadn’t been expecting that question. The expression on his face changed from calm to determination.

“Groceries,” Hixen mumbled quietly to herself to make sure she’d remember. “How did you find the bodies?”

“One of my maids did and she called me. I rushed over here as fast as I could,” Luigi replied without hesitation.

“May I speak to this made?”

“No!” Trilliani practically shouted. “I mean, no, she was so shocked that she quit.”

“What is her name? I really think I should contact her,” Hixen stated. Mr. Trilliani seemed as guilty as ever now. Arresting an old friend would be hard but he would have the pay the price, it was justice—it was the law. Hixen didn’t believe Trilliani’s maid story at all.

“Is contacting her really that necessary?” Luigi asked.

“Well, yes. She was the first to see the dead bodies, I should hear her side of the story too. She might have some sort of idea on who the murderer is.”

There was a silence between the two of them. Rhianna sipped her coffee and looked around the kitchen. Trilliani had the finest culinary tools, including the block set of “Sharpe Cuilinaire” knives. In the wooden block all the spaces were filled—except one.

“Excuse me,” Trilliani said and walked to the bathroom.

Once Trilliani was out of sight, Rhianna pulled out the plastic bag. She took the blood-stained knife out of the bag and placed it into the unfilled hole. Bingo, she thought. Perfect match!

Hixen heard footsteps approaching and quickly took the knife out of the block. She moved too quickly and, unfortunately, accidentally poked her finger. Blood oozed out of the cut like water from a tap. She hid the knife behind and shoved her finger into her mouth just as Trilliani entered the room.

“What’s wrong, Rhianna?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Hixen replied, pulling her finger back out of her mouth. “I think I’ve done enough investigating for now. I’ll come by again after dinner.” I need to find more clues to prove you guilty… She walked past Trilliani toward the door. Just before she left, she told him, “Oh! I forgot! I was looking at your knife set. One’s missing.”

“Oh, yes,” Luigi looked to the ground. “I can always buy another…”

“There’s no need to,” Rhianna showed Luigi the knife she held in her hand. She put it onto the smooth tile floor and slid it to him.

Luigi was speechless. “The murderer—he took—he stole—my knife! You don’t think—no, of course not. We’re friends, you wouldn’t think…” Hixen had already left. A devilish smile formed on Trilliani’s face.

That night, after dinner, Rhianna arrived back at the hotel. This time Luigi wasn’t at the door to greet her. She headed straight upstairs to the top floor of the building. Entering the room beside the stairs, Hixen covered her nose. She soon found out it’d be hard to investigate with only one hand and took the other off her nose. She began to breathe through her mouth and used her nose as little as possible.

Hixen got down onto her hands and knees and crawled around the carpeted floor. Dried blood cracked under her hands, exposing a bit of liquid blood underneath, which would cover her hands. She stayed as far away from the dead and rotting bodies as she could, knowing she would have to move over toward them eventually.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Hixen whispered to herself. “Murders aren’t my thing, why did I accept this?”

She kept talking to herself until…

Shhk.

She fell to into the blood and began to cough, blood splattering out of her mouth. She had been stabbed in the back. Hixen’s head turned. Who she saw was unexpected.

“Luigi…” she whispered, coughing up more blood. She had thought Luigi Trilliani was the murderer, but why would he kill her? Rhianna Hixen was his friend.

Trilliani’s fist came to Hixen’s head, she fell back into the bloody carpet.

“Hehehehehe,” he laughed. “You may be wondering why I’m doing this!” He sliced Hixen’s back. “It’s so much fun hurting those who are weaker than yourself, especially when you know they can’t fight back because they don’t compare to you!”

Blood oozed from Hixen’s cuts, tears trickled down her cheeks and mixed with blood. Her head bled badly. She had lost so much, Rhianna Hixen knew she was going to die.

“The only part in this that’s not fun is when they give in and…” Trilliani trailed off. He kicked Rhianna’s body so that her back was to the ground and stabbed the knife he held in his hand into her stomach. Hixen screamed in pain. For her, everything went dark. “…die,” Trilliani finished. He pulled the knife out of the late detective’s stomach and walked away.

Murders can not be covered up. It wasn’t long until the police came looking for all the missing tourists. By the time they had reached the hotel, in every room there was a murdered family or couple. Trilliani was questioned and found guilty. He was put in jail and later executed. The police couldn’t find any other reason for Trilliani to murder than pure pleasure. The “pleasure” of blood covering his hands. The feeling of victory and strength. All those emotions were shattered for Luigi Trilliani on the day of his execution. He killed and in turn got killed himself.