Kima had brought along the knife. "Is that her?" she asked another
woman exited the bar.  This time Horatio nodded. "You're sure?" She
leaned closer with the knife.  Horatio nodded and nodded.  When the
girl on the street got in the red Mazda that Horatio had pointed out
earlier, Kima smiled at him and put the knife down. "Well aren't you
just a dear!" she exclaimed.

She looked at her watch, 23:00.  She followed the red Mazda across
town to a house in the suburbs.  She kept a distance and the lights
off, and there was no sign that Conroy was trying to lose her.  When
Conroy stopped at the house, she left the car running.  Kima radioed
the address to Hofstee in case they had to pay Conroy another visit
later.

After a minute or two Conroy returned to her car dressed all in black,
with a trenchcoat and a fedora and carrying a briefcase.  Except for
the briefcase she looked exactly as Stras had earlier in the day.
Kima started to daydream about taking Conroy prisoner as well.  She
had never had a co-ed torturing.  But now she was only to watch and
follow.

At 23:45 Conroy parked on St. Patrick Street just south of West Park.
Kima turned the corner and parked out of sight. "You wait here," she
joked to Horatio, who was handcuffed, gagged and taped to the seat.

Conroy walked around the Murtaza Memorial Fountain a few minutes
early for her midnight rendezvous.  On the hour she was startled by a
watch alarm, and Tamka stepped from the shadows.

"Did you bring the money?" he asked.

"Of course.  Do you have the stuff?" Conroy didn't know him, but this
wasn't the first time she was buying secrets from a stranger.  It
wasn't even the first time she was buying back secrets that were
stolen from her.

"Of course." Tamka held out a black duffel bag.  He put it down on his
side of the fountain.  Conroy put down her briefcase on hers.  They
both circled the fountain and checked the contents.  Tamka found
$285,000 in cash.  He was expecting half a million, but didn't have
time to count it, and couldn't tell the difference.  Conroy found Led
Zeppelin - The Complete Studio Recordings.

"Where's the book?" she asked.

"What book?" Tamka played dumb.

"THE BOOK!" she yelled, splitting the still midnight air. "You were
supposed to have the discs AND the book."

"That wasn't the agreement," Tamka said, bluffing.

Conroy called his bluff and pulled a gun. "You're not taking the money
until I have the book."

"You can't have the book, it was stolen," said Tamka, carelessly
throwing away his only gambling chip.

"And you thought I wouldn't notice?" Conroy was enraged. "That was
stupid, really stupid." She shot him.

"That was stupid, really stupid." Commissioner Grinspy stepped from
the shadows. "I had no idea that idiot Duez was going to send a girl
with all that money.  And alone, at that.  I'm sure he won't be so
foolish next time." He shot her.

"That was stupid, really stupid." Duez stepped from the shadows. "You
set me up to deal with someone and they don't come through.  Then you
call me an idiot - to my face!" He shot him.

"That was stupid, really stupid." Kima stepped from the shadows. "I
don't know what it's like in Green Hill, but where I'm from, we don't
like it when the Police Commissioner gets killed, even if he is
crooked." She shot him.

"That was stupid, really stupid." Gsytam stepped from the
shadows. "Duez runs, er, ran Green Hill.  The Police Commissioner?  He
was nothing!  His brother gave him that job, and Duez owned them
both.  I don't know where you're from, but around here you can't kill
Duez and get away with it.  Nobody ever has, and you're not going to
be the first." She shot her.

"That was stupid, really stupid." Hofstee stepped from the
shadows. "That was my partner you killed.  That was entirely
unacceptable." She shot her.

"That was stupid, really stupid." A man stepped from the shadows. "But
my thanks, you saved me the trouble of doing it later.  I'll take
those."

"Who are you?"

"Noone of consequence," he said.

"I must know." Hofstee had seen enough episodes of Batman and James
Bond movies to know that the bad guy will tell you his whole plan
before he kills you.

"Very well," he said, removing his hat and stepping into the
light. "My name is Zander, and I believe these are mine."

Hofstee gasped.  So did the members of the audience on the ground
around the fountain who still weren't quite dead. "But you're dead!"
she said.

"The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated.  That simply
wasn't me, you see." Zander grinned.

"But they identified your, ah..." Hofstee was figuring it all out.

"Of course she did.  If you hadn't shot her, I would have taken her to
Rio tomorrow, to get away from this all and plan the next one."

"You'll never get away with this!" Hofstee couldn't really think of a
reason why at the moment, unless Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, Velma and
Scooby were coming to the rescue.

"Of course I will.  I already have.  Unless Fred, Daphne, Shaggy,
Velma, Scooby, Scrappy and the Schmoo are coming to the rescue."

"I don't think they are." Hofstee hung her head.

"Nope, I don't reckon." He shot her.

Later that morning, some distance from the city Lew sat in his study.
He looked up when Zander walked in. "Welcome home, brother.  I assume
you brought the disk."

"Naturally.  What an adventure."

"Your suicide has caused quite a stir, indeed!"

"Yes, Green Hill did prove most entertaining."