by Diana Hockley

Enjoy this never before published flash fiction mystery.

Gerald didn’t make a sound when I stabbed him, but Nella squealed like she’d sat naked on a lobster claw, yelling for the cops as she picked up the knife. Her fingerprints were all over it. The contract was the only proof I was there; it’d take awhile before she talked her way out of an arrest. I snatched up the paper, stuffed it in my shirt pocket and bolted for the fire escape.

Cop cars screeched to a halt in front of the building, sirens wailing, as I reached the street. They would have my description in no time. How to disguise myself?

I looked around. A homeless bloke slumped against the brick wall in the alley caught my attention. I clobbered him, swapped clothes and threw him in the dumpster for the garbage compactor to munch in the morning. I turned to run and tripped over a shoelace. As I bent over to tie it, the paper fell out of my shirt.

It was the tea lady’s list.

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Diana Hockley is an Australian mystery author who lives in a southeast Queensland country town. She is the devoted slave of five ratties & usually finds an excuse to mention them in her writing, including her recent novel, The Naked Room. Since retiring from running a traveling mouse circus for 10 years, she is now the mouse judge for the Queensland Rat & Mouse Club shows. To learn more, check out her website.