Out from the passenger seat of the tow truck trotted a rather large, bearded man wearing a blue windbreaker emblazoned with the letters "WLS". He motioned to his driver and uttered "take it away."
"No, you can't have it. It's mine!" shrieked the Sylver haired man.
"No, not the car. You. I no longer have use for you. It's my name on the lease for the car. I want it back. I am no longer your benefactor. I have left you for another man."
With that, the tow truck driver tossed the Sylver haired man in his rear seat and drove away.
"What's going on?" asked a confused Muffy.
"Absolutely nothing," said the man. "You saw nothing. You heard nothing. Judges orders."
"What judge? What orders?"
"Shhhhh... be careful. They're out there. They're watching us. I can feel it."
"Who's out there? Who's watching?" asked a confused Muffy.
"Tell me," the man continued, ignoring Muffy's pleas, "why did you spend last weekend at the Secrest Motel?"
"How did you know that?! Who is watching whom?!" begged a now visibly shaken Muffy.
Just then another man stepped out of the shadows. Muffy immediately recognized him as one of the men who moments ago had driven one of the cars that had crashed in front of her house.
"Why are you refusing to answer my new benefactor's question? What are you hiding?" asked the second man.
"I'm hiding nothing. I just went there to relax! Who are you anyway?"
"You can call me Detective Columbo... or Genovese," said the second man. "Now, who is William Lee Secrest?"
"Never heard of him," said Muffy.
"Oh? Might he be the owner of the Secrest Hotel?"
"Say what? It's called the Seacrest Hotel because it's by the sea. You know, waves and all."
"Do you know anyone named Bill?"
"What kind of a stupid question is that?"
"So you admit it. Might that Bill have a last name of Secrest?"
"I told you I never heard of anyone by that name."
"Too late. I've already sent my report to the SEC and FBI. It's now up to the courts to decide."
"You are loony."
"Oh, am I? Then why is it you have an uncle named Bill who just happened to once live in Georgia?"
"His last name is Smith, not Secrest. Lots of people have uncles named Bill. Bill never lived in Georgia."
"But you did, didn't you?"
"So?"
"Aha! Like I told you, we'll just let the courts figure it all out."
Just then the jacket of the man identified as the benefactor caught Muffy's eye. "Are you William Lee Secrest?" she asked.
"No," he replied, "why do you ask?"
Muffy broke into hysterics. She half expected Rod Serling to materialize in front of her. "I must really be going now," she said between laughs. "It's been quite an amusing night."
Muffy turned and headed back to her house... |
