A woman's screams were so loud I thought they were coming from my floor, but they were actually from the floor below. I ran to the stairwell and rushed down two flights of stairs toward the sound. As I got closer, the screams faded. By the time I reached the floor, they had stopped completely. I was pretty sure she was dead.

Standing in front of the door, I paused for a moment. The killer is probably right there thinking of a way to get rid of the body. I’m here now, might as well get that poor woman some justice.

I pushed through the heavy stairwell door to a scene straight out of a nightmare: in the middle of the long corridor, a woman in a crop top and jeans knelt over a crumpled body. The victim lay face-up on the burgundy carpet. One arm was outstretched, pointing to the door next to her, while a dark pool spread beneath them like spilled wine. Thunder boomed, and the fluorescent lights flickered overhead, turning the kneeling woman's mascara-streaked face ghostly as her sobs echoed off the cream walls. The scent of copper hung thick in the cold hallway.

Thank God I missed the…I mean, how tragic the killer got away.

In front of me stood five people. Bethany, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. A large, towering, bulky man stood next to her. He wore a uniform with the hotel’s logo. “Bethany, I can’t believe you weren’t watching the cameras, and you didn’t see the killer.” He said

 “I’m sorry Drake, I was busy at the front, working on making the housekeeping schedule for tomorrow morning,” Bethany said.

“I already made that schedule. All the guest staying at the hotel are here and two of them are checking out tomorrow!” Drake said, shaking “Oh, boss this might not be a good time to mention this, but I forgot to schedule the maintenance to the security cameras, like you asked me.” Drake shook his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I should've never taken the promotion to become a hotel manager.”

“Don’t be so hard on her Drake, she’s doing the best she can.” A man in a janitor’s uniform said, standing in front of the door. As he walked over to the scene of the crime, with each step he took there was a squeaking sound that came from his prostatic leg. He was now standing near the women weeping, as she held the hand of the dead girl on the floor. “What’s with the gaping hole in her side? Did they rip out one of her organs?”

Bethany perked up; her frown boomeranged into a smile. “That’s correct Raj, that’s a cut to the upper right-hand portion of the abdominal cavity beneath the diaphragm. The murderer most likely took the victim's liver.” She said. Everyone looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

“She was also screaming ‘he’s ripping out my liver’ but that’s beside the point. Bethany, how did you give that impressive medical explanation?” A man in a t-shirt and shorts said. He was leaning in the room's doorway next to me. Inside the room behind him, there was a laptop sitting on the desk with a light coming from the screen. Next to the laptop were a pen and notepad.

 “Oh, I thought Raj told you, Cyrus. I’m studying to become a surgical nurse.” Bethany said with her face turning bright red.

“I rarely have time to talk to my brother. But when the stars align, and we chat. You’re never the topic of discussion, Bethany. Besides, we haven’t had time to talk because I've been hard at work trying to finish my book before the deadline.” Cyrus said.

“So, you saw who murdered Maggie!” the woman kneeling screamed. Mascara was streaking down her face as she held Maggie’s lifeless hand.

“Uh no, I was too scared to come out. I'm not strong enough to fight a murder, so I just stayed in my room until she stopped screaming. I couldn’t see anything through my peephole, but I did hear the murderer run down the hallway followed by a slam from the stairwell. When I heard Drake and Bethany were talking outside, I figured it was safe to come out.” Cyrus said. He unfolded his arms and pointed a finger at the sniffling girl. “You seem to know the deceased party. Who are you and what is she to you?”

“My name is Vivica. I'm a very popular cosplay streamer, and Maggie is my editor. There’s a big cosplay convention this week; that’s why we’re in town. Maggie was editing the vlog we made today, and I was doing a stream on my laptop. I had my noise canceling headphones on as I was completing a raid in Nightmare Chasers, so I didn’t even notice she left. My Chat told me they could hear screaming in the background. When I took off my headphones I heard Maggie screaming for her life. I was too scared to look out the peephole, so I just ended stream and waited with my head in my knees until the screaming stopped.” Vivica said, bursting out into more tears. She buried her face in her friend’s chest. Eww, that maybe your friend, but that’s still a dead body.

 “Ah, I’m sorry for your loss,” Cyrus said, then he looked over to me. “So, what’s your story, boxer boy?”

I looked down and noticed that I had left my room without putting on any clothes. “Umm… hi I’m Tom. I ran down from my room because I heard the murder crushed her cinnamon roll.” I said, pointing at the crushed cinnamon roll near the dead body.

“You came down because a cinnamon roll got crushed!?” Cyrus laughed so hard he gripped the sides of his stomach and fell to his knees. “Wow, you're one weird dude! You’re going to be the inspiration for my next book!”

“Cyrus, this is not the time to be thinking of new characters for your book. Someone lost their life today; we need to call the police.” Drake said, walking closer to Vivica, helping her to her feet. Raj walked back into his room. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Vivica, but you will need to step away from the body. This is a crime scene now.” Vivica buried her face in the manager's chest and sobbed even louder.

“Oh, I can do that! I’ll call the police now!” Bethany said as she ran to the stairs.

“Wait a minute, this entire time no one thought to call the police?” Cyrus continued to laugh. “Man, I’m just so inspired. I’ve got the premise now. The supposedly incompetent front desk clerk who stumbles across the murder of a woman with a hotel guest in his boxers. They solve the crime led by the front desk clerk.”

“Brother, please be respectful,” Raj said, walking back from his room. He laid a blanket on top of Maggie’s lifeless body. “Someone brutally murdered an innocent woman, and I don’t think her family would appreciate you using her as the premise for your next book.”

Getting up from the floor, Cyrus wiped the tears from his eyes. “Oh, don’t worry. I changed all the names of the people in the story and changed the scenarios enough that it can’t be traced back. All my books have a disclaimer on the copyright page that explains all ideas and likenesses of people are completely fictional, so they can try to sue for defamation, but it’s very unlikely they'll win.”

“Your kind of monster, aren’t you?” I said, now looking Cyrus in the eyes.

“Indeed, I am, but this monster is a New York Times bestseller for a reason.” Cyrus said, he stepped back into his room and shut the door, he continued to talk through the door. “Good luck finding the killer. I have a book to write.”

When Cyrus shut the door, the bell of the elevator dinged. Bethany came running out of the elevator before the doors were fully open. “Police said they're dispatching a detective and crime scene unit, but the storm's got traffic at a standstill. Nobody can get on the highway.”

“Wait, so that means that the killer could still be here?” Vivica said.

“Its very possible since there's no escape for them.” Drake said. “The safest place for everyone is to go back to your room for right now. When the detective arrives, we will meet in the lobby.” Drake said as he pulled away from Vivica. She sniffled and walked into her hotel room. After his speech, Drake turned towards Bethany and took a deep sigh. Then they both walked towards the elevator.

I looked down at Maggie’s covered up lifeless corpse. By the time the detective and police get here, it might mean the murderer will get away scot free with a fresh liver. The words from the muffin man came back into my mind.

“Every decision you make has tradeoffs.”

When Maggie was screaming for help as she was being attacked, I did nothing. I traded her life for my comfort. If I don’t solve who murdered Maggie, then I am just as guilty as the murderer.