Not A Clue

Lindsay said she was at work.

Dale said stoned and watching cartoons.

Bonnie was at home with her three year old, who had a tooth ache.

"Wait" Dale furrowed his brow. "What is today?"

"It's Wednesday," Lindsay told him.

He pointed at Lucas. "You're lying. NFL is on Sunday and Monday."

"Replay."

"Which is great but the Lions don't play the Bears until Thanksgiving."

"How do you know? You're a pothead freak."

"I watch football. Lions are my favorite team bro."

Bonnie marked Lucas in her mind as a suspect. He was lying. Why?

"Wait, let me get this straight, you left your three year old son home alone?" Lindsay said to her.

"No. He's with my husband."

"What's his name?"

She answered promptly, but the momentary glimpse of panic the group saw flash on her face was enough. "Jeff! Jeff Manchu."

Lindsay cackled. "I fucked a guy named Jeff. He just couldn't resist these," she squeezed her breasts.

"Shut up you skank!"

"Sorry. Guess it's not your fault you're flat chested."

Bonnie's mouth worked silently.

Lucas spoke in his low voice. "Everyone calm down. Miss, please put your shirt back on."

"Why?" Lindsay winked at him. "You're enjoying the view. Yeah, I saw you looking old man. You like it too, don't you Dale?"

He stopped picking his nose. "Hell yeah."

Lucas was more goal oriented. He asked everyone what they did for a living. "I am a stem-cell researcher."

"I sell dope," Dale replied.

"Seceratary. My other job is blowing Bonnie's husband," Lindsay said.

Bonnie's face turned red.

Dale snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "What's your last name?"

"Bent."

"Didn't you say your husband's last name was like Mancha or somethin'?"

She was caught. "I kept my maiden name."

"Bullshit," Lindsay said.

"FUCK OFF!"

"Excuse me, but how is this going to figure out who's rigged to pop?" Dale asked.

"Those two," Lindsay narrowed her eyes and pointed at Bonnie and Lucas, "Lied. Why?"

Lucas shifted. "It's a personal matter."

"Someone's defensivvveee," Dale sang in a peppy sing-song voice.

"I was taking my daughter for an abortion."

Dale blinked. "Oh."

Bonnie gasped. "Don't you have morals? Killing one of God's children?"

Lindsay rolled her eys. "Shut up you Bible-thumper."

"No! What he did was unholy!"

"What's unholy," Lucas growled, "is the fact that she was raped."

She ignored that fact. "It's still murder!"

"I'm going to murder you if you don't shut up," Dale replied. He waved the knife.

"Why'd you lie?" Lindsay said.

She folded her arms and said nothing.

"We're waiting," Lucas said.

"I don't have a husband."

"So why lie about it?" Dale said.

"I don't know. Just... always wanted one."

The whole group was staring at her.

Dale checked his watch. "We have about an hour before that bomb goes."

"More questions," Lindsay said.

Bonnie shook her head. "What's the point?"

"Actually, you're right Bonnie, there is no point. Because we know it's you."

"What?!"

Lindsay appealed to  the other two. "She's a religious nut. You-," she pointed at Lucas, "Helped someone get an abortion." She pointed at Dale. "You do drugs. And I, well, I enjoy sex. So all of us are sinners."

Dale caught on. "So you're saying that she has a bomb in her?"

"Yeah."

"That's bullshit!" Bonnie shrieked.

"It's the best lead we've got," Lucas said.

Dale told them to hold her down.

"Wait! WAIT!"

Lindsay and Lucas ignored her pleas, and held her arms and legs. Bonnie kicked and screamed as Lindsay ripped her shirt, revealing the stitches.

"Sorry," Dale said, then plunged the knife into her side.

She howled and kicked, but her captors held strong.

Dale cut through the stitches, dragging it around, the skin becoming a fleshly flap. He peeled it back, like ripping cheese off a pizza. Blood seeped and spattered the floor.

"I'm so sorry," Dale said. Then he plunged his hand into the hole.

Clenching and feeling around for that solid chunk, that inhuman piece. It was like reaching into a pumpkin, squeezing te pulp. feeling it squish through his fingers. Finally, he ripped his hand out. "Nothing."