Epilogue One

"Really, Katie, I can walk just fine. My ankle doesn't hurt at all," protested Sarah.

"Shut up. This is supposed to be romantic," said Katie. "Besides, I can use the exercise."

"Oh, okay." Sarah rested her head on Katie's shoulder. Actually, it felt good to be carried.

When they arrived at Sarah's door, Katie said, "You can, however, unlock the door if you can reach it."

"Okay." Sarah dug in her purse and came up with a set of keys. After checking them over, she said, "Oops! I must have gotten Jayne or Mavis's keys."

"Well, check my purse. And hurry. You are getting a little heavy."

Sarah dug into the second purse. "Oh, look. You've got mine! I wonder who has yours."

"We'll figure it out tomorrow. Just unlock the door."

Once inside, Katie gently lowered Sarah onto her couch and then sat down beside her.

"My big, strong lover!" Sarah reached over and started massaging Katie's shoulders.

"It's been quite a day," Katie commented.

"Yes, it has," Sarah agreed.

"Yesterday was big day, too." Katie was thoughtful. "Yesterday was the day you saved my life. Thanks again."

"Well, you're welcome again," said Sarah. "But I really wasn't meaning to."

"Yes, you did." Katie rested her hand on Sarah's lap and looked into her eyes. "I don't mean by accidentally keeping me from getting poisoned. When you brought me all that healthy pizza, you were trying to keep me healthy and make sure that I live a little longer."

"Yeah, I guess I was," Sarah admitted. "And the pizzas weren't too bad, were they?"

"No, they weren't bad at all."

"Good. I'm glad you liked them. I can keep bringing them over every afternoon. And now that you know about it, I can make bigger ones and we can eat them together." Sarah was brimming with enthusiasm.

"No," Katie shook her head. "I don't want you to do that."

"Oh, well, okay." Sarah almost visibly deflated.

"I mean, that's too much trouble."

"Well, if you say so." Sarah wanted to protest that it wasn't any trouble at all.

"I mean, making them here and taking them to my place," Katie clarified. "It would be a lot easier if you made them right in my kitchen."

Sarah brightened instantly. "Oh! Sure! I can go over to your place an hour before you get home and have dinner all ready."

"Yeah, you could do that," Katie agreed. "Of course, it would be even simpler if you, uh, just moved into my place. Then you wouldn't have to worry about whether you had all the ingredients, or whatever, that you needed."

Sarah's eyes were wide with wonder. "Oh, Katie, do you really mean it? Are you sure you want me to move into your place?"

"No, I'm not sure."

"Huh?" Sarah felt disappointment coming again.

"I mean, it might be better if I moved in here."

"Oh!" Sarah squealed with delight.

"I mean, your place is closer to both the university and the Club. And it is on the first floor. If you hurt your ankle again, I wouldn't want to have to carry you up a flight of stairs."

"Oh, Katie!" Sarah threw her arms around the woman of her dreams and held her tightly and kissed her on the lips.

The kiss didn't turn into heated passion, but remained a warm, gentle, mutual appreciation kiss.

After a few minutes, Sarah said, "Katie, I just feel like I want to dance or something. I feel lighter than air. Can we go for a walk or a drive or something? It's a beautiful night! My ankle is just fine! Really!"

Katie couldn't say no the bright, happy face of the woman she loved. "Okay," Katie agreed, getting to her feet. "Let's go out for a while."

As the two lovers were about to go out the door, Katie said, "Now, even though your ankle is just fine, when we get back here, I want to carry you over the threshold again. It will have a little more meaning."

"Okay! You got a deal." Sarah squeezed Katie's hand as the two headed out for their moonlight walk.

Epilogue Two

Jayne and Mavis sat at a table in the cafe across the street from the Club.

Rick and Jimmy had volunteered to go to the Club and check the email on the computers and maybe spend a little time getting the place back in order after the previous night's disruption.

Having just parked his car, Lieutenant Christopho came through the cafe's door and joined the two women at their table.

"Well, now that we've been partners in solving a case, can I buy you a cup of coffee and a donut?" Jayne asked.

"You certainly may, ma'am," said the Christopho, taking a seat. "That is, you can buy me some coffee. I'm afraid I'm one policeman who doesn't care much for donuts. Mrs. Christopho says they're all calories and no real nutrition."

"Mrs. Christopho is a very smart woman. You're a lucky man," said Jayne.

"Right on both counts, ma'am," Christopho agreed.

After the waitress had brought coffee for Chistopho, Mavis voiced a concern. "Lieutenant, Jimmy won't get into any trouble for hitting Dr. Klinghoffer, will he?"

"Of course not, ma'am," Christopho assured her. "Who knows what the doctor might have tried to do with that scalpel if he had had time to pull it out of Suzy's chest? No, Jimmy won't be in trouble. The County Attorney may be unhappy that it will be hard to interrogate the doc, since he can't write and he can't talk much."

"I'm glad the doctor's neck wasn't broken," said Jayne. "He is paralyzed below the neck at the moment, but that could be only some temporary nerve damage."

"Maybe he will have a miracle recovery in a few months like Gary was supposed to have," suggested Mavis. "Maybe it will happen about the time he is able to move his jaw again."

"Yes. Herr Doktor will be taking all his meals through a straw for a long time," Jayne agreed.

"Maybe you could get that Sarah girl to bring him some homemade soybean soup," suggested Christopho.

Jayne laughed. "I don't think he would want to eat anything that Sarah cooked up. I'm sure the hospital kitchen will do just fine by him."

"And after that, the jail kitchen and then a prison kitchen. He will go to prison for a long time, won't he?" Mavis asked Christopho.

"Oh, if the County Attorney goes for first degree murder, he could be there for the rest of his life," said Christopho. "There's always a chance the doc might try to go for a plea bargain, but I'm pretty sure that would fall flat."

"There's also the charge of attempted murder in the case of Katie and manslaughter in the case of Suzy," Jayne reminded Christopho and Mavis. "Those charges could be pressed to add more time to any charge of murder in a lesser degree."

"I've been thinking -- now, this might seem kind of off the wall," said Mavis, "but manslaughter is killing someone without having the intention to do so. Klinglhoffer killed Suzy without intending to, and then he intended to kill her when he all ready had. I mean, he both performed the act and had the intention -- the act and the intention didn't come in the usual order, but they both were there. I wonder if there is any way to turn that into some kind of murder charge rather than manslaughter. Then he would face two murder charges."

Christopho laughed. "I doubt very much that there is any way to make that work, but that's a very interesting thought, ma'am. Maybe somebody in the County Attorney's office will give that a try just for fun."

"What about the people for the gambling syndicate?" Jayne asked.

"Well, ma'am, those people cover their tracks pretty well," sighed Christopho. "Right now, the only witness against them is the doctor, and his credibility is almost zero. The guy who hit the pizza truck is going to keep quiet. Of course, there could still be some punishment involved. Auggie the Corpsman isn't very big in the organization and the higher-ups may be very unhappy with him for dealing with such a pair of amateurs on such a high stakes operation. Also, I've heard rumors that there is a federal case being built against Auggie for a whole different matter that could put him away for a very long time.

"In any event," Christopho said, "there won't be anybody trying to make trouble for you or the, um, meditation center if you're worried about that. I'm sure the syndicate will just count its money and want to put the whole thing in the past. The meditation center will be just fine."

"Ah, the meditation center." Jayne looked at the building across the street. "I'm not so sure about that. When word gets out that somebody died there, it might mean the end of the center."

There was a moment of quiet after which Christopho said, "Well, I hope that isn't the case."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Mavis. "The followers of the great Neh Kro appreciate good wishes."

"Uh, ladies," said Christopho, "that place across the street isn't really a meditation center, is it?"

Jayne looked at him, stunned.

"Why, Lieutenant," said Mavis, batting her eyelashes like she was trying to fan the room, "whatever do you mean? What do you think the place is?"

Christopho looked down at his coffee cup, smiled, and said, "Last night, when I got home, I told Mrs. Christopho about the demonstration that you had given me -- you remember that, don't you?"

"I remember it vividly." Jayne touched her breast where Mavis had squeezed her.

"Well, Mrs. Christopho said she had never heard of any meditation technique like that. And when I told her that it was developed by some by someone named Neh Kro Baba, she sort of got a silly smile on her face for a moment. Then I described the center and Katie and Sarah, and I described that little room where we all discussed the case last night and her eyes lit up and -- well, guess what she said to me?" Christopho looked from Jayne to Mavis and back.

Jayne shrugged her shoulders.

"Why, I haven't the foggiest idea -- I don't think I do, at least." Mavis was a little uncertain.

Christopho smiled. "She said, 'Oh, that must be The Bordello of the Dead.'"

Both Jayne and Mavis gulped.

"And then she turned on the computer and got online and took me to the Bordello's website. Katie and Sarah are very photogenic." Christopho continued to smile.

"We'll tell them you said that." Jayne was a bit worried.

"Anyway, I asked Mrs. Christopho how she happened to know all about your establishment, and that led to a very, very interesting conversation that I'm surprised we've never had in all our years of marriage. That conversation led to, um, other interesting things." Christopho seemed to take on a bit of a glow that surprised both Jayne and Mavis. "Mrs. Christopho is a very remarkable woman. She continues to surprise me, even after all this time."

Neither Jayne or Mavis knew what to say.

"And, by the way," Christopho said, looking at Jayne, "Mrs. Christopho said she would like to talk to you sometime."

"Oh. How nice. I'll give you my card to pass on to her." Jayne dug into her purse, produced a business card holder, extracted a card, and gave it to Christopho.

The lieutenant looked at the card and said, "Uh, ma'am, I think there's been a mistake. This seems to be Miss Burns' business card.

"Oh! We must have gotten them mixed up when we tried to sort out the mess from the dumped purses." Mavis found a business card holder in her own purse and exchanged with Jayne. "I hope we at least grabbed the right sets of keys. I'm afraid to check."

"Me, too," Jayne agreed. "At least we know Rick has the right keys. We'll be able to get into the house."

At that moment, Rick and Jimmy came through the door. Rick seemed a bit unnerved at seeing that the Lieutenant was still visiting with Mavis and Jayne, and he approached the table rather uncertainly. He looked like he wanted to say something.

Jayne read her man pretty well. "Sit down, Rick, Jimmy. And don't worry, you can talk in front of Lieutenant Christopho. He knows all about us -- but not as much as his wife, apparently. It seems that the Christophos have an excellent marriage that I am confident will continue to be full of adventure and new discoveries." Jayne winked at the detective.

Rick wasn't sure what to make of that and didn't say anything.

"Thank you, very much, ma'am." Christopho rose from the table. "I'll be going now. I can see that you all may have some business to discuss and I want to get home to Mrs. Christopho and continue our, uh, conversation from last night. It's been a pleasure to meet all you. Good night."

Everyone said a cheerful good-bye to the Lieutenant as he left.

"Rick, what is it?" Jayne wanted to know.

"What did you mean, he knows all about us?" Rick asked.

"Never mind, I'll tell you later. But what's on your mind? You've got some news, don't you? How bad is it?" Jayne was prepared for the worst.

"Well, uh, here." Rick handed her a small stack of paper. "These are some emails that I just printed out."

With trepidation, Jayne began to read the emails. Soon, a look of astonishment came over her face.

"What is it?" Mavis asked. "Are we done for? Are those all cancellations? I didn't know we had that many appointments scheduled."

"Well, no, they aren't cancellations," said Jayne, going through the sheets more rapidly. "They aren't cancellations at all. Apparently we're booked solid for the next eight months. If we hired more girls, we might be able to deal with all of these sooner, but.....I don't believe this."

"Apparently," Rick said, "those two customers that I was turning away last night when the people from the coroner's office brought Suzy out must have gone home and gotten right on the net and spread the word. It seems that the idea that we had a real dead girl in the Club is good for business."

"But we have to let them know that, no, we don't have real dead girls at the Club. At least, not if we can help it. We have to be honest!" Jayne declared.

"Of course, we do, honey," Rick agreed. "But I don't think it will make much difference. I read some of these emails in detail. Some are just fascinated by the idea that there was a real dead girl at the Club at least once. Others think it was all a show that we put on and they are impressed that we will go to that much trouble. None of those that I read said they expected to have an appointment with a real dead girl."

Jayne skimmed some of the emails more carefully. "I guess you're right. But,... well, this is wonderful -- no, it isn't. I mean, I'm glad that the Club is going to be bigger than ever, but I don't want to capitalize on Suzy's death. I would feel like a vampire."

"I know, honey." Rick patted her hand. "I know."

"I mean, if there were only some way to share this with Suzy, but, well, it's too late for that. Oh, I don't know what to do." Jayne was beside herself, very conflicted.

"Wait," said Jimmy. "Didn't Suzy mention a little sister?"

"Yes," said Mavis. "A little sister that she wanted make sure got a college education. And Suzy told me that her mother is single and Suzy really admired the way she brought up two daughters all alone."

Jayne was radiant. "Well, okay! I mean, it won't make up for what happened to Suzy, but we'll see that a huge percentage of the extra profits we get as a result of what happened yesterday go to a college fund for Suzy's sister and we keep throwing money into that until the girl can go to Harvard or Yale or Stanford or Oxford -- all the way to her Ph.D. if she wants."

"Or her M.D.," said Mavis. "She might want to go into medicine."

"And let's take care of her mom, too," said Jimmy.

"Sure. Anything she wants," said Jayne. "Her own business, monthly checks, a new home. Suzy's family gets taken care of first. Is everybody agreed on that?"

Looking around the table, Jayne saw nothing but smiles and nodding heads.

"Well, this commitment doesn't make me feel any better about what happened to Suzy, but it does make me feel less guilty about enjoying the success of the club," said Jayne. "And it makes me feel terrific about the people I work with!"

The warmth that Jayne radiated was reflected in the eyes of Rick, Mavis, and Jimmy.

"Shall we call it a day?" Rick asked.

"I think we should go home, yes. But,..." Jayne paused and looked at Mavis. "I think after we change clothes, Mavis and I will go out for a while for a drive or a walk, just the two of us -- that is, if Mavis wants to."

This took Mavis by surprise. "Well, yes. I'd love to. We haven't done that for quite a while. What made you think of it tonight?"

"Today, Mavis, you called me your best friend," Jayne said. "You haven't called me that in a long time. It was a darn good thing to hear."

"I'll try to say it more often." Mavis laid her hand on top of Jayne's.

"Me, too," Jayne turned her hand over and grasped Mavis's. "Me, too."

As the group rose from the table, Rick asked, "Do you girls want me to do the driving?"

"Please," said Jayne. "I'm not sure if I grabbed the right set of keys, and I don't want to find out now."

"Same here," said Mavis. "I hope that somewhere in our purses we have one of our sets of keys. Otherwise, that little excursion we take later won't get much further than our front yard."

"I think I heard somebody say, 'There's no place like home,'" Rick commented.

"Yeah," said Jimmy, "I think Dorothy said that when she got back from Oz."

"Well, we haven't exactly been to Oz," said Jayne, "but I do feel like I've been a tornado all day."

Everybody agreed with laughter as they left the cafe.

Epilogue Three

It was well after midnight when the door to the hospital morgue opened and two women entered.

"Glad we wound up with the hospital key," said the one who had opened the door.

"I'm glad that nobody saw us come in," said the other woman.

The two walked to wall where the bodies of those who had died in the hospital that day were kept in refrigerated drawers.

On the second try, they found the drawer they were looking for.

"There he is," said the smaller of the two women.

"Yes," said the larger woman, lifting up the sheet that covered the body. "And it looks like he's ready for company."

"Emm." The smaller woman admired the long, hard cock. "Which one of us goes first?"

"Oh, I've met him before," said the larger woman. "I think his first time as a corpse shouldn't be with a stranger."

"Okay," said the smaller woman. "You get him all warmed up for me."

The larger woman slipped off her jeans and panties. "Check and see if I'm wet enough, lover."

The smaller woman caressed the pussy lips of the larger woman and inserted her finger between them. Withdrawing the wet finger and licking it, she said, "I think you're just fine."

"Well, I thought I probably was. I've been pretty excited thinking about this," the larger woman said as she mounted the corpse of the dead football star. She eased herself down on the stiff rod and emitted a satisfied, "Ah!"

"How is he?" asked the smaller woman.

"Oh, he's a little cold, but everything else is, emm, just right." The larger woman began to raise and lower herself. "Oh, this is good. He's not going to go soft on us and he's not going ask afterwards, 'Did you get off? Really?'"

"Yes." The smaller woman laughed. "We don't have to worry about his masculine ego."

The motions of the larger woman caused the corpse to emit some gas that had built up in his colon.

"Oh, bad manners, Gary!" The smaller woman slapped the face of the corpse.

The larger woman was very quickly working herself up to an orgasm. She turned to the smaller one and said,"Why don't you get up on his chest and play with my tits while I fuck this dead jock?"

"I was just waiting for you to ask." The smaller woman slipped off her own jeans and panties and mounted the dead man as requested.

With the aid of her lover, the larger woman experienced a series of rapid, increasingly intense orgasms. She soon reached the point where she as so dizzy with pleasure, she decided to stop before she lost her balance and fell to the floor.

"That was great, lover," the larger woman said between gasps. "Let me catch my breath and we can change places."

"Take your time. I really enjoy looking at you." The smaller woman thought for a moment and said, "We could get into trouble if we got caught, right?"

"Oh, what we're doing is illegal in every state in the union," replied the larger woman. "But so is poisoning necrobabes and throwing football games."

The smaller woman said jokingly, "I don't think there is law specifically against poisoning necrobabes."

"Well, there should be. If there is any such thing as an endangered species, we're it." After a chuckle, the larger woman added, "I'm sure necrobabes have rights like everyone else."

"Yeah. Necrobabes have rights, but corpses don't." The smaller woman turned and looked down at the lifeless face behind her. "You should agree with that Gary. You said about the same thing, remember?"

"You won't get an answer," said the larger woman. "He's the strong silent type."

"At least silent," agreed the smaller one.

"Well, let's change places," said the larger woman. "This stiff owes you a good fuck, as much as he does me, after all the trouble he caused us."

"We aren't the only necrobabes he caused problems for. I wish the other two were here," the smaller woman lamented.

"Well, tell you what," said the larger woman as she began to dismount. "Let's make sure we leave the door unlocked when we leave. They might drop by later."

"Yes. Let's do that," the smaller woman agreed, turning around and getting herself ready to take her lover's place. "It could be a very busy night for Gary."

"And he thought he wouldn't get any pussy for six months." The larger woman lifted her leg over the chest of the corpse. "He didn't know how lucky he was going to get."

"Oh, yes," said the smaller woman, beginning to move up and down on the dead cock. "Gary is one lucky stiff!"