DOA, Chapter 24

“Reveal our killer, sir?! A killer in this town?! But that’s impossible! Skeletons can never die because we’re already dead.”

“Ah, yes, young grasshopper. That is true. And it is quite natural for us to dismiss the idea of there being killers and victims among us because they are not part of our own experience. But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Do you remember that letter from Paris?”

“You mean the one from Madame de Boneville at the catacombs, sir?”

“Yes, that one. Madame de Boneville referred to a ‘tueur du ‘crock-pot”–a killer of the crock-pot–because the rigid rules of French grammar do not allow her to construct compound nouns otherwise.”

Reread Madame de Boneville’s letter

“I don’t understand, sir.”

“I did not either, grasshopper, until with a clear gaze I reflected serenely on reality as Buddhism for Sheep advises, and like a divine revelation it became apparent to me that the crock-pot, not John Doe One or Two, was our victim. Though set on High, it was not hot. It could not be, for it was dead!”

“Jeepers, sir! If that’s the case, who’s the crock-pot killer?”

“Ah, after much reflection and a fixed gaze upon our victim for a prolonged period of time, the answer to that important question became apparent to me as well.”

“How is that, sir?”

“Illusory motion, grasshopper.”