Bottlecap

I found Bottlecap back in March, when I was on the trail of the Hyena. The Hyena was on vacation with his family, and I was supposed to hurt him, but not fatally - enough to hospitalize. They were at Mount Rushmore when I caught up with them. He was with his wife, and ten-year-old son. I had my plan all set; I would make it look like the Hyena had tried to commit suicide, and then lead someone to find him before he managed to die.

When he finally went to the bathroom I smothered him with a rag soaked in chloroform until he went limp on the floor. I had nothing to hurt him with, I realized. As I searched the premises I discovered a janitor's closet. There! Hidden under a variety of screwdrivers inside a toolbox was Bottlecap. She whispered a slow call to me, and she knew my name without a single word from me. I lifted her gingerly from the box and spirited her back to the bathroom, where the Hyena lay, still in the grasp of unconsciousness. Slowly, quietly, I slit his wrist; enough to draw blood, but not quickly and not much. As I was about to drop Bottlecap and make my exit, I realized that I couldn't leave her. I decided to smash one of the mirrors, and let the Hyena's life drip onto a wickedly sharp shard of it. As I walked out of the grimy cesspool of tourism I called out to the nearest passerby: "Help! Help! In the bathroom!" They would never even know it was I who alerted them of the dying man.

-Amontillado