Who Killed Tiffany Jones? Read Online Free PDF

climb.
    Nellica gave a nervous shrug. “Boyfriend troubles. This way, he can’t find me.”
    The nearly bare room was furnished only with an open-face wardrobe made out of plywood, a small table crammed with makeup bottles, and an unmade bed. One small window looked out onto the street. Both the toilet and the shower were down the hallway. Satin panties, lace garters, and leather camisoles were flung haphazardly around the room. Chained to one of the bars of the bed’s metal frame and half hidden under a black lace teddy was a pair of metal handcuffs. Kees sat down on the bed, pushed aside the teddy, and rattled the cuffs.
    “You’re a bad girl now, aren’t you,” he chuckled.

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    “No, not really,” she snapped. Then, feeling guilty for raising her voice, she explained, “They were here before I got here.
    “Whoever left them didn’t bother to leave the key. It was probably some sort of prank or something. But it really doesn’t matter. I don’t do stuff like that during off hours anyway. Doesn’t appeal to me.”
    Kees was silent as Nellica undressed and put on an old T-shirt.
    She hadn’t meant to snap at him, but she felt terrible, as if she had a horrible hangover even though she’d had only one drink during the evening. When Nellica switched off the light and lay down, Kees lay down next to her, fully dressed.
    “Are you comfortable? Don’t you at least want to take off your jacket or your pants or something?”
    “No. I’m fine, thanks.”
    Nellica started to say something else, but she was so tired she couldn’t seem to form the words. She heard Kees’s voice, but it seemed distant, as if it were coming from the end of a long, dark tunnel. Gradually the sound diminished, and she fell into a deep sleep.
    When Nellica woke up later that morning, her head was throbbing and her face was sticky with sweat. She tried to sit up and focus, but it was all she could do to keep from throwing up. She turned to her side and suddenly drew back when she realized that someone else was in bed with her. He lay on top of the sheet with his back to her, fully dressed except for shoes and a jacket. Then, remembering she had brought someone home with her last night, she relaxed. A moment later she nudged him softly in the back trying to wake him.
    “Hey, hey, mister! Time to get up. I’ve got to go out.”
    When Kees didn’t respond, Nellica reached around him and began turning him over on his back.
    It was then that she felt the viscous moisture on her hand. Frightened, she pulled him over on his back, and gasped when she saw that his neck and the front of his shirt were covered with blood. Nellica 16470_ch01.qxd 7/12/02 4:33 PM Page 24
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    scrambled from the bed and slowly backed toward the door. In shock, she stared at the lifeless figure. His left arm was stretched above his head, his wrist locked tightly into one end of the handcuffs, the other end of which was still attached to the bed frame. His eyes were open in a dead man’s stare.
    When Nellica saw the raw, open gash on his neck, she began screaming and pounding her fists against the door. Kees’s throat had been slit from ear to ear.
    The police inspectors immediately cordoned off the building after the hotel manager took them to Nellica’s room. Her screams had brought hotel staff members as well as a crowd of guests to the hallway outside the room. The police had been called immediately.
    They meticulously gathered personal information from everyone who was still inside the hotel. No one escaped the lengthy and methodical questioning.
    Some of the forensics experts who combed the room complained that there was evidence of too many people having been on the premises. A preliminary sweep of the place uncovered hair and skin samples of at least two dozen individuals. And none of it was fresh. The Hotel America was a high traffic, transient