Encore of the Avenging Muse (Sylvia and Rupert)

When Sylvia came to, she found herself lying on the porch just outside her house, sucking in deep breaths of oxygen.

Ms. Ward was kneeling beside her, clutching Sylvia's hand tightly, worry etched all over her face.

"She's awake, she's awake! Doctor, is she going to be okay?"

"It's hard to say right now," the paramedic replied, gently taking Sylvia's blood pressure and offering reassurance. "We'll need to get her to the hospital for some tests just to be sure."

Ms. Ward, still anxious, blurted out, "I'm not talking about the gas-I mean her injuries!"

"Injuries? We didn't find any wounds on her," the doctor said, leaning closer to Sylvia. "Ma'am, are you feeling pain anywhere else?"

Sylvia shook her head. After breathing in the oxygen, she just felt a bit lightheaded, but nothing hurt.

Ms. Ward stared in shock and pointed at the smear of blood on her own front door. "Then... whose blood is that? You knocked so frantically before I thought you crawled out, hurt."

Hearing this, Sylvia's mind flashed back to the last thing she remembered before blacking out.

A foreign man had been knocked to the floor, and then someone else came in...

But after that, her memory was a blank. She rubbed her aching forehead, trying in vain to piece it together.

"Ms. Ward, did you see blood anywhere else?" she asked.

“No,” Ms. Ward answered after a pause. “When I went into your place to open the windows, I didn't see a single drop."

So who was bleeding?

Sylvia stared at the bloody print on Ms. Ward's door, her heart pounding with a strange, anxious ache.

Just then, the elevator dinged and opened again.

The EMTs thought it was their coworkers with a gurney, but it was actually a couple of cops and a downstairs neighbor.

"Excuse me, who lives here?" one officer asked.

Sylvia and Ms. Ward exchanged glances and raised their hands.

Ms. Ward spoke up, "Officer, what's wrong?"noveldrama

The cop gestured to the neighbor. "Your neighbor downstairs called us. They reported hearing suspicious noises from upstairs-possibly gunshots."

Both Ms. Ward and Sylvia looked stunned.

"That can't be right," Ms. Ward protested. "They must be mistaken."

The neighbor shook her head. "I know what I heard. I've been to shooting ranges in the States. That was a gunshot, I'm sure of it. Maybe it was muffled by something like a pillow."

Sylvia's face went pale. She glanced back into her living room. Sure enough, one of her throw pillows was missing from the couch.

And the fake suicide note the foreign man had forged was gone too.

That man had come here to kill her he wouldn't have taken away evidence that proved she'd tried to kill herself. Something else must have happened.

Ms. Ward was about to speak, but Sylvia squeezed her hand, stopping her.

"Officer, this is all a big misunderstanding," Sylvia said quickly. "had a bit too much wine and forgot to turn off the stove. I got a little carbon monoxide poisoning, and thmk the noise must have been me falling off the couch. You know how sounds get distorted between floors."

The neighbor opened her mouth to object, but Sylvia looked at Ms. Ward, who nodded in agreement.

"She's telling the truth," Ms. Ward said. "Look, the doctor and the building manager are both here."

The paramedic confirmed, "She definitely inhaled some toxic fumes. When we got

here, the whole hallway smelled like rotten eggs."

Just then, the building manager stepped out, peeling off his shoe covers.

"Everything's checked out," he said, "The gas levels are dropping. Lloyd, you've gotta be more careful

next time your saucepan did

completely black on the bottom.

"Sorry for all the trouble, everyone," Sylvia apologized, feeling a wave of relief.

With the manager's confirmation, the police seemed satisfied. After taking statements, everyone dispersed.

Ms. Ward accompanied Sylvia to the hospital for a full check-up.

Once they were sure Sylvia was okay, they sat together in the waiting area, both still a little shaken.

Sylvia felt like she'd just gotten off the world's wildest roller coaster-her legs were jelly.

Ms. Ward finally let out a long sigh. "Sylvia, what really happened up there? And why did you stop me from telling the police someone was banging on my door?"