Mike hadn't planned on physically participating in the training segment of the class; as a matter of fact it was not part of his standard procedure when talking to potential witnesses, or suspects on any regular basis. But Leanne Harrison's murder case was at a complete standstill at this point, her silent death as startling as it was disconcerting, and as such, perhaps a rather unconventional approach would be their answer.
Several of the techniques he'd watched McPhearson teach the hour before their peer-pressure induced assistance looked to be good candidates for their murder method, all of them involving short and precise movements to reach the attacker's throat, creating either a choke, or aimed to break the neck.
Most of the ladies in his class wore green, blue and brown belts, signaling higher rank, and as such, they all executed the maneuvers taught with the utmost care and discipline, stopping just shy of inflicting actual injury, then repeating the technique until it was perfected. Without their uniforms, Mike could easily picture them as regular housewives or banker tellers, if it wasn't for the undeniably strong arms and shoulders that came with their chosen hobby.
"Ok…ok…that might hurt a little now. I…I surrender."
Out of the corner of his eye, Mike caught Simone smirk shamelessly at their pathetic situation, still sitting on the bench and comfortably far away from martial arts chaos.
He on the other hand was in the middle of getting bear-hugged by a lady that potentially outweighed him by another 20lbs, all muscle and determination, her thick thighs wrapped around his stomach like a python, holding him in place while her strong hands imitated a tight choke hold, stopped only by pressing her finger tips against themselves, rather than digging into his neck.
Upon his gentle surrender, the lady smiled amicably and let go, both her and Mike's glance drifting over to Steve, whose ill-chosen words had earned him the pole position when it came to being the evening's prime target.
Sprawled out chest down on the mat, the young Inspector had one ladies' arm wrapped around his throat in an apparent choke hold, another one was busy twisting his arm against the elbow joint, thus locking him in place.
Under any other circumstance, Mike was sure that Steve would enjoy the therapy, but given the rather brutal choice of defense bestowed upon him, the young Inspector seemed intent on begging for mercy, where his charm and good looks no longer helped.
"He's double-jointed, so we can play with him a lot more.", Barb Watson, the stout lady that had worked him over told Mike in unmasked joy, a devious smile on her face as she watched her training partners change positions, Steve's faint grunts the only sign that he was still alive.
"Did you do these kinds of drills when Leanne Harrison was working out here?"
It was no longer an if, but a definitive notion that their murder victim had frequented this place, her face appearing in a few of the pictures on the nearby walls.
Barb turned her broad head, the strong muscles on her neck showing as she glanced across several of the trophies and ribbons lining the opposite corner of the basement.
"I heard about her murder. So, that's why you guys are here.", she said somberly, then fell silent again when a nearby commotion disrupted their conversation.
As he looked over, Mike could see his partner on top of one of the ladies, undoubtedly remembering some judo maneuvers from the academy. The surprise defense had bought him enough time to get back on his hands and knees, slowly crawling out of harm's way with only one of the women trying to hold on to his arm.
McPhearson cheered him on from the sidelines, thanking them both again for volunteering to be tonight's "strong, dominant males attacking females", when the second lady regained her bearings and chased after the young Inspector.
"Did Leanne have trouble with anybody here?", Mike whispered, using the distraction of the commotion to his advantage, "Did she make somebody mad?"
"Over here? God no. We're all best of friends.", Barb answered too fast, her eyes following along as the second lady jumped on Steve's back, taking him down like a lion chasing after an antelope.
When the young Inspector collapsed at Mike's feet, about to get dragged into the ring once again, the Lieutenant smiled warmly, then gestured to the other side of the room.
"Come on now, Buddyboy, you're not going to let two women stop like that, are you?"
With a theatrical eyeroll, Steve understood the unspoken request behind his teasing, got back on his hands and knees with an exhausted grunt and proceeded to crawl away, his human cargo never letting go.
"We're just asking because you see, she was murdered by somebody who broke her neck, much like what your lady friends are trying to do to my partner right about now…", Mike explained, having patiently waited for the precise moment one of the women wrapped her strong forearm around Steve's neck, the other hand pushing his head aside far enough to simulate the fatal technique without going for the kill.
Barb didn't answer his question, her eyes growing distant at the insinuation that had been made, something she seemed utterly unaware of, a seed of doubt Mike had cunningly planted in her mind.
"Alright, you got him. We're going to call this a win.", McPhearson cheered and jumped onto the mat to help Steve back on his wobbly feet, a wave of relief and gratitude flooding the young Inspector's features at the applause coming from the other martial artists for his indomitable valiance.
Mike took the opportunity to get back on his feet as well, straightening out some of the wrinkles on his dress pants and shirt, and nodded in gratitude when Kammers walked over to hand him his tie and fedora back.
"And you see, there's another question my partner and I haven't been able to answer yet either.", the Lieutenant continued as he fed the tie underneath the collar of his shirt, his eyes never leaving Barb, "If you ladies here are such good friends, how come none of you showed up for Leanne's funeral last week?"
# # #
"I think I need to go and see my chiropractor.", Steve grunted half-heartedly as he dropped into the driver's seat of the Galaxy, tapping the steering wheel in unspoken gratitude, while the rest of the trio arrived.
"I don't know, it looked like you were enjoying yourself quite well out there, Inspector.", Kammers chimed in from the back bench, then pulled out her notebook to write down some observations.
"I make it look too easy.", he retorted playfully, quickly losing the smile when he noticed Mike glancing over at him in unconcealed worry, "You think we found our killer, don't you?"
"I believe so.", the Lieutenant replied cryptically, then pursed his lips, his eyes drifting across the dash of the tan sedan, then stopping at some indiscernible spot in the distance, "It's somebody from that group. It's gotta be. I am just not sure who."
"Seven women, one guy. We can run them through R&I first thing tomorrow and begin sifting through resumes.", the young Inspector suggested, causing his partner to nod slightly.
"I think this Barb lady I was working with is right. They do seem to be a tight group. Tight for all the wrong reasons."
The strange comment made Steve stop in his tracks, then frown.
"You think it's more than just one killer? Maybe they teamed up?"
Several seconds passed before Mike nodded again, his jaws clenched in agitation.
"It's possible. I am just troubled by the fact that without us telling them, nobody cared to ask how she was killed and why we had come out to their dojo to investigate her murder. It's as…as if they already knew."