Hal Checks Out

Hal Whitman is a stylish but psychopathic career criminal, the kind of person who's so ruthless, so cold and so dangerous that you never, ever want to meet him... Unless of course, the luxury hotel you're staying in is taken over by terrorists, in which case you might just be glad that Hal is staying there too. This short story, the blackest of black comedies, was first published in the March/April 2006 issue of "Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine".