Erma's Inn

And then he finally sat back so that he too could finally enjoy the show.

Erma sat in her chair and watched as the rocket of fireworks flew right over her head and towards the roof of her Inn. It couldn’t, it wouldn’t. Erma jumped up and ran towards the building. Just as the rocket was right above the roof it exploded, sending a fury of light and sparks in every direction on the roof. Before anything could be done the Inn caught fire and within five minutes it was fully engulfed by flames.

Guests scrambled about, in shock. Erma sat in her chair; weeping and cursing Ivan. All of her hard work, all her love, gone up in smoke.

"Oh my goodness Erma! What are you going to say to the police when they see the chains and all the other horrible stuff in the basement?" Ivan asked as he walked up to Erma.

She abruptly stopped her crying and pondered the question. What would she do? Maybe she could go in there and hide them real quick. What would people think if they heard about her dungeon like basement?

"Oh my goodness," Erma said to herself and rushed to the burning building, hoping she do something to cover up her secret.

A few guests tried to stop her from entering the building, but many were in shock and didn’t notice her entering the Inn. A few seconds after Erma went through the back door the whole building collapsed.

Ivan smiled quickly and then pretended to be the grief stricken widower. Things couldn’t have worked out any better for him.