A Sinister Sense (26 page)

Clara climbed out and opened the back door. With an excited
Woof!
Tatters leapt from the car and started trotting down the street. Clara dashed after him, hissing at him to stop. He was halfway down the block before he obeyed.

Grabbing his collar, she led him back to the car. Stephanie was in the backseat, struggling into a widely striped tank top with a ragged neckline and armholes. “I didn’t have time to hem it,” she explained when Clara tilted her head to one side and gave her a quizzical look. “It looks all right, doesn’t it?”

“Well, I wouldn’t wear it to a wedding, but it’ll pass in the dark.”

She watched her cousin drag her hair back into two bunches and snap a rubber band on each. Digging into her enormous tapestry purse, Stephanie came up with a dark-colored lipstick and swiped it twice across her mouth.
In the cold light of the streetlamp her face looked as if it had been slashed with a meat cleaver.

Clara blinked. “What are you doing? You look like a massacred clown.”

“That’s the whole idea.” Stephanie craned her neck to see herself in the rearview mirror. “I want to look scary.”

“Well, it’s working.” Clara pulled a small envelope from her pocket and handed it to her cousin. “Here, you’ll need these.”

Stephanie opened the envelope and held up one of the huge black earrings. “Good job. These are perfect.” She fastened them to her ears. “Now stand back a bit and look at me through the window.” She pressed her face to the window and opened her eyes wide.

Clara backed up a few steps and studied her. “Did you bring mascara with you?”

“I did.” Stephanie dug in her purse again. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to wear it. It’s going to be hard to get it off before I get home. George will wonder what on earth I’m doing with all this makeup on.”

“Stephanie, one way or another, he’ll have to know what we did. If Carson Dexter confesses to murder, everyone is going to know how and where he was caught. If he doesn’t confess, or isn’t the killer after all, you and I will be in so much trouble the whole town will know about it.”

Stephanie craned her neck again and leaned over the front seat. Dabbing on mascara, she murmured, “I guess
you’re right. There’s no way we’re going to get out of this without George knowing about it. I just hope he forgives me.”

“He’s forgiven you for every stupid thing you’ve ever done so far.” Clara felt Tatters tug on his leash, and looked down at him. “Not now, boy. Later.”

Tatters whined, and Clara squatted down so she could look him in the face. Taking his head between her hands, she said softly, “I need you to be a good boy, Tatters. You will have to be extra quiet and not make a sound until I say you can. Can you do that for me?”

Tatters licked her nose, and Clara stood up.

Stephanie dabbed a heavy blob of eye shadow all around her eyes, then found an eyeliner and ringed her eyes in black. Looking back at Clara, she asked, “How about now?”

Clara backed up again and caught her breath. In the shadowy light Stephanie looked just like the picture of Amy Tomeski. “Perfect.” She moved back to the car. “Absolutely perfect.”

Stephanie grinned. “I knew it. Now let’s get into that hall before Carson Dexter gets there. Did you remember to bring a flashlight?”

Clara held up her key ring. Dangling from it was a mini LED flashlight.

Stephanie nodded her approval, then locked the car before starting down the street at a brisk pace.

Clara followed with Tatters trotting along at her side, sniffing the air every now and then.

The main door to the community hall was on a side street, and no one passed them as Stephanie used George’s key to open the door and they slipped inside.

Switching on her flashlight, Clara directed the tiny beam down the hallway. “What’s to stop Carson Dexter from switching on the lights?” she muttered as they made their way to the main hall.

“I know where to find the fuse box, remember? We’ll switch off the circuit breakers.”

Impressed, Clara followed her cousin to a small closet at the end of the hallway. Stephanie opened the door and focused her flashlight on a large fuse box fastened to the closet wall. She yanked the box’s metal cover aside and trained the beam of light on the contents, peering at the rows until she found what she wanted. Flipping three of the switches, she murmured, “This should take care of the lights. All that will go on now are the footlights on the stage and the security camera.”

Clara followed her through the doors that led to the main hall, where Stephanie flipped a switch by the side of the stage. A row of lamps glowed along the lower edge of the stage floor.

Clara glanced around the big hall for a suitable hiding place. “Looks like the best place to hide is up on the stage behind the curtains.”

“I guess so.” Stephanie held back, her face a mask of worry.

Clara peered at her. “You’re not going to chicken out now, are you?”

“No, of course not. It’s just…” Her voice trailed off and she put a hand over her mouth.

Alarmed, Clara moved closer. “It’s just what? What are you not telling me?”

“Nothing.” Stephanie shook her head. “It’s just that if we’re wrong and the mayor isn’t the killer, this could really mess things up. I mean, he’s the
mayor
, for heaven’s sake. George could lose his job.” Her voice rose on a wail. “I could lose the store!”

Clara gritted her teeth. “It’s a bit late to think about that now. Do you want to forget this and go home? You’d better tell me now.”

Stephanie stared at her for a long moment, eyes wide and scared. Then she shook her head. “No. We’ve come this far. Let’s get on with it.” She twisted around and headed for the steps.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Clara followed, dragging a reluctant Tatters up the steps. The curtains smelled musty as she joined Stephanie behind them. “I hope Carson gets here soon,” she muttered. “There’s enough dust in these things to fill a tanker. We’ll both be sneezing our heads off before long.”

Stephanie didn’t answer her. She was staring out across the stage to the darkened hall beyond.

Anxious that her cousin might still be panicking, Clara whispered, “What’s wrong?”

“There’s just one problem.” Stephanie pointed into the darkness. “With the footlights on, we can’t see into the hall. We won’t know when the mayor gets here.”

“We’ll just have to rely on our ears, then.” Clara squinted into the shadows. “We should hear him come in if we’re quiet. Or Tatters will.”

“He won’t bark, will he?”

“Of course not.” Clara crossed her fingers.

“What’s the time?” Stephanie gave her cousin a nudge. “Isn’t your watch luminous?”

Clara studied her wrist. “Quarter past eleven.”

“Crap. We have to wait another forty-five minutes.”

“I’m hungry.”

“Me, too. We should have brought food with us.”

At the mention of food Tatters stirred by Clara’s side, and she quickly patted his head. “Not yet, boy. I promise you’ll get a treat when all this is over.”

The next half hour or so crawled by while Clara, seated on the floor with her cousin, did her best to keep a whispered conversation going. Stephanie’s voice kept trailing off as if she were on the point of falling asleep.

“Maybe we should stand up,” Clara said when Stephanie failed to answer her question. “This isn’t going to work if we’re both asleep when Carson Dexter gets here.”

Stephanie mumbled something, and Clara gave her a hard shake. “Wake up. Come on, stand up.” She scrambled to her feet and hauled Stephanie up with her.

“It’s all right for you,” Stephanie mumbled. “You’re used to staying up half the night. It’s way past my bedtime. I—”

“Shhh!” Clara pressed her hand over Stephanie’s mouth. “Listen.”

From somewhere in the hall outside came the unmistakable sound of a door closing.

In the glow from the lamps, Clara could see her cousin’s eyes widen as she gave her a nod. Then her expression changed.

“Crap!”

Clara swiftly put a hand over Stephanie’s mouth. “Shhh.”

Behind her fingers, Stephanie whispered, “We forgot to check the security camera.”

Dropping her hand, Clara felt in her pocket for her cell phone. She flipped it open and held it up so her cousin could see it, then waited, one hand on the back of Tatters’ neck.

Moments later she heard a faint squeak as one of the doors into the hall opened. She felt the hair rising on Tatters’ neck and gave him a little warning shake. She could feel him quivering, but much to her relief, he remained silent.

She could see Stephanie’s face. She looked ghastly, like something out of a horror movie. Even if she hadn’t resembled the dead Amy Tomeski, the image would have been enough to scare the heck out of anyone. Her cousin’s eyes were wide, and her bottom lip was caught between her teeth. Stephanie was obviously scared to death herself.

From across the room came a low curse.

It was showtime, and the star performer appeared to be frozen to the spot.

Clara gave her cousin a sharp nudge with her elbow.

Stephanie blinked but still didn’t move.

“Is anybody there?”

The gruff voice of the mayor made them both jump.

Clara put her hand on Stephanie’s arm and gave her a push.

“You’ve got ten seconds,” the mayor said, “then I’m leaving.”

“I’m here!” Clara cringed as her voice came out much too high-pitched.

Stephanie uttered a tiny whimper, and Clara flapped a hand at her.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

Clara made a face at her cousin, who still hadn’t moved. “I want to know why you killed my brother.” This time
she gave Stephanie a hearty shove, sending her forward through the curtain.

There was a long pause, then the mayor’s voice, sounding incredulous, spoke again. “Amy?”

Clara’s heart skipped a beat. She pointed the cell phone through the gap in the curtains. Making her voice as quavering as possible, she moaned, “I’m here to avenge Frank’s death.”

“I thought you were dead.” The mayor’s voice sounded closer, filling Clara with alarm. She couldn’t see Stephanie and could only hope her cousin was playing her part.

Panic rising, she forced herself to speak again. “You left me as soon as you heard I was having your baby. How could you do that? It’s your fault I’m dead. I’m going to punish you, Carson Dexter. You are going to die a horrible death and I’ll see you in hell.” It all sounded so ridiculous, like a very bad melodrama. There was no way the mayor was going to swallow it.

Just at that moment, Stephanie apparently recovered from her stage fright. She let out a hollow moan that seemed to echo through the rafters. Whatever else she was doing must have totally unnerved Carson Dexter. He uttered a shrill yelp of fear.

“Go away! Leave me alone. It was Frank’s fault. He tried to blackmail me! He was going to tell my wife about us.”

“So you killed him.”

On the other side of the curtain, Stephanie uttered another moan.

“I didn’t mean to kill him! He wouldn’t believe I didn’t have the money to pay him. He came at me with a hammer. I got it away from him, and the next thing I knew I was hitting him with it. He went down like a sack of potatoes.”

“You put his body in Rick Sanders’s truck.”

“Yes, I had to hide it somewhere…wait a minute.”

The voice, stronger now, drew closer. Clara put her hand through the gap and tried to feel for Stephanie.

“Who the hell are you?”

He was right in front of the stage, and he sounded furious. Thoroughly panicked, Clara hauled the curtain aside and grabbed hold of Stephanie. “Let’s get out of here!”

“Wait a minute. You’re not going anywhere.” With surprising agility, the mayor leapt for the steps and bounded up them.

Stephanie whimpered, but the sound was drowned out by a ferocious growl.

Clara had forgotten about Tatters. The dog made a beeline for the mayor, and before he could react, Tatters had him on the ground, one paw in the middle of his chest and his snarling jaws inches from his face.

Clara thumbed out 911 on her cell and held it to her ear. The night dispatcher answered her. Quickly she gave him a brief rundown of what had happened.

Meanwhile, Carson was pleading with Stephanie to call off the dog. “No way,” she said, her voice still not quite steady. “Not until the cops get here.”

“You’d better turn the lights back on,” Clara said, slipping the phone back into her pocket.

“Good idea.” Stephanie disappeared, leaving Clara alone with the mayor.

“Look, I’m sure we can come to some arrangement,” Carson said. He raised his head to look at her, and Tatters growled again, making him smack his head back down on the stage floor. “Just call the dog off. I’ll give you whatever you want.”

“You don’t have anything I want,” Clara muttered. “No, wait. What I want is to see you in jail instead of the man you tried to frame for murder.”

“I didn’t try to frame anyone. I just happened to see the truck there and figured it was a good place to hide the body. I didn’t know who owned it.” He peered up at her. “Who the hell are you, anyway?”

Clara smiled. “A good friend of Rick Sanders.”

Just then, light flooded the hall, making her blink. Stephanie appeared in the doorway as the wail of a siren broke the silence outside.