The Midnight Tour

wrong,” she said. I’m fine.” She gave the beast’s face a rough smack with her open hand, then picked up the tommy-gun and got to her feet. “I guess somebody’d better find a telephone.”

Chapter Sixty-two

SUNDAY MORNING

1. Tuck’s Long Distance Call

“Sorry to disturb you, Janice, but I’m afraid we had some trouble last night on the Midnight Tour.”

2. Visiting Hour—Owen

Waking up in a hospital room, Owen found Darke sitting beside his bed. “Hi,” he said.

She smiled softly at him.

Her clingy, black silk blouse was gone, replaced by a black T-shirt that seemed to be a few sizes too small for her. Seeing her in the T-shirt, nobody would mistake her for a guy.

Owen looked at her bandaged hand.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Monica stabbed you.”

“Oh...I know that. What happened to you?”

“Just a minor cut. I’m fine.” Tears suddenly glistened in her eyes. “Vein didn’t make it, though.”

“Monica stabbed Vein?”

“The beast killed her.”

“Oh, my God.”

“She...always hoped they were real. Always wanted to meet one face to face. They say you’ve gotta be careful what you wish for.”

Groggy and confused, Owen shook his head. “I don’t...How was she killed?”

“We took on the beast. The four of us. Lynn, Dana, me and Vein. And we killed it, too.”

“You mean Clyde? You killed Clyde?”

She shook her head, her pale hair swaying across her brow.

“You really were out of it. After Clyde, a real beast came along. That’s how Monica got away from us. We couldn’t keep her prisoner and fight the beast, so we let her go. She ran off through the Kutch tunnel and that’s the last anyone’s seen of her.”

3. Tuck’s Long Distance Call—Part II

“We think Clyde didn’t call the police—he called Agnes, instead. So then she came to his rescue with a Tommy-gun.”

4. Visiting Hour—Sandy

“Okay, honey, quit beating around the bush and tell me who did it?”

“I’m not your honey, Cochran.”

“Oh, excuse meeee, Officer Chaney.”

“I’ll get out of bed and wreck you.”

Flushing, Cochran said, “I’m simply trying to determine the truth.”

“The truth is... I’m pretty sure it was both of them. Clyde and the beast.”

“Which of them abducted you in the attic?”

“I don’t know.”

“Which dragged you into the tunnel?”

“I’m not sure, but Clyde must’ve been the one who unlocked it.”

“Which handcuffed you?”

“That must’ve been Clyde, too.”

“Which was responsible for your injuries?”

“I smelled the cigarette smoke, but...not always. I think it was probably both of them.”

“Taking turns?”

“Something like that. Maybe.”

“Who ate those people?”

“I don’t know.”

“Either of ‘em eat you?”

“Watch it.”

“And which of them do you think committed the sexual assaults on you?”

Eve studied Cochran, her eyes narrow. Finally, she answered, “Both.”

“Which did you prefer?”

She leaped out of bed. Cochran made it halfway across the hospital room before she got close enough to shove him. Stumbling out of control, he almost made it through the doorway. But his right shoulder collided with the frame and he cried out in pain.

As he flopped on the floor, Sandy called out, “Is there a doctor in the house?”

5. Tuck’s Long Distance Call—Part III

“Well, we think Clyde must’ve been having a relationship with Agnes ... No, I’m not kidding. Just before she opened fire, she yelled out for him to hit the deck. And Eve said she called him ‘honey’ or ‘darling’ or something like that. Sounds like they were lovers...I know, I know...Well, she was filthy rich. Maybe Clyde was hoping for a big inheritance. Or maybe he was just really into this whole beast thing. If you ask me, Clyde and the beast and Agnes were probably having a menagerie a tois...No, not menage, menagerie... Well, I don’t find it that amusing, either. I know a lot of people were killed.”

6. Visiting Hour—Owen, Part II

“What’re you going to do now?” Owen asked.

Beneath her tight T-shirt, Darke shrugged her shoulders.

“I guess I’ll stay right here till they kick me out.”

“What then?”

“Hang around town, I guess, and wait for them to release you. They say it’ll probably be a few more