The Midnight Tour

“I know. Me, too.”

“Isn’t enough that somebody messes around with the Ethel exhibit. Isn’t enough that we end up with three missing players and have to go on a search. And we’ve still got somebody missing. I mean, that’d be a bad day all by itself. That’d be a shitty day. But now we’ve gotta have some kind of creep lurking around the house with God-only-knows-what on his sick, perverted mind.”

“Maybe it’s just a secret admirer,” Dana said.

“Like I just said, a sick, perverted creep. What the hell is taking Eve so long?”

“She’s probably just doing a thorough search.”

“She shouldn’t be taking this long.”

“I’m sure she’s fine. Do you think it might all be connected?”

“Connected?” Tuck asked. “What?”

“What you were just talking about. Maybe the guy who screwed around with Ethel had something to do with the missing tape player. And maybe he came over here.”

“I don’t know,” Tuck said. “I guess it’s possible.”

“Maybe we should tell Eve about that stuff.”

In a half-joking voice, Tuck said, “You mean, if she isn’t dead?”

“She’s not dead. Maybe she’ll have some ideas about...”

“Let’s just deal with one problem at a time, okay? Eve doesn’t have to know about our troubles at Beast House. She might want to start an investigation. Next thing you know, everybody’d find out. It’s nobody else’s business.”

“If a customer disappeared...”

“Nobody disappeared. Not necessarily. We’re just short one tape player, that’s all.”

“But...”

“Nobody was looking for anyone and there weren’t any leftover cars in the lot. That’s pretty strong proof that we don’t have a missing person. I know, maybe he went on the tour alone. Maybe he parked on the street somewhere, or walked over. For now, though, we don’t have any good reason to start a major fuss about the situation. I don’t want to go whining to the cops every time there’s a little glitch in things.”

“You called the cops tonight.”

“A prowler lurking by the pool is a big glitch. For God’s sake, where’s Eve?”

“She’s probably...”

“EVE!” Tuck shouted.

No answer came.

“Oh, God,” Tuck muttered. “Something’s happened to her.”

“Maybe she’s...”

“EVE! DAMN IT, WHERE ARE YOU?”

Over beyond the far, left-hand corner of the pool, Eve trudged out of the bushes. She was hunched over, her head down.

When she stepped onto the concrete, she straightened up. “What’s the trouble?” she called.

“Are you okay?” Tuck asked.

“Fine. What’s the trouble? Did you see him?”

“No.”

“What’re you doing outside?”

“We got worried about you.”

Eve smirked and shook her head. Then she shut off her flashlight and came walking around the pool. As she neared Dana and Tuck, she said, “Let’s go back into the house.”

They went in without waiting for Eve to arrive. She entered after them, slid the door shut and locked it. Not saying a word, she turned her back to them and started to shut the curtains.

“Uh-h,” Tuck said. “I’m not sure I like the way this is going.”

Eve faced her and said, “I know I don’t.”

“Yuck,” Tuck said.

“Somebody was back there, all right.”

The words came as no surprise to Dana. After all, Tuck had said she’d seen someone. But Dana felt stunned, anyway, to hear a police officer confirm it. She felt a cold heaviness in the pit of her stomach.

“Did you see him?” Tuck asked.

Eve shook her head. “Afraid not.”

“What did you find?”

“He’d tramped stuff down pretty well. In some places, the weeds were mashed flat against the ground. I think he must’ve spent quite a while back there.”

“Shit,” Tuck muttered.

“Anything else?” Dana asked.

“Not really. I can’t even say with absolute certainty that it was a person. Might’ve been some kind of large animal.”

“I saw an arm,” Tuck reminded her. “And shoulder.”

“I’m not doubting you,” Eve said. “If you say it was a person, it probably was. I didn’t see anything to suggest it wasn’t. My guess is, you had a voyeur. He found himself a nice hiding place in the bushes to watch you two cavort in the swimming pool.”

“The spa,” Tuck said. “We were in the hot spa.”

A smile broke out on Eve’s face. “Glad to hear that. I’d hate to think of anyone in the swimming pool on a night like this. Either way, though, it looks as if you had an audience.”

“Terrific,” Tuck said. “At least we kept our suits on.”

“Even though it was optional,” Dana added.

“From the looks of things,” Eve said, “I don’t think he’s a regular visitor. It’s pretty thick and wild back there. Nothing was worn down. All the trampled places looked fresh. So this might’ve been his first night. That’s the good news.”

“And the bad?” Dana asked.

Eve let out a gruff laugh. “Where do I start?”

“Oh, that’s comforting,” Tuck said.

“I gave the area a pretty good search, and he seems to be gone. But he might not be gone. Like I said, it’s really thick back there. He might not’ve left at all. He might be in there right now, hiding.”

“That is comforting.”

Eve shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not here to comfort you, Lynn.”

“And why not”

Eve laughed. “Shut up and listen, okay?”

“Yes, Officer Chaney.”

“This is serious business.”

“I know.”

“Your prowler might not be gone. There’s no way to be sure, one way or another. That’s part of the bad news.”

“More to come,” Tuck said.

“Plenty. If he has left, he’s very likely to return tomorrow night, or the night after tomorrow...My time he gets the urge, he might just drop by in hopes of catching you in your swimsuits...or out of them.”

“Oh,” Tuck said, “this is getting more wonderful every moment.”