Winifred screamed.
Judith couldn’t stop staring, but a cold shiver crawling up her spine set off a familiar, terrifying alarm.
FIVE
“WIN?”
Ellie Linn was standing at the bottom of the
stairs, gazing into the living room. She saw Judith
and Winifred’s horror-stricken faces, and moved
quickly, if softly, to join them.
“What’s wrong?” Ellie glanced down at the torn
costume. “Oh, wow, that looks bad! What happened?”
Winifred was kneeling on the floor, pounding her
fists on the carpet. “Sabotage, that’s what happened!
Angela’s gown is ruined! Who would do such a
thing?”
Ellie rocked back and forth in her expensive
cross-trainers. She was wearing jeans and a longsleeved tee that didn’t quite cover her midriff. Judith
figured her for a size three at most.
“Golly, I don’t know,” Ellie said, gazing at the
ceiling. “Couldn’t Angela wear a bedsheet, cut two
eyeholes in it, and go as a ghost?”
“Ellie!” Winifred’s voice was sharp, then she
turned to Judith. “Do you think your local costume
shop could fix this?”
Judith studied the garment. “They’d have to replace the overskirt. I’ll ask them.”
“The skirt—or what’s left of it—will have to be
saved,” Winifred declared, finally regaining control of
her emotions. “It’s the original.” She paused, tapping a
finger against her smooth cheek. “Yes, maybe an overskirt will do. But make sure it matches.”
Judith promised that she would. “By the way,” she
asked, “were these costumes still in Bruno’s room
where I had the UPS man deliver them?”
“Yes,” Winifred replied. “He was the only one who
had enough space.”
Ellie was kneeling down to study her
“Don’t you love the gilded headdress? It’ll look way
cool with my long black hair.” For emphasis, she ran a
hand through her raven tresses. “Hey, Win, where are
the masks?”
“They’re still in Bruno’s room,” Winifred said, exhibiting the delicacy of a neurosurgeon in placing the
damaged Scarlett O’Hara costume into a garment bag.
“The masks are ready. Yours is marked with your name
on the inside.”
“Great.” Ellie stood up. “Wow”—she giggled—
“Angela’s going to be wild! I’ll tell her what happened
to her costume. You know—it’ll save you the trouble,
Win.” This time, her giggle sounded slightly sinister as
she headed for the entry hall.
