Seth put on his glasses and stepped back behind his register.
Hannah followed Tish. “We need to talk about next month’s schedule,” she said, ducking into the break room after her. Hannah closed the door.
Tish gave her the Polaroid photos. “Okay, so why did I have to bring in my camera this morning?” she whispered. “What’s with the photo session?”
“I’ll tell you later,” Hannah said. She glanced at the two Polaroid photos. The images were starting to emerge.
“I want you to take a look at these pictures for me,” Hannah said.
Scott was sitting up in his hospital bed. His chicken pox seemed to have cleared up—at least on his face. He frowned at her. “Well, that’s a fine greeting. No
Hannah figured he couldn’t see her smiling behind the surgical mask they’d made her wear along with the disposable smock. Scott was still in isolation. “Mea culpa, mea culpa,” she said, stepping up to the foot of his bed. “So—how are you? How are your lousy chicken pox?”
“Well, I must be okay,” he said. “Because they’re springing me from this joint day after tomorrow. And remember that cute intern I liked? Guess what?”
“He’s straight?” Hannah asked.
“No. Gay as a Maypole—and a
“Well, that’s fantastic. So—you’re not holding out for Nutty Ned?”
“No, Ned’s all yours, babe,” he replied. “I know you’ve had your eye on him. So what’s going on with you? I haven’t talked to you since the day before yesterday—”
“The day after Britt’s funeral,” Hannah said soberly.
“Yeah,” Scott muttered. “Well, we’ve managed to avoid the obvious. What about this video-killer? Do these pictures have anything to do with him?”
Hannah nodded. “Maybe. This is the teacher’s assistant in my film class. He just started working at the store. We had a strange discussion yesterday about an essay he wrote for my film professor. It’s kind of hard to explain, but I think he could be involved in these murders somehow. Anyway, this morning I had Tish take these snapshots. I thought you might recognize him from hanging around the store.” She pulled the Polaroids out of her purse and started to hand them to him.
“You have to show them to me, Han,” Scott said, leaning forward. “I can’t handle anything yet.”
“Oops, sorry.” She walked around to the side of the bed and held up the photos for him to see. “Does he look familiar?”
Scott squinted at both pictures. “Oh, yeah. He used to come into the store a lot. It was a while back—before you started working there. The glasses are new. Is he a pal of yours?”
“I’m not sure. Like I said, he’s the new guy at work. He took over for Britt.”
“Well, that’s gonna suck.”
“What do you mean?” Hannah asked.
“It’s gonna suck working with him. He’s an arrogant SOB, if I remember correctly. The guy had attitude up the wazoo.”
“Does the name Seth Stroud ring a bell?”
Scott shook his head. “Nope, that’s not it. I mean, if he’s who I think he is. This guy went by some other name.” He shrugged and sat back against the bed pillows. “Maybe I’m wrong.”
“Well, Tish thought he looked familiar, too.”
“She always works the day shift. I doubt she would have seen this guy very much. He usually came in at night. He was a real film buff, and snotty about it, too. I remember him taking off on me one afternoon because I mispronounced Akira Kurosawa. Very big deal.”
Hannah frowned. “That sounds like Seth.”
“Well,” Scott said, settling back. “When I knew that SOB, his name wasn’t Seth Stroud.”
Ben was late.
They were supposed to meet in the hospital’s little courtyard. Hannah had been waiting on a park bench for the last ten minutes.
The notion that she’d never see Scott again hit her hard. Somewhere down the line, she might call him from a pay phone from another city, but that was all she could hope for. This quick visit had been the last time she would ever lay eyes on Scott. What a shame she couldn’t even hug her friend good-bye.
Hannah fought off the pangs of premature homesickness. She dug the photos of Seth Stroud out of her purse, and studied them. She wondered why he’d changed his name, and what he was hiding.
She glanced up from the Polaroids to see Ben approaching. He wore a denim shirt, jeans, and a tan jacket. His face was flushed.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, catching his breath. “I practically ran up the hill here.” Despite a late-autumn chill in the air, he was perspiring.
“Well, I’m due back at work—two minutes ago,” she said, glancing at her wristwatch. “Want to walk back down the hill with me?”
He nodded again. “Fine. Sorry to hold you up. You had a visitor this morning. And I was following him—up until about ten minutes ago.”
“A visitor? Where, at my apartment?”
“Gulletti,” Ben said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. “C’mon. I’ll tell you on the way back to the store.”
They started down a residential street, past piles of fallen leaves along the sidewalk.
“I followed Gulletti from his house, to Seattle’s Best Coffee, to the college,” Ben explained as they strolled. “Then, something must have happened, because he suddenly tore-ass out of his office. He tried to hail a cab in front of the college, but without any luck. So he hoofed it to your apartment building. He buzzed, and I guess Joyce gave him the heave-ho. She wouldn’t let him up. So he went to the video store. He didn’t stay long. I could spot Seth in there through the window. I didn’t know what to make of it, but they both seemed surprised to see each other.”
“Seth didn’t want Paul knowing that he was working there with me,” Hannah explained.
“Maybe that’s it,” Ben said. “Anyway, something weird was going on between them, I could tell. Then Paul went back to the school—and his office. That’s where I left him.”
“I wonder what Paul wanted,” Hannah murmured. “By the way.” She dug into her purse, then took out the two Polaroids and handed them to Ben. “Here are the pictures of Seth. Do you have a photo of Paul?”
Studying the photographs while they walked, Ben nodded. “Yeah, the portrait from his review column in the newspaper. This one is cute of you.”
Hannah plucked it out of his hand. “You know, the picture of Seth alone should be enough—even without the glasses. I don’t want Kenneth seeing any current pictures of me.”
“Well, they claim they have photos of your stalker. They probably have photos of you already, Hannah.”
“Just the same, I’d rather not
“I understand,” Ben said, shoving the photo in his jacket pocket. “I can always draw a pair of glasses on this picture of Seth—if they don’t recognize him without the specs.” He looked toward the store, just a block away. “You be careful. I hate the idea of you working alongside of Seth Stroud all afternoon.”
“If that’s his real name,” Hannah said.
“What?”
“I’ll tell you later,” she replied. “Besides, he’s probably gone already. He only works half a day today. Paul’s class is tonight.”
She wrapped her arm around his. “You’re the one who needs to be careful. You’re taking all the risks this afternoon. I don’t trust Kenneth. Just get in and out of there as quickly as possible.”
