And again, this was beginning to seem like a cruel hoax, draggingthe police out here for the same fool’s errand.
I’d like to get my hands on that prankster.
Maybe I’d even press charges.
Staring down into the pit, Baldry asked, “How much deeper do youwant us to go?”
That’s a good question, Wightman thought.
How deep did they need to dig before they could feel confidentthat this late-night errand was an act of futility? That it was again based ona prank.
“Just keep digging,” Wightman replied. “I guess it’s gettingtight down there. You can take it in turns.”
Holland started shoveling again, while Baldry just stood on theedge of the hole. Glancing into the surrounding darkness, Baldry said with asmirk, “Sheriff, I hope you’re keeping an eye out for the Goatman.”
Wightman growled under his breath.
It wasn’t a very funny joke, given how those anonymous messageshad mentioned the old legend, both then and now. The vicious Goatman was just aregional tale, of course, but when Wightman had been a kid, it had seemed scaryenough to keep him awake nights.
He was about to call an end to the digging when he heard a shakyvoice from within the excavation.
“Sheriff,” Holland said. “Bring the light closer.”
Wightman and Baldry leaned over the edge of the hole.
Holland was brushing loose dirt aside with his hand, uncoveringsomething.
Baldry’s voice sounded frightened now.
“Oh, Jesus. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”
Wightman held his hand out to shine the light directly whereHolland was working.
“It looks like black cloth,” Holland said.
As Holland cleared more dirt away, they could see white paint onthe black background—white stripes that looked like ribs. The cloth was part ofa Halloween costume.
The missing woman had been wearing exactly that sort of costumewhen she’d disappeared last year on Halloween—a skeleton costume, black withwhite bones painted on it.
“Oh, no,” Holland said. “Oh, Christ, no.”
He kept scraping the dirt away with his hands. He hesitated whenhe uncovered the skull mask.
“Lift it,” Wightman said, knowing all too well what they’d findbehind it.
Holland lifted the mask, then let out a cry as he scrambledbackward away from the sight.
It was another skull—a real one. Desiccated flesh clung to thebones, and there were mangy tufts of raggedy hair on the scalp.
The truth flooded over Sheriff Wightman like a tidal wave.
Allison Hillis was no longer a missing person.
She was a dead one.
Baldry retreated away from the edge of the hole, whimpering withhorror.
Wightman stared down at the skull with his mouth hanging open.
“What do we do now, Sheriff?” Holland asked in a hushed voice.
For a moment, Wightman had no idea what to say.
What does this mean? he wondered.
Why had the anonymous tipster led them here on some pointlesserrand last year, only to bring them out here again to find an actual corpse?
And why had Allison Hillis been murdered to begin with?
Wightman remembered what the cryptic note had said in cut-outletters …
THE GOATMAN IS STILL HUNGRY
Whatever else it might mean, Wightman felt sure of one thing.
This was obviously a murder, and there are going to be more.
Holland repeated his question. “What do we do now?”
Wightman took a long, deep breath.
“We’re going to call the FBI,” he said.
CHAPTER ONE
Rounding up her daughters for breakfast seemed to be animpossible task for Riley this morning. After arguing over who was taking toolong in the bathroom, April and Jilly kept popping in and out of each other’sroom to chatter about nothing in particular. When they finally came downstairs,they even started playing games in the family room until Riley dragged themout.
Have I got more than two girls? she almost wondered.
“Come on, let’s eat,” Riley kept saying. “You’re going to missthe bus to school. And I’m not going to drive you this morning.”
Finally she managed to herd both girls into the kitchen, wheretheir Guatemalan housekeeper, Gabriela, had a delicious breakfast ready as usual.As soon as they sat down at the table, Jilly asked a question.
“Mom, can I have forty dollars?”
“What do you need it for, honey?” Riley asked.
“I need to rent a zombie costume,” Jilly said.
For a moment Riley wondered, Zombie costume?
Then she remembered—Halloween was just a couple of days off.
“You don’t need a zombie costume,” Riley said.
Sixteen-year-old April poked her younger sister and saidgleefully, “I told you she wouldn’t let you have it.”
A whine rose in Jilly’s voice as she said, “But I need a costumeto go trick-or-treating!”
“You’re too old to go trick-or-treating,” Riley said.
“I’m fourteen!” Jilly said.
“Exactly what I mean,” Riley said, taking a bite of herbreakfast.
“This isn’t fair,” Jilly said. “I’ve never been trick-or-treatingin my life. I’ll definitely be too old next year. This will be my lastchance.”
Riley felt a pang of surprised sympathy. “You’ve neverbeen trick-or-treating?”
Jilly shrugged and said plaintively, “When would I have had thechance to do anything like that?”
April added, “You know she’s telling the truth, Mom.”
Indeed, Riley was sure of it. It had just never occurred to herbefore.
Jilly had only recently become part of the family. Last OctoberJilly had still been in a social services home in Phoenix, and before that shehad spent her childhood in the care of an abusive father. Riley had finalizedher adoption in July and gotten her settled into a more normal life, but sheknew that Jilly had missed out on a lot of ordinary activities—includingtrick-or-treating, apparently.
She asked Jilly, “Who will you go trick-or-treating with?”
Jilly shrugged again. “I dunno. Can’t I go by myself?”
Riley shuddered a little at the very idea.
“Absolutely not,” she said. “It can be dangerous for kids to gotrick-or-treating on their own. You need to go with somebody older. Maybe Aprilwill take you.”
April’s eyes widened with alarm.
“I’m not taking Jilly anywhere!” she said. “I’ve got a party togo to!”
“What party?” Riley asked.
“At Scarlet Gray’s house,” April said. “I’m sure I told you aboutit.”
“And I’m sure you didn’t,” Riley said. “Anyway, you’re not goingto any party. You’re still grounded.”
April rolled her eyes. “God, am I going to be grounded for therest of my life?”
“Just until Thanksgiving,” Riley said. “That’s what we agreed to.”
“Oh, that’s just great,” April said, poking at her breakfast withher fork. “I’m grounded and I have to go out with my
