Finally her cold fingers found the switch for the entrance hall light. She flipped it on and gasped. At her feet lay the black dress she had worn to the wake last night, ripped and torn into an almost unrecognizable mass of cloth. Beside it was a small pool of red. She bent and touched it, then sniffed her finger. The coppery smell of blood.
' Blaine!' she called loudly, springing up on shaking legs. ' Blaine, where are you?'
A trail of red spots down the hall toward the bedrooms. Natalie took a few more hesitant steps. Her shoe touched a broken picture frame. She picked it up. The glass was shattered. Inside the twisted frame were scratched remains of a photo of her and the dog Clytemnestra that had sat in her father's study for over twenty years. In the photo her eyes had been gouged out. Just like Tam's, she thought in frozen horror.
A calm, distant voice told her she should turn and leave the house immediately. The voice of reason. Instead she followed the spots of blood like one hypnotized, certain they led to Blaine. Was the dog merely injured? Or was she dead?
Pain shot through Natalie at the thought of the gentle, amber-eyed dog lying motionless as her life drained from a slit throat. Anger followed the pain, white-hot fury at someone who would come into this house and hurt-
She halted in her bedroom doorway, her gaze flashing to the flickering on her vanity. Four fat candles threw wavering yellow light around the room.
On the bed lay her silk kimono, carefully spread without a wrinkle, the sash tied in a neat bow. At the neck of the kimono rested a clean, hollow-eyed human skull, a fresh red rose caught between its clenched, yellowed teeth.
15
Natalie stood transfixed for what seemed an endless time. Then she snapped back to reality. She turned on the overhead light, blew out the candles, and called police headquarters. Then she unlocked her suitcase, withdrew the gun she'd promised Nick she wouldn't use, and went in search of Blaine.
She felt eerily composed as she moved slowly down the hall, passed through the seldom-used dining room, and crossed the living room, flipping on lamps as she went. When she came to the sliding glass doors leading to the terrace, she turned on the outside lights and finally drew a deep breath.
Blaine stood chained to the metal lamp pole. A muzzle covered her face. She trembled and crouched in fear.
Natalie covered her hand with the edge of her suit jacket so she wouldn't disturb fingerprints and pushed open the door. She rushed to the dog, removing the muzzle that was much too tight, then hugged her and murmured to her as she ran expert hands over the dog's body searching for injury. Blaine winced when Natalie touched her left side. She didn't believe a rib was broken, but perhaps it was cracked or bruised. The dog must have put up a struggle, although there was no blood around the mouth. Apparently she hadn't bitten anyone.
'I'm so sorry,' Natalie crooned. 'I wish you could tell me who did this to you.'
Blaine jerked and looked over Natalie's shoulder. Natalie grabbed the gun and still crouched, spun and aimed.
'Natalie!' Andrew St. John froze. 'My God, what's going on here?'
Natalie lowered the gun. 'We've had an intruder.'
Andrew gazed at the gun. 'Where did you get that thing?'
'I've had it for a few months. Don't worry-I know how to use it.'
'That's exactly what does worry me. You handle the damned thing like it's second nature to you. Natalie, I hate guns. Do you know what a bullet can do to the body?'
'Yes. I also know what a long-bladed razor can do to the body. Someone has slashed three throats lately. I'm not going to apologize for arming myself.' Andrew continued to stare at the gun. 'I've called the police.'
'Yes, that was the right thing to do. There's blood in the hallway, you know. Come in out of the cold.' It wasn't cold but Andrew looked slightly dazed. Blood in the hall, his daughter pointing a.38 at him. It had been too much, Natalie thought. He nodded at the gun. 'Put that thing away before the police get here, or you might get in trouble.'
She'd already been in trouble over the gun, but she couldn't tell her father about the night when Nick found her in The Blue Lady. 'I'm not going to put it away. I have a permit for it,' Natalie said casually, 'and I'm not sure someone isn't still in the house.'
Her father grew motionless. 'Still in the house?'
'I didn't check every room, Dad. I just went back to my bedroom and then in search of Blaine.'
'That was very foolish of you. You should have run out of the house as soon as you saw the mess in the hall.'
'Dad, before I came in I had a feeling I was being watched. Harvey and his wife aren't home-no one would have heard me if I'd screamed. I got inside as fast as I could and locked the door behind me. Once I saw the havoc in the house, I went for my gun.'
'You went for your gun. Dear God.'
'Dad, the fact that I have a gun is hardly the big problem here.' Natalie stood up. 'Someone has invaded our home.'
'I should never have left you alone.'
'Have you been with Alison all this time?'
'No. I sedated her and left her sound asleep. Then I went back to the hospital to check on some patients.' He paused. 'The blood in the hall and the shredded clothes and picture. Is that all the damage?'
'Well, there's a skull with a flower in its teeth on my bed.'
'A skull? A real skull? A human skull?'
'It's human and I'm fairly sure it's real.'
'Natalie, how can you act so calm?' Andrew finally thundered. 'What's wrong with you?'
'Nothing is wrong with me. Would you be happier if I were standing here shrieking my head off?' Andrew slowly shook his head. 'I will never understand you if I live to be a hundred.' A car pulled into the driveway. He looked out the window. 'Not the police. No light bar flashing on top.'
'I asked them not to flash the light. There's no sense in disrupting the whole neighborhood.'
'Natalie, you act as if this kind of thing happens to you every day!'
Something has been happening to me almost every day, Natalie thought. 'I have delayed reactions, Dad,' she said gently. 'Half an hour from now I'll be shaking like a leaf.' Andrew looked relieved at the promise of what he considered a normal response. 'You'd better open the door for the police.'
Natalie led Blaine inside and watched the police enter. She was relieved to see Nick with Hysell following close behind. Nick looked controlled, but Ted was nearly vibrating with excitement. 'A little trouble here, Dr. St. John?' Nick asked calmly.
'Shredded clothes and picture. Something that looks like blood in the hall.'
'And some real creativity in my bedroom,' Natalie said. 'I didn't touch anything except some light switches. I haven't checked all the doors and windows to make sure they're locked, but they usually are. The sliding glass door to the terrace was unlocked, but the intruder had put Blaine out there and might simply have left it unlocked. I covered my hand when I touched the door handle.'
Nick looked at her approvingly. 'Sounds like you know how to handle yourself in this kind of situation. Careful not to disturb evidence.'
'I watch a lot of those television police shows you don't like.'
Nick glanced at Blaine. 'Dog all right?'
'Yes. She was chained to the light pole on the terrace and muzzled. She's scared but not seriously injured.'
'How much of a fight would she put up if a stranger broke in?'
Natalie shrugged. 'I don't know. I've had her such a short time. She's slightly hurt-she received a blow to her left side. I don't think anything is broken, and I don't believe she bit anyone.'
