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"I don’t think he killed her, if that’s what you ht he did that Anyway, the cops know he lied about the time and they never cared"

"The cops knew?"

"Sure, I’d assume so They probably saw her themselves Ten o’clock, they’re always down at the beach That’s where they have their coffee break"

"Jesus, people in this town have sure been content to oat"

Cherie stirred restlessly "I have to get home"

"If you think of anything else, will you let me know?"

"If I’m still around, I will, but don’t count on it"

"I appreciate that Take care"

But she was gone

20

It was eleven o’clock when I finally eased into bed Exhaustion wasmy whole body ache I lay there, acutely aware offorearm This would never do I hauled myself into the bathroom and washed down some Tylenol with codeine I didn’t even want to think about the day’s events I didn’t care what had happened seventeen years ago or ould happen seventeen years hence I wanted healing sleep in excessive doses, and I finally gave myself up to a formless oblivion, undisturbed by drea telephone woke me from the dead I picked up the receiver automatically and laid it on my ear I said, "What"

The voice was labored and slo-pitched, gravelly, andto tear you apart I’ to make you wish you’d never come to Floral Beach…"

I slaot out another word I sat straight up, heart thudding I’d been sleeping so soundly that I didn’t knohere I was or as going on I searched the shadows, disoriented, tuning in belatedly to the sound of the ocean thundering not fifty yards away, discerning in the tawny reflection of the streetlights that I was in aI’d never come I pushed the covers back and padded, inout through the sheers

Theits pewter beads along the sand The street beloas deserted A coested that soht TV As I watched, the light was flicked off, leaving the balcony dark

The phone shrilled again, causing me to jump I crossed to the bed table and lifted the receiver cautiously, placing it againstspeech It had to be the same voice Daisy had heard at Pearl’s when someone called to ask for Tap I pressed a hand to round sounds from the caller’s end of the line The threat was standard fare, real ho-hum stuff I kept my mouth shut and let the voice ramble on What kind of person made crank calls like this? The real hostility lay in the disruption of sleep, a diabolical form of harassment

The repeat call was a tactical error The first tiy to make sense of it, but I ide awake now I squinted in the dark, blanking out the e so I could concentrate on the mode Lots of white noise I heard a click, but the line was still alive I said, "Listen, asshole I knohat you’re up to I’ll figure out who you are and it won’t take , so enjoy" The phone went dead I left hts off while I pulledI knew the trick InI carry a little voice-activated tape recorder with a variable speed If you record at 24 centimeters per second and play back at 12, you can produce the sa tone that seeorilla with a speech iuess, of course, how the voice would sound if it were played back at the proper speed It could beor old, but it aluise?

I unlockedthe sainst e, but I could hit da I tucked my room key in my jeans pocket and eased the door open a crack The corridor was dark, but it had an empty feel to it I didn’t really believe anyone would be there People who intend to kill you don’t usually give fair warning first Murderers are notoriously poor sports, refusing to play by the rules that govern the rest of us These were scare tactics, enerate paranoia I didn’t take the death-and-dismemberment talk very seriously Where could you rent a chain saw at this tiht? I pulled the door shut behind me and slipped down the stairs