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When I finished with the chiffonier, I retrieved the two hairs andtable revealed nothing and the bed-tables were unre coat pockets, suitcases, handbags, and shoe boxes, one of which still contained the receipt for the red wedgies she’d been wearing the first time we met There was a credit-card slip stapled to the receipt and I tucked both inunder the bed, nothing stashed behind the chiffonier I was checking back to see if I’dfro room

"Kinsey, they’re back!" Moza wailed, her voice hoarse with dread Froht the

"Thanks," I said Adrenaline flooded through h a storainst my tank top as in a cartoon I did a hasty visual canvas Everything looked OK I reached the door to the hallway, eased out, and pulled it shut behindof skeleton keys out of ht Shit! I’d left it on the dressing table

Mur nice, asking about dinner I yanked the door open and did a running tiptoe to the dressing table, snagged the flashlight, and bounded, like a silent gazelle, back to the door again I tucked the flashlight up underthe proper key into the lock A twist to the left and I heard the latch slide into the hole I turned the key back quietly, extracting it with shaking hands, careful not to let the keys jingle together noisily I glanced back overfor an escape route

The hallway extended about three feet to the right, where the archway to the living rooh At the extreme end of the hall was Moza’s bedroom To my left, there was an alcove for the telephone, a closet, the bathroo roo rooain If they were heading back this way, I had to guess they’d coiant steps to the left and slipped into the bathroom The minute I did it, I knew I’d made a bad choice I should have tried the kitchen, with its outside exit This was a dead end

There was a separate shower to lass door, bathtub adjacent To ht was a pedestal sink, and next to it, the toilet The onlyin the room was small and probably hadn’t been opened in years By now, I could hear voices growing louder as Lila moved into the hall I stepped into the enclosed shower and pulled the door shut I didn’t dare latch it I was certain the distinct sound of theher to ht down and held on to the door froainst the tile I sank down to a crouch, thinking that if someone came in, I’d be less conspicuous if I was hunkered down The voices in the hall bumbled on and I heard Lila unlock her bedroom door

The shoas still da over the cold-water knob dripped intermittently on my shoulder I listened intently, but I couldn’t hear et into the Zen of hiding Otherwise your knees ache, your leg o into spasms, and pretty soon you lose all sense of caution and just want to leap out, shrieking, regardless of the consequence I leanedinward I could still taste the onion fro to clear et caught, because I was going to feel like such an ass if Lila or Henry whipped open the shower door and foundthere I didn’t even bother to think up an explanation There wasn’t one

I lifted my head Voices in the hall Lila had coone in to make sure the hairs were in place I wondered if I should have confiscated the duplicate licenses while I had the chance No, better that I left them where they were

Suddenly the bathrooainst the bathroom walls like a bullhorn My heart leapt into action so fast it was like being flung in an icy swiht on the other side of the shower door, her plulass I closedht there, dearie love," she sang from two feet away

She crossed to the John and I heard the rustle of her polyester dress and the snap of her girdle as she struggled with it

Please God, I thought, don’t let her decide to take an ih that I was bound to sneeze or cough or groan or cacklemy armpits dampen with sweat