Laureen walked over to join him. “I know I’m probably being ridiculous, but doesn’t this look a lot like a . . .” she swallowed hard, “. . . a grave?”
Alan laughed. “More like a flower bed to me. Remember that bed of zinnias you put in by our old house? I think it was about this size.”
Laureen gave a sigh of relief. “I guess my imagination is running away with me, honey. It’s just that so many people have died.”
“Yeah. And they’re all in our freezer. Pretty soon there won’t be enough room for your brownies.”
“Alan! You’re terrible!” Laureen was shocked, but she couldn’t help laughing.
Alan grinned and hugged her. Then, catching a glitter in the dirt, he stooped down to pick up a heart-shaped diamond earring. “Look at this, honey.”
Laureen stared down at the earring for a moment and then she gave a little cry. “That looks just like the earrings Hal gave Vanessa.”
“Might as well keep it.” Alan stuck it in his pocket. “I’ve got the other one. I found it on the floor of the freezer. She must have been wearing them the night she died.”
“But what was she doing out here?” Laureen shivered. “This doesn’t make any sense, Alan.”
“Maybe we’d better wake the others. Come on, honey.”
Laureen could feel her knees shaking as she walked through Clayton’s apartment and out the door. The lights on either side of Clayton’s door were out. She hadn’t noticed that earlier.
“It’s really dark, Alan.”
“I must have turned off the hall lights by mistake.” Alan led her calmly down the hall.
Laureen leaned against the wall as Alan pressed the elevator button. At least the arrow lit up, its faint glow reassuring her.
The elevator doors slid open, but the inside light was off. Laureen shuddered and stepped back. “I’m not getting in there in the dark.”
Alan put his arm around her shoulders. “The bulb’s just burned out. The elevator’s still working just fine.”
“But what if the power’s going out? We could get stuck!”
Alan sighed. There were times when his wife was terribly obstinate. “The doors opened and they’re electrical, and the button lit up. Come on, Laureen, we don’t have time to argue about this.”
“Let’s take the stairs. Please?”
“Be reasonable, honey. You told me your legs were stiff from sleeping on the lounge chair. Do you really want to walk down all those stairs? We’ll get there much faster in the elevator.”
Laureen took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, as Alan took her arm to lead her forward. Then she let out a cry and pulled him back. “It’s not there! Oh, my God, Alan! The elevator’s not there!”
Alan took a step back, away from the brink of the yawning shaft, and reached out to wrap both arms around her. “Jesus, Laureen! You saved our lives!”
“Thank God I noticed! If we . . .” Laureen’s voice broke and she found she couldn’t go on. Thinking about what could have happened was just too horrible. As they stood there hugging each other, glorying in the fact that they were still alive and safe, something connected solidly with the small of Laureen’s back, hurtling them forward into the empty shaft. They had a brief moment to clutch at the empty air as they fell five floors to the garage. Alan had been right. The elevator was much faster than the stairs. They didn’t even have time to scream.
NINETEEN
Betty let out a little cry. Her secret friend had gone down to forbidden channel zero to open the big box that ran the elevator and then he’d come back to channel five to push them. Now they were falling to the bottom of the elevator shaft to play dead. She didn’t want to watch the end of this movie. It was so scary that holding her hand in front of her eyes wouldn’t help.
Outside snow was falling again. Betty knew it was late at night because the other channels were playing their sleeping movies. Her secret friend had been here again and he’d given her more of her favorite candy. This time she had taken three pieces, but she’d saved them for later. Of course, she hadn’t let him see her. He was so nice to bring the candy and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
The thought of the candy made her mouth water, and Betty reached under her pillow. It was still there, wrapped in a tissue, but it didn’t look much like candy anymore. She tossed the gooey mass in the wastebasket by her bed and reached for a cracker instead. At least crackers didn’t melt, they only crumbled. She was just about to put on one of the Doris and Rock movies that Jack had given her, when she found something interesting on forbidden channel two.
“Did you hear something?” Moira sat up in bed. “Grace? Are you awake?”
Grace sat up and swung her feet out of bed. “I am now. What was it?”
“It sounded like something crashed into the living room wall. I think I’d better take a look.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Grace got into her robe and slippers and followed Moira into the living room. They switched on the lights, but there didn’t seem to be anything out of place.
“Maybe one of the animals fell over,” Moira guessed. “We’d better check.”
Grace lagged behind a bit as she followed Moira to the storage room. When her father had died, she’d wanted to sell off the whole collection, but Moira had been delighted with the variety of species her father had preserved. Grace never liked going to the storage room, but it was even worse at night. Paul had designed a huge temperature-controlled room to house and preserve her father’s legacy. It had a rustic look, almost like the inside of a log cabin, and Moira had arranged the specimens in a manner that was much too realistic. It frightened Grace every time she saw the big upright Kodiak bear, huge paws extended to rake her into his deadly embrace.
The black panther was another animal Grace avoided. His yellow glass eyes glittered savagely in the light and his lips were pulled back in a vicious snarl, exposing his long, sharp incisors. He looked ready to pounce on her and rip her flesh into shreds.
“Everything seems to be all right.” As Moira walked down the rows of animals, she reached out to pat the lion’s head. “Check on Penny, will you, Grace? If she fell over, she’d make an awful racket.”
Penny was Moira’s nickname for the giraffe, and Grace dutifully headed to the back of the room, giving the bear and the panther a wide berth. At least the giraffe didn’t scare her. She’d never heard of anyone being attacked by a giraffe.
“Penny didn’t tip over.” Grace’s voice quavered slightly and she was ashamed of her timidity. She’d never mentioned her fears to Moira, but she was very glad when they closed the door on her father’s menagerie and went back into the living room again.
“Your picture’s crooked.” Moira pointed to the publicity photo of Grace in her first role as a featured dancer. “Something must have bashed against the other side of this wall. That’s the elevator shaft, isn’t it?”
Grace nodded. “Maybe it got stuck and someone pounded on the wall to get our attention.”
They hurried out into the hall and pressed the elevator button. In a moment, the doors slid open. Moira was about to step in even though the inside of the cage was dark, when Grace pulled her back.
“Oh, my God!” Moira’s mouth dropped open as she peered into the empty shaft. “Thanks, Grace.”
Both women looked at each other for a moment and then Moira took charge. “Get the flashlight, Grace.”
Light in hand, Moira got down on her stomach and leaned over the shaft. When she spoke, her voice echoed hollowly. “There’s something down there.”
“Does it look like a . . . a person?” Grace wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but perhaps knowing was better than imagining.
Moira got to her feet. “More like a bundle of clothes. Come on, Grace. We’ve got to warn everyone so they won’t use the elevator.”