"I don't know, maybe."
"That woman frightened three colors of shit out of me. I wouldn't have dared to do that."
"You can't say that. Maybe you would."
"I wouldn't, because I didn't want to believe in any of this
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Santeria stuff. You didn't want to believe it, either, but at least your mind was open, and you followed the clues where they led you."
The white-bearded Decker said, "That's where you're wrong, sport. I didn't follow any clues. I was shown the way, by a spirit who loves me more than I even realized. That was the only reason I believed in the Devil's Brigade, and Chango, and that was the only reason I went looking for Major Shroud."
Hicks looked at his watch. "How about a cup of coffee? Want me to make it?"
"Sure, sounds like a good idea."
Hicks went into the kitchen and switched on the light. As he did so, there was a ring at the doorbell. He turned and stared at Decker, and Decker pulled his Anaconda out of his holster and cocked it.
There was a long pause, and then the doorbell rang again. "Think it's him?" Hicks asked, in a hoarse whisper.
"He'd just walk through the wall, wouldn't he? He
wouldn't ring the bell."
"Yeah. But it could be him."
"Go take a look through the spyhole."
While Hicks went to the door to see who was there, Decker went from lamp to lamp, switching them off, so that the light was subdued, apart from a single bright desk lamp directly behind him. Then he stood in the center of the room, stiff-backed, bearded chin protruding, as if he were General Robert E. Lee himself, expecting an audience.
Hicks turned around and said, "It's not him."
"It's not? Then who is it?"
"Friends of yours. Sandra Plummer and her mother." "What? What the hell are they doing here?"
"You want me to let them in?"
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"Of course I want you to let them in."
Hicks opened the door and Sandra came in, blinking against the light. She was wearing a gray duffel coat and a maroon woolly hat. Eunice Plummer came in right behind her, her hair even wilder than usual, dressed in a long brown raincoat.
"Where's Lieutenant Martin?" she asked.
Decker took off his hat. "Right here, Ms. Plummer. Don't let the beard fool you."
Eunice Plummer peered at him closely. "My goodness, it is you. Why are you dressed up like that?"
"Because I'm expecting a visitor, Ms. Plummer. I'm expecting the man who killed Jerry and Alison Maitland, and George Drewry, and John Mason. Apparently I'm next on his list."
"But why do you have to look like Robert E. Lee?"
"I'm flattered—you guessed who I was supposed to be. It's
called psychology, Ms. Plummer. Catching your suspect off
guard. But what are you two doing here? It's past midnight." "The So-Scary Man is coming," Sandra said, emphatically. "How do you know that, Sandra?"
"She woke me up and said she could feel it," Eunice Plummer said, somewhat impatiently. "I told her she was imagining things, and to go back to bed, but she wouldn't. I'm afraid she threw a bit of a tantrum, so in the end there was nothing I could do but bring her here and show her. Otherwise she could have suffered an episode."
"An episode?"
"A fit, Lieutenant, and they can be very harmful." Decker said, "Sit down, please. How about a cup of coffee? Sergeant Hicks here was just making some."
"No, thank you," Eunice Plummer said. "But Sandra might like a glass of warm milk."
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Decker sat next to Sandra and took hold of her hands. "Sorry about the beard, Sandra. It's my disguise."
"You look like Santa Claus."
"Yes, you're right. Ho-ho-ho! Sorry I don't have any presents for you. But listen—tell me what you felt about the So-Scary Man."
"I was having a dream. I was dreaming about the House of Fun."
"Go on."
"I saw the twisty cloud over the rooftop and then I saw the So-Scary Man coming out of the door. He was wearing his long gray coat and he was wearing a hat like yours, and I knew that he was coming to find you."
She hesitated, and then she said, "He was carrying a sword, too. Just like yours."
Eunice Plummer looked at Decker keenly. "You're really expecting him, aren't you? What Sandra saw in her dream—that was real, wasn't it?"
Decker nodded. "The So-Scary Man is Major Joseph Shroud, who was possessed by a Santeria god called Chango, back in 1864, during the Battle of the Wilderness. Chango gave him such power that he was able to massacre hundreds of Union soldiers, and I guess he could have turned the tide of the war, if Lieutenant General Longstreet had allowed it."
"I don't understand. How could he still be alive today?"
"I don't really understand it myself. But his fellow officers sealed him in a lead casket so that his body was preserved, and I guess that his life spark was kept alight by Chango."
"And he's coming here—tonight?"
"My great-great-grandfather was one of the men who sealed him up. He wants his revenge."
Sandra said, "I woke up and I looked out of my bedroom window and I saw the black twisty cloud over the House of Fun and I knew it was real."
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"You're right, Sandra," Decker told her. "It is real." He turned to Eunice Plummer and said, "There's no doubt about it—Sandra has some extrasensory sensitivity, whatever you want call it. Otherwise she wouldn't know that Main Street Station is the House of Fun—or, actually, °fun,' which means 'the place where the curse is born."
To Sandra, he said, "Sandra—I want to thank you for all of your concern. You've been amazing, and you've helped us to solve all these murders. But things could get dangerous here tonight, so I want you to take your mom home, okay? When all of this is finished with, and we've locked the So-Scary Man up in prison, I'll come around and take you and your mom out for lunch. How do you like fried chicken ?"
"He's outside the door," Sandra said, in a matter-of-fact voice.
"Excuse me?"
"The So-Scary Man. He's standing right outside the door."
Decker immediately stood up and jammed on his hat. "Hicks!" he shouted. "Forget about the coffee! He's here! Bring in the fruit and everything! Bring in that rooster! And bring in that carving knife, too!"
Eunice looked flustered. "What shall we do?"
"You and Sandra go into the bedroom. Close the door and lock it. He won't try to hurt you unless you get in his way."
"I have to stay," Sandra said.
"You can't! This man is a homicidal maniac! Now get in the bedroom, please!"
"But you won't be able to see him!"
Hicks was coming out of the kitchen with a paper bag of groceries in one hand and the rooster in the other. The rooster was fluttering and flustering and trying to burst out
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of its basket. Hicks said, "She's right, Lieutenant. Think what happened to Queen Ache."
But Decker took Sandra's arm and started to propel her toward the bedroom. "I can't risk it. If the So-Scary Man sees that you've been helping me—God alone knows what he could do to you!"
"I have to stay!" Sandra protested. "Don't you understand? It's what I was born for!"
Decker stopped pushing her and stared at her. Sandra stared back at him, her pale blue eyes unblinking and determined.
Eunice Plummer came forward and put her arm around Sandra's shoulders. "She's right, Lieutenant. Don't you see? She was born with a handicap, but she was also born with a very great gift. This is her destiny, isn't it?"
Decker opened his mouth and then closed it again. He didn't know what to say.
Hicks lifted up the brown paper bag of fruit and herbs. "All ready, Lieutenant."
"Okay, then, sport." Decker turned back to Sandra and looked at her seriously. "If you really want to stay, Sandra—you can stay. But promise me you'll keep right behind me, and don't attract attention to yourself. If things start to go wrong, don't hesitate, don't try to help—you and your mom run into that bedroom as fast as you can and lock the door tight and call the police."