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Nobody there but my partner.
He looked unchanged, but there was a difference. I felt a tension unlike any
I d encountered before. I sensed that he was safe and awake but way too
focused to spare me a thought.
Which meant the trouble was still in the house. And he was a nightmare.
Upstairs. He had to be upstairs. Candy was upstairs.
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But we already had Winchell . . .
I felt for the Dead Man, seeking confirmation. He did not respond. Of course.
Whoever did it is still here, I told Belinda. And he s so strong he s fought
the Dead Man to a standstill. I think he s after Candy. I m going after him.
But I m afraid if I go upstairs he won t be there. He ll grab you and take
off.
So check down here first. She was calm and practical. Maybe it was
hereditary.
I guess Old Bones can hold out a few minutes more.
Nothing in here, Belinda said, having entered the kitchen boldly and the
cellar door is locked from this side.
A shriek came from above, from Candy s room in Candy s voice. Could be bait.
Something thumped the floor. It sounded like a body falling. Belinda grabbed
my arm. I asked, you reckon it s a trap?
Garrett!
Right. This is no time to make light. Tell me a better time.
I told me to pretend I was Morley Dotes. This might be a job that called for
Morley s legendary cool. If my honey didn t just have a guy up to play . . .
Morley s cool. I was tempted to send out for it. Only . . .
Only what the hell was going on here? I did my part. I got Winchell sewn up
and delivered. It was time to collect my reward and ride off into the sunset.
What was all this mess?
My office was clean. I traded looks with Eleanor. That calmed me. It reminded
me that I d gotten through bad times before, that calm was my most potent
weapon. A little reason would help too, sweetheart.
The small front room contained nothing but an odor cat haters know well. You
little shit. You blew it.
I jammed my rain hat onto my head, set course for the kitchen. I banged
around in there till I found the cheesecloth Dean bought the time he had a
blue sky idea about saving money by making his own cheese. I told him: did I
want to cut financial corners, I d do without a housekeeper. Anyway, to date
we were out the cost of cheesecloth without no cheese to show. I hacked off a
few yards, folded the cloth over my rain hat, and tucked the edges under my
collar, front and back.
What in the world are you doing?
Beekeeper trick. You might want to try it yourself.
You re insane, Garrett. But she followed my example. She even made herself
crude mittens.
I dug through drawers and poked into closets till I found my sulfur candles.
Try not to breathe the fumes once I light these things. They ll knock you on
your ass.
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Belinda shook her head, muttered obscenities, but went along. You re
completely paranoid. You know that, don t you?
I have been ever since I found out they were out to get me. Anyway, I
couldn t stand it if you was to get butchered now.
You re a born romantic too.
That s me. The man of a thousand faces. All this was punctuated by repeated
thumps and yells from above. Then the yelling stopped. The silence seemed
particularly ominous.
I think you better get on your horse, Garrett.
Yeah. I checked Dean. He was doing as well as could be hoped. He had his
hairball buddy to look out for him. I wished we had time to send out for
reinforcements, but the silence upstairs told me I was all out of time. White
knight to the rescue. Well, it was white back before the rust set in.
Lets do it, Garrett.
No style, this one. But one hell of a set of legs.
I knew it! I moaned. It had to be something impossible. There were
butterflies on the second floor. They were big and green and unpleasantly
carnivorous but blessedly few and stupid. Watch those things. I got a feeling
if they nip at you it could spread the curse the way mosquitoes spread yellow
fever. People in TunFaire didn t generally know that, but in the islands you
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