Chapter 13: Searching in the Dark
The haunted house in Senator Parker's mansion wasn't nearly as large as the one at the school. Of course, it was meant for a private party and not a public showcase.
According to Phelps, the haunted house was set up to cover three rooms: the music room, the library, and the billiard room.
"I feel like I've walked into a game of Clue," Lee thought.
"The guests are supposed to enter through the music room, then go through the connecting doors between each room, ending in the billiard room," Phelps explained.
"Just in case someone is already hiding in the haunted house," Billy said, "we'll divide into two groups. Lee, you and Phelps enter through the music room. Francine and I will enter through the billiard room, and we'll meet in the middle, in the library."
"Wait!" Lee said. "Phelps, are the things in the haunted house controlled by electric eye?"
"I think Mr. Goreman mentioned something like that," Phelps said.
"Are they turned on right now?"
"I don't know."
Lee turned to Francine and Billy and said, "Be careful. If the electric eye devices are turned on, just moving around could set off things in the haunted house."
"Oh, joy," Billy said. He and Francine headed down the hall to the billiard room door.
Lee drew his gun and nodded to Phelps that he was ready to enter the haunted house. Phelps drew his own weapon, and the two of them went inside.
The room wasn't completely dark, but it was dim. Colored lights aimed at the various frightening figures and decorations cast weird shadows around the room. Lee scanned the room with his eyes, but nothing moved.
The room had been set up to look like a concert for a monsters' convention. A couple of rows of chairs held an audience of figures that looked like monsters from various movies. A mummy sat next to a werewolf, who sat next to a witch. Cleverly, the figure behind the witch looked like it was trying to see around her tall, pointed hat.
The "musicians" were a vampire, who was seated at the piano, and (really cleverly) the Invisible Man, who was apparently holding a violin. Lee couldn't see the fine wires holding up the coat and hat that the Invisible Man was wearing as well as his violin, but he knew they must be there.
"We'll have to inspect every figure in this room," Lee told Phelps. "Any of them could be a person wearing a costume."
"Okay," Phelps said, heading toward the audience.
As he stepped further into the room, the vampire figure at the piano suddenly came to life.
"Gooood evening!" it said loudly. "Do you have any requests?"
Both Lee and Phelps tensed, their weapons raised.
The vampire's hands moved on the keyboard, and piano music filled the room. The bow on the Invisible Man's violin began to move also as he began to play the accompaniment.
Lee whirled around, checking to see if any of the other figures moved. So far, the "audience" was still, but there was probably a sensor that would set them off, too.
"Be careful!" Lee snapped at Phelps.
"Sorry," he said.
"Great," Lee thought. "I'm going to be jumping at every shadow in here."
Lee moved back by the door to the room to search for the light switch. Having normal lighting would make their job easier. However, when he flicked the switch, it just turned all the colored lights off, leaving them in the dark.
"Hey!" Phelps cried.
Lee quickly flicked the lights back on. "Sorry."
A quick glance around the room assured him that nothing had moved while the lights were out.
"Don't do that!" Phelps snapped.
"After this Halloween, I may never go in another haunted house again," Lee thought.
He jumped as Phelps set off an electric eye sensor that made the figure behind the witch reach for her hat and pull it off. Phelps was getting so twitchy that, for a moment, Lee was afraid that he was going to start shooting and blow the witch's head off.
"Just try to stay calm, okay?" Lee said to Phelps. "Remember, some of our people are somewhere in the haunted house, too. We don't want any friendly fire."
"Right," Phelps said, lowering his weapon.
"This is definitely the last haunted house I ever go in," Lee grumbled to himself while they continued their search.
SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK
Francine and Billy weren't having it any easier. The billiard room had been turned into some kind of den for skeletal pirates. The billiard table had been covered over to make a banquet table for them, strewn with wooden tankards and gold coins from their treasure hoard.
"Well, isn't this cozy?" Francine remarked sarcastically. "Love what they've done with the décor."
"Just focus, Francine," Billy said. "Remember, we're looking for a killer."
"I remember," Francine said, glancing behind the door to make sure that no one was lurking there as they stepped into the room.
"At least we can be sure that none of these guys are our assassin in disguise," Billy noted as he examined one of the pirate skeletons. He stuck the tip of his finger in between the bones of the pirate's exposed rib cage.
"Disgusting," Francine said, wrinkling her nose. "What about that chest?"
"Chest?" Billy asked, looking at the undead pirate next to him.
"That chest! Over there," Francine said, pointing to a closed wooden chest across the room. "It's big enough for a person to hide in."
"We'll check it out," Billy said.
Guns in hand, they slowly walked across the room.
"You stand to the side and open it," Billy said, aiming his gun at the wooden chest. "Be ready to jump back if anything moves."
Francine gave Billy a dirty look, but she knew that she was the logical person to open the box. Billy might not be a field agent any longer, but his marksmanship was excellent. Carefully, she reached out to take hold of the box lid.
Her hand had barely touched it when the lid suddenly sprang open. With a gasp, she jumped back. Billy almost fired upon the thing in the box, but just in time, he saw that it was only another skeleton. Its bones jiggled as it laughed at them. Then, it slowly sank back down into the box, and the lid closed again.
Billy lowered his gun and took a deep breath to calm his nerves.
"That wasn't funny," Francine said when she could speak again without her voice shaking.
"Come on," Billy said. "Let's finish up in here."
SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK
Lee and Phelps entered the library at the same time as Billy and Francine. They paused for a moment when they spotted each other on opposite sides of the room. Billy silently motioned to Lee to take a look around the room. After looking carefully and not seeing anything other than the obvious Halloween decorations, Lee nodded to Billy and stepped into the room.
The library had been decorated as a kind of séance room. Luminous ghosts hung all around the walls, and in the middle of the room, there was a small, round table with a gypsy figure seated on one side and an empty chair on the other. There was a crystal ball in the center of the table, and the words "Madame Florica" were written in gold on the blue table cloth. There were also markings in the shape of a pair of hands in front of the empty chair.
The table looked too small for anyone to hide under, but Lee lifted the edge of the table cloth and checked anyway. Most of the space under the table was taken up by the electronics that controlled the display. Lee wondered what the display was supposed to do.
While Lee checked out the table, Phelps looked behind a couple of easy chairs but found nothing. Francine pulled aside the curtains that covered the French doors leading out to the garden. No one was behind the curtains, and the doors were securely locked.
"My men have been patrolling the outside of the house since before the party began, but I can station a couple to watch this door for the rest of the evening," Phelps said.
"That would be a good idea," said Billy as he stood next to Lee at the séance table.
Francine moved to join them, but she set off another electric eye on the way. A white ghost swooped down from the ceiling with an eerie wail. The men in the room started slightly at the sound, but Francine just looked annoyed.
"I never liked haunted houses," she said. "Give me the tunnel of love any day."
The others chuckled a little at her joke and relaxed a bit.
"Have you found anything?" Billy asked Lee. His eyes were still traveling around the room. All of the glowing ghosts were also see-through, so it was obvious that no one was hiding behind them.
"Nothing," Lee said, staring thoughtfully at the tablecloth.
"We haven't found anything, either," Billy said, sighing.
Madame Florica was Amanda's character from the school carnival, Lee remembered. Her name had probably been taken from this prop made by Goreman Electronics. Lee was a little surprised that they hadn't supplied one of the electronic versions for the school carnival, since they were going to so much trouble to show off their products there.
Of course, it was a pretty elaborate prop. Lee was curious to see how it worked. Sitting down in the empty chair, he placed his hands on the hand-shaped markings.
The gypsy came to life, saying, "Welcome! Let me tell your fortune."
The figure raised its hands and waved them over the crystal ball. The ball lit up. The lights inside changed color, from blue to red to green. Then, the ball turned a bright white, and Madame Florica said, "I can see your future now."
A small, white card popped out of a slit at the base of the crystal ball. Lee picked it up and read:
Florica's Fortunes
Quote: "Actions speak louder than words." – Old Proverb
Your Situation: You've been concerned about whether someone close to you really understands the way you feel. You want to say something, but you're not sure whether the other person will understand.
Prediction: Your special someone understands the situation much better than you think. Soon, this person will be grateful for a show of support from you.
Advice: If you can't bring yourself to speak, show the other person how you feel. Do something nice to let this person know that you care!
"Cute," Billy said, reading over Lee's shoulder, "but not much help with our problem."
"Yeah," Lee said, slipping the card into his pocket as he stood up. "It doesn't look like there's anybody hiding in here."
"We should check in with the other search team and see if they've found anything," Billy said. "Then, we can turn our attention to the ballroom."
"Let's go out that way," Lee said, gesturing to the music room with a grin. "Wait 'til you get a load of what's in there."
"Whatever it is, it's probably not as impressive as the skeleton pirates back that way," Billy said, returning Lee's grin.