Murder Game

Chapter 5

By Ronin S. Oath

The storm picked up in intensity, and the noise of the wind, rain and thunder was incredible! A heavy blast of wind slammed against the windows just as the doorknob was turned... As the key seemed to rattle in the lock, Rachel cried out!

But they key jiggled again just as lightning brightened the dark room. Rachel saw it. Just for an instant her heart stopped, and a cold chill ran through her body.

She climbed out of bed, being careful as she ran barefoot to the door not to step on or trip over Conan, in time to catch the key as it tumbled from the lock.

Someone had poked it out of the door!

As fast and quietly as she could, Rachel shoved it back into the keyhole. Her key hit against something hard, and she thought she heard someone on the other side of the door grunt in surprise.

Rachel waited for the person to try to dislodge the key again, but it didn't happen.

Rachel slid out her key and bent down to peer through the empty keyhole. Lightning lit up the sky, and in that sudden bright flash, Rachel saw the gleam of an eye looking back at her!

She screamed... She couldn't help it...

Rachel heard footsteps running away down the stairs and knew that whoever had came to their room had gone. But what was the person after? They didn't have anything of value...

Clutching the key tightly, Rachel climbed back into bed. She knew she wouldn't sleep. She'd probably never sleep as long as she was in this house!

But at some point, Rachel opened her eyes and found that the room had grown lighter, and Conan stood over her with a childish smile on his face. Rachel looked to the bedside clock and discovered that it was already eight o'clock in the morning!

After a quick shower and getting dressed, Conan and Rachel hurried downstairs through those dim, gloomy halls, moving even faster than before.

They reached the dining room, which was bright with the light from the huge crystal chandelier. The table had been reset, and on the sideboard there was an array of covered warming dishes, bowls of strawberries and melon, platters of rolls and muffins, and small boxes of cereal. Conan and Rachel helped themselves to a bit of everything and sat down to eat.

"Good morning," Mrs. Engstrom said as she entered the room, then walked to the nearest warming dish and peeked inside as though to reassure herself that they hadn't taken all the eggs. "Please tell me if there is anything that you need or if there is anything I can do for you. I want your stay here to be as comfortable as possible. Your aunt told me to how much she was looking forward to your visit."

"But not everyone wants us here," Rachel replied.

"Your aunt does and she's lonely," Mrs. Engstrom told her.

Rachel nodded. "I'd be lonely too, if I had to live in this castle, away from all my friends and all that."

"Mr. Augustus always comes here to write," she said. "He demands complete quiet. When he's working on a book, no one- not even Mrs. Augustus- is allowed in his office."

"But what does Aunt Thea do to keep busy while they're living here?" Rachel asked, not meaning to pry.

Mrs. Engstrom's lips tightened again, and she said, "Mr. Augustus has never wanted to hire a secretary, so Mrs. Augustus has always done the job. She answers Mr. Augustus's mail... You wouldn't believe how much mail he gets! There's fan mail, and invitations to speak to various groups, and request for donations... All sorts of things! Mrs. Augustus takes all his phone calls, and watches out that he's not disturbed while he's working or resting..."

"What does she do for fun?" Conan asked as he listened to all the work Rachel's aunt had to do. "I saw a game board in Mr. Augustus's office..."

Mrs. Engstrom smiled at Conan like a mother would a child. "Mrs. Augustus and I usually play..." Mrs. Engstrom turned and moved towards the door, then left quietly.

Laura Reed staggered into the dining room and flopped into a chair. "Coffee," she groaned. "There must be coffee around here..."

Rachel got up and brought her a cup of coffee. Laura sipped at it for a few minutes, and apparently it did something for her, because she began to wake up. She sat a little straighter, took a deep breath, and looked to each side, twisting to peer behind her.

"Do you want something else?" Rachel asked. "Breakfast is over there."

"I'm not hungry," she whispered, and leaned forward, shoving a folded paper into Conan's hands. "I just wanted to make sure that Augustus wasn't skulking around someplace... Honestly! The nerve of that man! He reminds me of the director of my last picture... Terrible personalities, the both of them."

Conan opened the paper and saw that it was the list of football scores.

"You offered to help me," Laura said. "So help. Okay?"

Conan scanned the list. "Have you tried to work it out yourself?"

Laura sighed. "Work what out? I didn't even read it. I don't know anything about football scores or what they mean."

"I don't know all the teams myself," Conan admitted. "I'll read the list out to you. If anything seems familiar to you, just speak up. One of these numbers might be a locker number, or part of an old address, or something like that..." After Laura nodded, Conan began to read: "Final Scores: Rams 14, Buffalo Bills 6; Falcons 13, Red Skins 21; Giants 6, Forty-Niners 13; Emerald Bay 1, Stars 0."

There were a lot listed, but Conan didn't read them, because Laura let out a high-pitched shriek, sounding like a mouse being chased by a cat. She clapped her hands to her cheeks, gasped as though she were hyperventilating, and stared at Conan in terror.

"What happened?" Rachel asked.

"Nothing!" Laura wheezed, and snatched the paper out of Conan's hands.

"Something I read must have-"

"Forget about it!" Laura jumped to her feet and ran out of the room.

By the time Conan and Rachel finished breakfast, Alex and Julia had come downstairs. Alex had dark bags under his eyes, and Julia looked terrible. The heavy makeup she wore hadn't helped a bit!

Conan pushed back his chair and left the dining room.

In the entry hall, Thea met him with a smile. "I've got fresh orange juice and cinnamon rolls in the sunroom," she said. "Why don't you settle in with me and we'll nibble on rolls and enjoys the storm?" She put an arm around Conan's shoulders.

When they settled into comfortable chairs in the sunroom, Conan asked Thea some of the same questions he and Rachel asked Mrs. Engstrom. Thea was an intelligent, active woman, and he couldn't imagine that she'd be happy hidden away here, trying to placate her husband. She was here either because she was still much in love with Augustus, or because she was afraid of him...

Conan began to wonder if Augustus might have some hold over Thea. He'd included Thea in the game. Did that mean she had a secret in her past life? One too awful to be made public? But Thea was Augustus's wife! What kind of monster would terrify his own wife?

Laura came into the room and sat on one of the wicker couches. She stretched out and sighed dramatically before she said, "Whatever Augustus plans to do, I wish he'd get it over with. This waiting is horrible! I tried to call my agent, but the phone is out because of the storm."

Alex, still carrying his coffee cup, wandered in, stared out the window for a moment, then perched next to Laura. "I hate rain," he said. "It makes everything look dreary."

A second later, Rachel walked into the room, and sat by Conan with a smile on her face.

"I'm sorry about the storm," Thea said. "I'm sure none of slept well."

"As a matter of fact, I did," Alex said. He drained the cup and put it on a nearby table. "I even slept quite late this morning."

"Probably because you were up so late last night," Laura said.

He shot her a glance from the corners of his eyes. "I wasn't up late. We all went upstairs together, as I remember."

Laura shook her head. "Your room is next to mine... I heard you moving around and your door opening and closing. I looked at my beside clock, and it was nearly midnight."

"I don't know what you heard, but it wasn't me," Alex insisted.

"It couldn't have been anyone else!"

"Laura dear," he said, "you're beginning to sound like a busybody."

Laura apparently decided not to continue the argument, but she pressed her lips together in a pout and glared at Alex before she said, "You're such an inspiring person, Alex. It's wonderful how you managed to achieve so much when you had the terrible handicap of a dysfunctional childhood... Even changing your name! Of course, I suppose that didn't bother you, since you never knew your parents and Alex Chambers has so much more marketing appeal than- What was it again?"

Thea reached over and patted Alex's arm. "No one's childhood is perfect," she said. "If you had a difficult childhood, then I'm sure it helped you to be even more sympathetic and understanding of others."

Alex glanced sharply at Thea, mumbled "Thank-you," then stared down at his boots as if he had never seen them before...

Julia wondered into the sun-room, complaining, "So here is where everyone is gathering. No one told me!" Julia dragged a small wooden chair from its place by the wall, in order to sit close to the group. "Arthur is furious," she announced. "He tried to get through to his Washington office, but the phone is dead..."

"We often lose our phone service during bad weather," Thea apologized.

Tracy, who had just arrived with some hot coco, said, "Mrs. Augustus, the weather reporter on the radio said he's not counting on good weather until Monday or Tuesday."

"Thank-you, Tracy. If you see Senator Maggio, will you please ask him to join us?"

"Yes, ma'am," Tracy said, but as she left the room the senator and Buck passed her.

"We heard voices," Buck said, and he pulled up another of the small chairs that stood against the wall. Senator Maggio did the same, squeezing his chair into the circle.

Buck was his unruly, beefy self, but Senator Maggio probably looked worse than anyone else in the room. His face sagged, and his eyes were sunken behind such dark circles, he looked as though someone had punched him.

Thea smiled gently. "Didn't the hot milk help you sleep?"

"Not a bit," Senator Maggio replied, and then quickly added, "but you were kind to prepare it for me."

Thea nodded. "It's fortunate that we were both restless at the same time."

"So you were down stairs too," Laura said. She smiled and tossed a sharp glance in Alex's direction. "Thea, did you, by any chance, run into Alex?"

Thea shook her head.

Julia let out a long, aggrieved sigh. "That's neither here nor there," she said. "We are all waiting for Augustus to make his next move. Where is he?"

"He is usually down by this time," Thea said, and looked at her watch. She pressed a little button by her chair, and in less than a minute Walter appeared. "Will you please see what's keeping Mr. Augustus?" she asked, and with a nod Walter left.

The senator pointedly looked at his watch and grunted with exasperation, while Buck said, "Take it easy, Arthur. We aren't going anywhere."

"I'd like to get this so-called game over with," Senator Maggio replied.

Alex began to answer him, but there was a scream from the hall! Everyone was staring towards the open doorway when Mrs. Engstrom, Tracy, and Walter appeared. Mrs. Engstrom was pale and she fought to regain her balance as a tearful Tracy clung to her shoulder. "Mrs. Augustus," Mrs. Engstrom said, but her voice wobbled and she couldn't continue.

Walter made an effort to collect himself. He stood a little taller, took a deep breath, and said, "Mrs. Augustus, Tracy discovered that Mr. Augustus's bed had not been slept in, so I went to his office to see if he spent the night there on the couch..." He gulped before he continued. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Augustus. Mr. Augustus is dead."

Thea gasped and half rose to her feet when Tracy shrieked, "He's not just dead! There's blood on his head, and there's blood splattered on his desk! Mr. Augustus was murdered!"

To Be Continued...