Chapter 5
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Children all dressed up in different Halloween costumes and adults alike wandered around the room as they took in the excitement of the themed room.

"ROAR!" A group of children walked past a fake brick wall just as Tony reached out with his gloved hand. Frightened for only a second, they laughed as they ran off towards another booth.

"What a day." Ralph said dressed in his pirate costume. He and Pam sat at a table in the corner as they watched the activities.

"Tell me about it." Pam replied as she straightened her witch dress. "I wonder if Mrs. Pearson will be alright?" she wondered.

"I'm sure Bill will fill us in on what happened with her." he said. "If he decided to come back here." as he looked around.

"Hey, it's Chuckles the FBI Guy!" Paco dressed as a rockstar said standing at the snack table.

Bill walked over, dressed in a red wig, red nose, yellow clown outfit and red clown boots. "Yuk it up, Rodriguez." he said as he got some chips and a cup of punch. He saw Ralph and Pam sitting then walked over.

"I never would have believed it. Bill Maxwell, wearing a Halloween costume." Pam said smiling as she looked at Bill.

"Why not, Counselor? I paid for the outfit, might as well wear it." he replied to her as he ate some chips.

"So Bill, what happened with Mrs. Pearson?" Ralph asked him. Rhonda, who was working the crystal ball booth saw the three and walked over.

"Old lady Pearson is now residing at the rubber room mansion. Two charges on kidnapping and my favorite, assaulting an agent." he said as he took a sip of his punch.

"Why did she do that to us, Mr. Maxwell?" Rhonda asked.

"Well kid, here's how the story goes or at least her side of it. She lived in a rough neighborhood. Delinquent kids and all. She had everything done to her. House eggings. Her trees TP'ed, windows broken.. Vandals. It's a long list and the psychologist at the office said once you get too much of that kinda stuff you start losing it. So she did, a screw and all the marbles with it." he explained.

"You were right, Mrs. Davidson. You had her figured out." Rhonda said.

"Not ALL of it. I didn't know WHY she did it." Pam added.

"What about all those rooms with the booby traps and the secret pathways?" Ralph questioned as he looked at Bill.

"The house itself is about fourty years old. So the secret pathways themselves were added in the fifties with the atomic bomb craze goin' on. The little funhouse downstairs, however was built a few years ago by contractors." Bill replied.

"Building contractors?" Pam asked.

"You got it, Counselor. It seems Mental Maude did own this house, but before moving to a smaller house a few blocks away she paid building contractors to install the little obstacle course saying that it would be used for a haunted house like tonight or a funhouse later on." Bill answered.

"So then she waited for someone to unknowingly come to this house and fall in her trap." Ralph added.

"That was the scenario. Quite a mastermind that old dame was there." Bill said.

"Yeah, but ya know. Even though she did all that stuff. I feel kinda bad for her. She must've had it rough." Rhonda said sympathetically.

"You're probably right." Pam said.

"I probably would hate this time of year too if I were her." Rhonda said glancing over to her crystal ball booth. "Gotta go! I've got customers!"

"Have fun, Rhonda." Ralph said, proud of his student's feelings on the situation.

"I guess that would make someone go cuckoo, but I really don't understand it." Bill stated as he shook his head.

"Understand what?" Ralph asked.

"Why would anybody wanna hate Halloween?" Bill responded.

Ralph and Pam looked at each other and laughed.

The End.