"Uh…Betty, what happened?" Rick asked, seeing Artie staring in shock from his place on the sofa.
"I…I don't know. The lights went out, then I felt someone trying to choke me. I grabbed the first thing I could reach…then I hit something. Whoever was trying to choke me let go, …and the lights went on…and there he was." She said mechanically.
"Uh, Artie…did you see anything?" Rick turned to him, then saw awareness come into the other man's eyes.
"No….like Betty said, someone came in the room while the lights were off. I heard a choking noise, then when I tried to help, the lights came on, and Melvin was …"
"Dead." A.J. stood up from checking for a pulse.
"Oh, God…Oh, God..everyone's going to think I did it…..but it was an accident..no…self-defense." Betty started to babble. Rick firmly took her by the arms and made her sit down. "All right, Betty…take a deep breath….no one's accusing you of anything. We need to get a hold of the police….and find out who killed Melvin."
"I'll call Oscar…he can reach the police…" A.J. started, then the sound of a ringing phone startled him.
"I thought there were no phones here…" Rick growled. "I'm going to find out where that is…Artie, you and Danny and Betty lock yourselves in here…we'll be right back."
"Good idea, thanks, Rick." Danny replied, following them to the door. "Here, this might help." He added, handing both Simons a penlight from his pocket.
"Thanks, man…" Rick gave him a pat, then he and A.J. went out the parlor door. As the door was closed behind them, the ringing phone stopped.
"Great…well, lets take this room." Rick went to the first door on the right, opening it to show a bathroom. Flipping on the light, he saw an old fashioned club-footed tub, with toilet and washstand. Backing out, he followed A.J. as he opened the opposite door, then flipped on the lights. The bright lights illuminated a dining room of immense proportions, with a long marbled table set for ten.
"Well, that tells us someone wasn't planning for a large crowd." A.J. said, surveying the room. Seeing no other way out, Rick turned and went further down the hall, opening several other doors, leading to closets, another sitting room, kitchen and finally a library.
As they entered the musty-smelling room, A.J. spotted an old-fashioned phone, and picking it up, heard a dial tone.
"This must be what we heard ringing…let me call the police." He told his brother, dialing 911. As he began to speak to the dispatcher, another scream was heard.
"Give them the address, then follow me, hurry!" Rick told him, then ran back down the corridor. As he came to the front parlor door, he saw it was closed and tried the door. Finding it still locked he pounded on the door.
"Danny, it's Rick, what happened?"
There was no answer, so he pounded it again.
"Rick….I got cut off…what …" A.J. rushed up to him, then gave a swift kick to the door.
At once the door frame splintered, and the door gave way to show the dead body of Melvin Davis….and an empty room, chairs and tables knocked over.
"Damn…" Rick swore, then a crack of thunder sounded over the mansion.
"Rick, I think we'd better get Oscar….go ahead and signal for him…I'll look around."
The older Simon frowned. "A.J…I don't think we'd better split up…someone's gone to a lot of trouble to go after four of our classmates…."
"Rick…we need to find Betty and the guys…I promise not to go too far, okay?"
"All right, but be careful." Rick said, then watched as his brother started checking the walls.
"Laurie, come in, sweetheart." He hit the transmitter button, then got static.
"Darn… A.J…there must be some kind of electrical interference around here." Rick started, then suddenly, an old 50's tune began to play.
"What the….where's that coming from?" A.J. backed away from the alcove he had just discovered. Turning toward the windows, he pulled aside the curtain, only to find a small speaker in the corner of the sill. Locating a wire leading to the wall, he yanked it out, cutting off the vocal in mid-word.
"Someone's trying to tell us something, Rick."
"Well, I don't think much of their tactics…come on, let's get outside and try to get some reception." He said, then headed toward the front door. Opening the door, he groaned as rain poured down in front of them.
"Wait here, I'll get the car, A.J." he told him. Dashing outside, he started for the garage where their car was parked. As he grabbed the handle of the garage door, an electric shock hit him, and he jumped back, shaking his hand.
"A.J….get back into the house, this thing's electrified." He yelled, then A.J. called back,
"The gate…look!"
Rick turned, then saw lightening hit the gate, setting off a small explosion.
Not needing another demonstration, Rick dashed back to the house. As he neared the front door, he saw the metal entry door start to close.
"A.J….back up!" he hollered, then dove through the door just as the entry clanged shut. Instantly a sizzle of sparks went off, and the two brothers quickly backed away from the door.
"Guess we're not leaving right now…." Rick muttered, shivering.
"Good thing you brought a change of clothes, come on, let's see if the phones working again in the library." A.J. suggested, stopping in the now empty parlor and retrieving their bags. Seeing the still body of Melvin, Rick was struck by something odd.
"A.J…..look….the blood on Melvin…doesn't it look kind of ..old?"
Leaning over to look..A.J. straightened up. "You're right…he wasn't killed here, he was killed elsewhere. Let's try to secure the room, then hole up in the library."
"Good idea." Rick acknowledged. As the two of them went down the hallway, they looked in each of the rooms again, but found no sign of the others. As they went past the dining room, however, music started to blare from inside the closed door. As A.J. reached for the knob, Rick slapped his hand away.
"Just in case…" he warned, then took out his wallet and threw it at the door.
As it hit the metal knob, sparks flew and it tumbled to the floor, smoking.
Startled, A.J. looked at his brother. "Thanks, Rick….that would have been me."
"You're welcome, I figured one shock per family's enough." He smirked half-heartedly, cowering inside at the mental pic of what could have happened.
They proceeded into the library, where once again they checked all the doors and windows, then bolted the door.
"Let me try the phone again…but I'm going to find something to pick it up with." Rick decided. Just then the phone rang again, and seeing a cloth doily on one of the dusty chairs, he picked it up, then dropped it on the receiver. Seeing no sparks or smoke, he used the material to lift the receiver. "Hello?"
"Rick? It's Doug, thank God I got a hold of you…what's going on?"
"Pal, you wouldn't believe it if you tried….did someone try to get you to come early to surprise one of us?"
"Yeah, Melvin….but it sounded funny. When I couldn't find out who to RSVP to, I called the curator of the Gingham Estate. He knew nothing about any party tonight, and when I tried to reach you at your Mom's, she told me you and A.J. were at the estate and that something might be wrong. Do you want me to call the police?" Doug asked.
Just then Rick's thoughts came to a screeching halt.
"Wait a minute, who never came, or called that they weren't coming….Bob, Margaret and Tim…….But why? Did something happen to them to stop them from coming, or …
Suddenly he realized that when the lights went out, the sound of the door closing came from near the locked door, and immediately he went to the wall space next to the door frame. Slowly feeling around the wall, he carefully inched along the bookshelves section by section. As he reached the last bookcase, he saw the wall scone was slightly tilted, and he bent it in the direction it was leaning.
At once a door swung open in the wall paneling, and Rick nearly gave a shout.
"So this is how he got in and took A.J….." he figured. Pulling out the miniature flashlight Danny Martin had given him, he shone it inside the passageway, then on the floor. Drag marks were visible on the rough boards, and after putting his damaged wallet as a doorstop against the bookcase jamb, Rick started down the hall.
As he turned down the narrow passage, Rick tried to "call" to his wife once more. "Laurie…can you hear me? I'm coming!"
"Rick?….Darling…hurry…he's setting a trap for you….He got A.J….."
"Laurie, sweetheart…it's all right, I'm coming…" Rick comforted her then asked, "It's Bob Clayton, right?"
"Yes..oh, Rick be careful…he's crazy…." She frantically "told" him.
Just then he saw a light ahead, then nearly stumbled on a short flight of steps. Catching himself just in time, he crept down the staircase, then turned on his transmitter, sending out a locator signal.
"There you go, Mrs. Simon….don't worry, your husband will be joining you soon…for all eternity!"
Now Rick knew for certain who had been the voice at the gate, the man in uniform….and Melvin Davis. Silently inching forward, he came to a doorway, then peered through a crack in the splintering door.
A man's back was to him, busily attaching some device to a doorknob. Quietly Rick came out of the hallway, then waited until the murderer turned around.
"Don't move, Bob."
Instead of freezing, his former classmate whirled around, a welcoming smile on his face.
"There you are, Rick. Thanks for saving me the trouble of hunting you down. Bet you don't have the slightest clue as to why you and the others are here."
Rick shook his head, trying to play for time. He had just seen Oscar and Ron Johnson through a window in the corner of the room.
"Well, Bob, if you're going to kill me, the least you can do is tell me why." He said calmly, staring at the middle-aged man. "I thought you had everything, being an actor and all…"
"You never did think about your actions, did you Rick? Let me refresh your mind." Clayton smiled cruelly. "You were barely a presence on campus, yet when it came to friends, I couldn't get any girls attention when you were around. I wanted Laurie Scott, yet it was you she ran to . Same as Doug Sherman…I wanted to be validictorian..but nooo, he sucked up to the principal and got picked over me…."
"What about Melvin…what did he ever do to you to get killed?" Rick fingered his weapon in his pocket.
"He had all that knowledge in that head of his….but would he take my finals for me…noooooo. And that Betty ..nothing but a teaser…they'll never take me for granted again. Especially that Tim Ski….who stole my place on the baseball team…
Never, ever will you cause me such pain again" he boasted, then held out his hand.
In it rested a small black box, with numbers ticking away on the keypad.