Chapter Ten

Paul glanced around furtively before picking the lock on the expensive apartment and slipping inside. He shut the door behind him before turning on the light. Normally he didn't break into places, but considering this apartment was registered to Ellena Fanchon, he didn't have any compunction about it. They had to find out what had become of Della. This apartment might hold some important clues to that effect.

He had to admit, however, that in spite of the lavish, pre-furnished surroundings, there wasn't much in the way of personal touches. Even the bedroom closet was only sparsely populated—but judging from the clothes and accessories hanging in there, Ellena planned to change that over time.

Obviously she was getting money from some particular source, probably whoever she was working with on the scheme to torment Aaron Stuart. Paul had checked all of Della's accounts and had found that they had not been touched. Ellena was not dipping into Della's funds to live her extravagant lifestyle. Perry would be relieved about that.

Paul sighed to himself as he went over to the bed and looked at the notepad on the end table. He had hoped there would be some kind of message scrawled there, or at least the indentations from a message on a previous sheet of paper, but it was untouched. Maybe Ellena's cohorts didn't even know about this place. Or if they did, maybe they were smart enough not to give her messages that could be left lying around.

He left the apartment soon after, not having found anything of value. But just as he was quietly closing the door, another door opened to the right. "Ellena?" the occupant called.

Paul froze. "Uh . . . Ellena's not here," he said, not wanting to make himself look even worse by turning and running.

"I was hoping you were her coming back," the guy frowned.

Paul went over, hoping he didn't look too hopeful. "Do you see her a lot?"

"Not much," he shrugged. "That'd be kind of impossible considering she just moved in a couple of nights ago. But boy, did she enter with a bang! She immediately endeared herself to me, that's for sure. And the other guys on this floor."

Paul inwardly groaned at the thought of Ellena prancing around in Della's body and flirting with all the men. "Did she say anything about where she likes to go?"

"She goes anywhere that's fun," the guy replied. "Although the first night she got in, I heard her talking to someone on the phone who didn't seem happy about her taking out this place."

"Yeah?" Paul perked up. "Who was that? An old boyfriend?"

"He didn't sound like a boyfriend. Sounded more like a partner in some business deal. He said something about it being a risk to take a place out and she should just stick with the Street woman's place. Who's that?" He looked hopeful now. "Another fun girl?"

"Well . . . not in the same way Ellena is," Paul said carefully.

"Oh. So then Ellena told him that the place was too square and she had to have a place to really stretch her legs, at least when she wanted to go out at night. He was real mad about that too. Said she needed to keep herself completely under wraps until some masquerade ball."

"Did she ever mention his name?" Paul asked.

A shrug. "Gerry or Gerard or something like that."

Paul made a mental note of that. "So was Ellena going to lay low?"

"I doubt it!" the guy chortled. "You said yourself she's not home, so she's probably out painting the town red right now. Or maybe meeting with Gerard. He sounded like a real sour apple. I can't figure out what a girl like Ellena would see in him."

"I thought you said it was a business partnership," Paul reminded.

"Yeah, it seemed that way. But why go into business with a jerk?"

Paul shook his head. "Unfortunately, I can think of a lot of people who've done just that."

"And they probably regret it later. Right?"

"Some." Paul stepped back. "Okay, thanks for your help. Hey, you don't happen to know what kind of a business they have, do you?"

"I wish I did," was the reply. "I'd go pick her up every day when the work was over." The guy headed back into his apartment. "I hope she comes back soon."

"You and me both, Friend," Paul muttered under his breath. "Although not for the same reasons."

He headed back up the hall to the stairs. Maybe this Gerard worked at the import-export business Sergeant Brice was checking out. He'd call Steve and run the name past him. Maybe if they could pin him down, they could find out his identity and what connection he could possibly have to Aaron Stuart.

xxxx

Hamilton was not terribly used to being awakened in the middle of the night. In a case such as this, however, he couldn't say he minded that much. He wanted to know what was going on. Still, now that they knew, and there was not much more that could be done, he really wanted to try to get some sleep. He sat on the couch in his living room, watching as Perry nervously paced the length of the room and then turned to come back the other direction.

"Perry, you're making me dizzy," Hamilton objected. "And we both know this isn't helping Della."

"I know!" Perry boomed. Quieter he said, "I'm out of ideas, Hamilton. If David Solomon knows anything, he isn't saying. If the people at Trapezoid Solutions know anything, they're not saying. And by now it's nearly morning and Della is still missing."

Hamilton looked down. "There isn't much of anything you can do right now, Perry. The police are watching the import-export place as well as Mr. Solomon. If Della turns up at either location, they'll see her." He looked up again. "The best thing you can do for Della right now is to go home and get some sleep."

Perry exhaled. "I know I should go and let you go back to bed, Hamilton. I shouldn't have come here at all."

"No, you should have. I needed to know. But Perry . . ." Hamilton slowly got up. "I'm worried about Della too, but I'm also worried about falling asleep in court. I don't know how you pull all-nighters so much. Maybe if we both get some rest, we'll wake up with new perspectives on the case. Or maybe by then, someone else will have found something out."

"You're right." Perry headed for the door. "But I can't help thinking I should be out there looking for Della and not stop until I find her."

"She's probably gone underground, if her partners in crime have any sense at all," Hamilton said as he followed. "And if the problem with Dr. Stuart is going to climax at this masquerade party, it's possible she'll turn up there. Probable, actually, if this Ellena has it in for Dr. Stuart so much." He looked away, uncomfortable.

Perry paused. "Hamilton, do you believe that Della is being possessed?"

Hamilton stiffened. "I certainly don't want to believe it!" he objected. "A couple of years ago I wouldn't have even entertained the possibility. I would have insisted that Della needed a good, long rest somewhere." His shoulders slumped and he looked down. "Maybe that's even the truth. But . . ." He looked up again. "After everything we've been through recently, I realize it could be exactly the way you keep saying. However, if Della is really possessed . . ." He spat the word out as though it tasted bad. And for Hamilton, it probably did. "Perry, do you really think getting the necklace away will help?"

"I can only hope so," Perry replied. "Ellena is supposed to be bound to the necklace, after all."

"Maybe Della is the only one who can really fight her off," Hamilton said. "And according to the way she's been acting, she doesn't even know when it's going on!"

"It seems hopeless, doesn't it." Perry gripped the doorknob. "But I'm not going to give up. If it is up to Della to stop this, then I'm going to believe that she can and will."

Hamilton sighed and fell back with a relenting nod. "Then I hope you're right, Perry." And that it happens before Dr. Stuart is dead.

The unspoken sentence hung in the air. Perry, new fear for Della building in his heart, quickly slipped out the door. "Goodnight, Hamilton."

"Goodnight," Hamilton called after him. He turned away, wishing there was more that he could do. Right now, all he could think of was to pray, and pray he would.

Della needed all the help she could get.

xxxx

The night passed without any encouraging developments. Neither Sergeant Brice nor Lieutenant Drumm was able to find any indication that Ellena had ever been at the Trapezoid Solutions offices for more than discussing a shipment, even after a search. David Solomon, after finishing Joe Mannix's car, went home to sleep. The day stretched through the morning and into the afternoon without anything unusual happening with any of the persons of interest.

At Manzana Valley Prep School, following the last gym class of the day, Pete watched as students on their free periods trouped in to start decorating for the masquerade ball the following night. In spite of the chaos at the school, they were excited about the prospect of the autumn party and began to hang crepe paper in Halloween colors with pride.

The Stuarts came in while that was going on and stood near Pete, enjoying the moment of serenity. "They're good students," Aaron said, pleased. "They deserve tomorrow evening as a fun escape."

"Yes, but Aaron, I know you remember what that horrible voice said yesterday," Marian objected. "They're going to come after you at the ball!"

"It may even be an empty threat, for all we know," Aaron retorted. "For the last time, Marian, I'm not going to cancel this just because of that! Anyway, Miss Street has disappeared. It's just possible she'll come to the party. That's what Perry is hoping."

"Why would she come to the party?" Marian retorted. "There's something that Perry hasn't told us. I know it!"

Aaron looked to Pete, who seemed uncomfortable. "Did he tell you what it is?" he asked.

"Well . . ." Pete shifted. "No, not exactly. . . ." It wasn't a lie; it had been Paul who had told Pete to watch out for Ellena's presence at the school and this morning had called to tell him the latest developments about Della.

"This is the second time Miss Street has vanished this week!" Aaron exclaimed. "The first time, it happened right after she said all those bizarre things. I'd really like to know what's going on around here!"

"Dr. Stuart, if Mr. Mason hasn't told you something, I'm sure he thinks it's for your own good," Pete said at last.

"I'm sure he does too, but that doesn't mean it is," Aaron shot back.

Pete really did not want to be the one to introduce the supernatural angle to Aaron! "I think you should take it up with Mr. Mason," he said carefully.

"And he'll probably still feel that we shouldn't know," Aaron retorted. "If anyone's going to tell us, it should be you, Mr. Kelton."

Pete sighed heavily. "To be honest, Dr. Stuart, I really don't know how to," he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What do you mean 'you don't know how to'?" Aaron frowned. "If it's that complicated, we need to know all the more!"

Pete looked back and forth between the worried couple. At last he sighed again, moving to step away from them. "Maybe I can call Mr. Drake and ask him what he thinks is advisable. I'm really working under him, after all; he's the one who was hired by Mr. Mason."

"Oh, for Heaven's sake," Aaron grumped as Pete took out his phone.

Marian sighed too. "I guess it's understandable that he's worried about doing anything that might get him in trouble with the licensing board," she said. "But it's still upsetting!" She jumped a mile as something clattered to the floor.

"Sorry, Mrs. S.," a student called. "I dropped the box of crepe paper pumpkins."

"Nevermind," Aaron called back with a dismissive wave.

Marian looked to him with worried eyes. "Aaron, what if Miss Street is missing this time because she was kidnapped?" she exclaimed. "Maybe that's why Perry doesn't want to tell us."

"Who would kidnap her?" Aaron scoffed.

"Whoever's after you!" Marian insisted. "It could fit. Maybe they're trying to get Perry off the case by threatening Miss Street's life!"

Aaron was troubled. He had to admit, it did sound possible. "But Perry wouldn't give in," he said helplessly. "He'd be all the more determined to not let them win if they have Miss Street."

Pete hung up and came back over to them. "Mr. Drake gave me the go-ahead," he reported. "Mr. Mason thinks that with everything probably about to come together tomorrow evening at the party, you should know what seems to be going on. In fact, he's on his way here right now to talk to you both, but if you don't want to wait for him, I'll try to tell you."

"Good. Then tell us!" Aaron implored.

"One thing, though," Pete said awkwardly. "I think we should talk in your office."

Aaron sighed but nodded. "We shouldn't run the risk of the students overhearing," he agreed. "Alright, let's go." He headed out of the room.

Marian lingered, looking to Pete as if to make sure he was coming before she turned to follow her husband.

And as Pete trailed after them, none of them noticed Janet Gwynne standing near enough to have overheard part of their conversation. She frowned to herself, gripping her class materials as she turned away.

xxxx

Della really didn't know what was going on. Some time ago she had awakened but had been unable to make her body move. She could, however, see that her body was indeed moving, eating, even talking and laughing. But she was not a part of it.

"What's going on?!" she cried as loudly as she could. "What's happened to me?!"

For a long time there was never any answer, nor even any acknowledgment that she had spoken. But at last, as she pounded and screamed from her invisible prison, a Southern voice spoke.

"You know, you're really getting on my nerves. I thought I'd put you to sleep for a good, long while."

Della fell back, stunned and confused. "Ellena?" she ventured. She knew the voice, and for some reason Ellena seemed like the name that went with it. Ellena . . . the dead girl.

"That's right, Honey. You know, I've gotta say, it's been awfully fun taking your body for a ride these last few days."

"W-what?" Della swallowed hard. "You really have possessed me? But the necklace . . ."

"Don't you remember?" Ellena jeered. "You replaced the real one with a paste copy I had made up. That's why your little voodoo friends couldn't figure anything out."

"I don't remember that," Della retorted, a bit of her fire returning. "Why would I do that?"

"I just gave you a few little suggestions to carry out when I wasn't in full control of you," Ellena replied. "Kind of like hypnosis."

"You can't hypnotize someone to do something they wouldn't do on their own!" Della insisted.

"And it sure was interesting figuring out how to get you to do those things," Ellena giggled. "I just had to tell you enough times that it was gonna help your precious Perry Mason and his client. Your body kind of acted automatically those times. You just kind of blanked out. All the better . . . for me!"

"I remember something now," Della said angrily, struggling against the seemingly unbreakable wall all around her. "I tried to help you! I wanted to help you find out who murdered you and you told me to put on the necklace. You said I'd see what you saw!"

"And you did, didn't you?" Ellena grinned. "Just not the way you expected."

"You took advantage of me!" Della cried. "Now you're using my body for some cruel purpose!"

"I'm using it to have my revenge on Aaron Stuart," Ellena sneered. "Anything my friends or me do to him, he deserves."

"Why?!" Della wailed. "Why does Tobin Wade mean so much to you? Dr. Stuart didn't even have anything to do with what happened to him!"

"That's what everyone says," Ellena said bitterly. "But I don't believe it. You wanna know why?"

"Yes!" Della snapped.

"I'm not really bound to the necklace," Ellena said. "Well, not exactly. I can travel around in the afterlife, but if I wanna come back to the mortal world, I have to be where the necklace is. So that gets boring and I go off wandering through the afterlife sometimes. I'm always looking for Tobin. But I never find him!"

"You probably aren't looking in the right places," Della frowned. As angry as she was, she was still too much of a lady to say what she really meant.

Ellena knew anyway. "You mean like Hell?" Her hands went to her hips. "He wouldn't be down there. And I'm not saying that just because I don't think he was rotten enough for it, which he wasn't. I found my way to the gates of Hell once and I asked somebody. They said he hadn't been that way."

Della felt a shiver at the thought of actually visiting such a horrible place. "I still don't understand what Dr. Stuart has to do with this," she said.

"Okay. So I've also been through the middle place. You know, limbo, the Netherworld, whatever. And he's not there, either. And I also checked in with someone from Heaven. So you know what that leaves?" Ellena rushed on. "Tobin's stuck somewhere on the mortal plane. He's a wandering spirit bound to Earth because of the way his life turned out. And that means that Dr. Stuart upset him so bad he can't move on."

Della frowned. "It could mean instead that he's so upset at how he treated Dr. Stuart that he can't move on," she objected.

"You've got an answer for everything, don't you?" Ellena snapped.

"Yes," Della said without missing a beat. "And here's something else you should think about, Ellena. If Tobin Wade is stranded on the mortal plane because of anything to do with Dr. Stuart, why isn't he where Dr. Stuart is? He should be at the school or at Dr. Stuart's house."

"He's up at his cabin!" Ellena insisted. "That's why there's all that ghost activity up there!"

Della blinked in surprise. "You mean your people aren't responsible for what's going on up there?"

"No!" Ellena stamped her foot. "We're only focusing on Manzana Valley Prep School."

Della rocked back, mulling over this surprising development. "Are you sure?" she asked at last. "Maybe that's what your allies have told you. They could be lying to you."

"They wouldn't lie to me," Ellena spat. "We were friends long before I ever kicked the bucket. Sure, they're mercenary and all, and they don't really care about Tobin, but they care about me! We're all in this together."

Della wasn't as sure, but she certainly knew that she didn't have the entire picture. "Alright, Ellena," she said now. "If you're so sure Tobin Wade is at his cabin, why haven't you gone there?"

"I have!" Ellena retorted. "You don't know because you were sleeping at the time, but I went two nights ago." She blinked angrily, not wanting the collecting tears in her eyes to fall. "I stood there and called and called to him and begged him to come out and talk to me, but he didn't!"

"Maybe he really isn't there," Della suggested.

"Then where is he?!" Ellena all but screamed. "He isn't anywhere else! The cabin's the last possible place he could be!" She stood, seething, her hands clenching into fists as she stared Della down.

Della realized she honestly wasn't sure what to say. ". . . What are you going to do, Ellena?" she asked, deciding a change of subject was in order.

"I'm going to see that Aaron Stuart pays for what he did," Ellena snarled.

"But will that help Tobin?" Della prodded.

"Maybe!" Ellena shot back. "I can't think of anything else that might!" She turned with a whirl, her short blonde hair flying with the motion. "And I've had just about enough of you for now. Just keep quiet and keep out of my way until after the party!"

"I can't do that," Della protested, staring at the angry and hurting and departing woman. "Ellena, wait. Ellena, come back!" Again she pounded on the barrier. "Ellena, I can't let you hurt Dr. Stuart! Ellena!"

No amount of banging either brought Ellena back or shattered the wall. At last Della slumped back, sickened and near the point of panic. All she could assume was that the barrier was a product of Ellena's strong will and determination to control Della's body. And it didn't look like anything would shatter that. How would she ever get free?

Sinking in desperation to the floor of her mind, Della began to pray.

xxxx

David Solomon swore under his breath as he struggled with a stubbornly tight bolt. No matter how hard he fought with his wrench, the rusted bolt fought right back. Finally, cursing again, he straightened and only barely kept himself from pitching the wrench in a fit of frustration and anger.

Della was still missing. And according to Perry, she was possessed by Ellena's spirit. He had tried several times to find her, without success. Now it seemed to him, as it did to everyone else, that there was not much that could be done except to wait for the masquerade ball tomorrow night. Ellena would not miss that, not if her comrades were planning to end it for Aaron there.

Obviously he was going to have to go. He could not stay away from the event that could make or break the rest of Aaron's life.

He heaved a deep sigh, running a hand into his dark curls. Really, he had known this day would come. As soon as the strange threats against Aaron had started, he had realized his masquerade would be stripped away before long, because he could not stand by and watch Aaron be driven into madness or killed because of something he had not had any part in.

Well, it was a masquerade ball, anyway. He would go in costume and try to remain inconspicuous for as long as he possibly could. Indefinitely, if at all possible. All he had to do was stop several crazed nuts from doing away with Aaron. He wouldn't be alone in his quest, either. How hard could it be?

Plenty so, he knew, especially with Ellena involved.

"Hey!"

He jumped a mile at Amos Berry's voice. "I'm getting back to it," he said, not even turning around. "This stupid bolt just has me stumped for the moment."

"You've been getting more and more distracted lately," Amos frowned. "There is something going on in your life. I know it!"

David sighed in further frustration. "Yes, you know it," he said. "You're right. But after tomorrow, one way or the other, it should all be over."

"Eh?" Amos squinted at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"There won't be any more distractions," David elaborated.

"That'll be the day," Amos grumped. "I'm starting to think there will always be more distractions!"

"There won't be," David insisted. Gripping the wrench, he turned back to face the battle of the bolt.

What he wasn't as sure of was whether or not he would be around at all after tomorrow night.