Halloween Party

  “I found my treasure in a terrarium,” David said, showing Terry a stuffed cobra. “At first I thought it was alive because it was moving around. But then I saw it was attached to an electric motor.”

  “I’m not even sure I want to find some of this stuff,” Terry said, scanning his list. “A bottle of blood?”

  “Murphy already found that,” David said. “He was prowling around in the front hall and tripped over a loose floorboard. The bottle was right under it.”

  “Catch you later,” Terry said. David was a good guy, he realized. Too bad the other jocks weren’t more like him. The thought of the jocks made him think of Alex, which made him think of Niki, and he wondered where she was in this big spooky house. Maybe he’d run into her.

  Niki looked at the list halfheartedly. Even though this was the greatest party she’d ever been to, she wasn’t that interested in fun and games.

  The party still seemed like a mystery to her. Nothing added up. The treasure hunt, she decided, was the perfect chance to explore the mansion freely.

  She replayed in her mind the conversation she had lip-read when Justine was in the phone booth, and had now decided that it didn’t have anything to do with the party.

  After all, Justine seemed only to care about her guests having a good time. And despite her weird uncle, she was really sweet.

  But there was still something intriguing about her, and Niki was determined to find out what it was. She would have felt a little guilty about searching the house, but the treasure hunt gave her the perfect excuse. It wasn’t even snooping, not really . . . .

  She was working her way through the rooms on the top floor. So far none of them contained anything of interest to her.

  She entered a large bedroom at the back of the house and switched on the light. She jumped back, her heart pounding, as a huge glowing head dropped in front of her. After a second she realized it was just another one of Justine’s surprises.

  She switched the light off again, and the head was pulled back up to the ceiling on an automatic reel. After a little searching she found a lamp and clicked it on, then smiled in satisfaction.

  From the perfume bottles and cosmetics on the antique vanity and the beautiful ruffled pink satin bedspread, she realized she must be in Justine’s room.

  You can tell a lot about a person by examining her bedroom, Niki thought. For example, take her own bedroom. Her sewing stuff and the fashion cutouts on the bulletin board showed her interest in fashion design. Her collection of stuffed dogs showed that she loved animals and hoped someday to raise them. And her rock posters showed just the sort of music she preferred.

  But, she realized, standing in the middle of Justine’s room, this room didn’t say much about Justine at all. There were no stuffed animals, no pictures of movie actors or rock stars, no hint of a hobby, nothing personal at all, except for a picture of a smiling man and woman from the fifties in an ornate frame on the vanity.

  Justine’s schoolbooks were stacked on top of the radiator, but there was nothing in the room that could be used as a desk.

  Strange, Niki thought. Justine must not take school very seriously. But then, she reminded herself, after all the places she’s lived, Shadyside must seem like very small potatoes.

  She opened each of the drawers in a chest, but there wasn’t much in them besides a few folded pairs of underpants and some sweaters.

  Her curiosity piqued even more—by what she hadn’t found—Niki opened the closet door and was shocked to find it almost empty, except for the school clothes she’d seen Justine in.

  Where were her jeans, sweatshirts, sneakers? What did she wear after school? Didn’t she have any party dresses?

  She took her flashlight, shone it around the closet, then saw a faint, square-shaped crack at the back. She remembered the trapdoor in the fireplace and wondered if this was another one.

  Excited, she stepped to the back of the closet and began to press around the crack with her fingertips. Nothing happened.

  Frowning, Niki stared at the door, then began to feel around the empty closet shelves. Her finger touched a small knob and she turned it. The back of the closet swung open, revealing another, larger closet.

  Niki gasped in surprise.

  This hidden closet was jammed with clothing—but clothing very different from the everyday clothes she had seen. At first she thought they might be very old clothes left by the people who had lived in the Cameron mansion before.

  But when she took a few off the hangers, she saw that they were new, many of them with labels from expensive designers and famous department stores in New York, San Francisco, and Paris.

  There were beautiful woolen suits, shiny satin cocktail dresses, colorful skirts and jackets in sophisticated styles that no one she knew would wear. A chrome rack on the floor held dozens of beautiful high-heeled shoes in every type of leather and every color of the rainbow.

  The back of the closet revealed three beautiful full-length formal gowns and two fur coats, one mink and one fox.

  Niki couldn’t believe her eyes. This was the most beautiful wardrobe she had ever seen. Were all these clothes Justine’s? But when would she wear them? And why were they hidden away like this?

  Maybe, she decided, they were Justine’s mother’s clothes. But nobody really knew if Justine had a mother or not. Maybe there was another, older woman who lived here—Philip’s girlfriend or wife, maybe? But in that case, why did Justine have so few clothes of her own?

  It’s a real mystery, Niki thought. She loved mysteries.

  A small bureau stood against one side of the closet and Niki opened its drawers to reveal pastel negligees, nightgowns, and silk underwear. In the bottom drawer was a carefully wrapped package. She opened it, not even considering that someone might catch her snooping, and was shocked to see a framed photo of Justine and a man with their arms around each other, gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes. But the man was much older—from the streaks of gray in his hair, at least forty.

  Was Justine having an affair with an older man? Was that why she never went out with the boys from school or never went to any of the games?

  Niki carefully put everything back just the way she had found it, then closed the secret door. She was about to leave Justine’s room when her eye caught the bathroom door.

  She went in and, with only a small pang of conscience, opened the medicine chest. It was filled with typical medicine-cabinet things: toothpaste, mouthwash, several bottles of nail polish and other cosmetics, aspirin, and a box of Band-Aids.

  There were three prescription bottles on the top shelf. Niki took them down one by one. She didn’t recognize the names of any of the medications, except a sleeping pill her mother sometimes used. But all three prescriptions were made out to “Enid Cameron.”

  Enid? Niki thought. Who’s Enid? Philip’s wife?

  But no matter how many explanations she considered, the one that kept popping into her mind was that Justine was somehow leading a double life.

  During the day she went to school like any other teenager. But at night and on weekends she had a whole other life that no one else knew anything about.

  But why? And why keep it all such a secret?

  Maybe, Niki thought, she was just letting her imagination run away from her. Maybe there was a logical explanation for everything she had seen. She needed to talk to Terry, she realized. If anyone could figure this puzzle out, it was him.

  Now all she had to do was find him, somewhere in the mansion.

  Terry was really enjoying the treasure hunt. So far, in addition to the tarantula, he’d found three of the items on the list: a polished monkey skull that had been hidden inside a laundry hamper, a crystal ball, and his latest acquisition, an ivory pendant in the shape of a dagger.

  He found the pendant when he had opened a cupboard and was scared out of his wits by what appeared to be a bloody, disembodied head—but turned out, on closer inspection, to be the head of a mannequin, covered with catsup. r />
  After he had got over his fright, Terry found the pendant around the mannequin’s neck. He’d laughed and added it to the rest of his loot.

  He heard a couple of other treasure hunters coming his way, then remembered that Justine had said her uncle Philip was preparing some surprises in the attic. He searched and found a narrow staircase leading upstairs.

  Mounting the dark, creaky stairs to the attic, his heart thudded with anticipation and a little thrill of fear. What treasures would he find up there? What scares? This was definitely the best party he’d ever been to.

  The attic was small and dusty, and filled with old boxes and trunks. Terry realized, from the thick layer of dust on the boxes and trunks, that they had been sealed up long ago.

  He switched on the overhead light and spotted a closet door. A perfect place to hide items on the list, he thought.

  Grinning to himself, Terry pulled open the door, then stopped and stared in shock.

  “No! Oh, please—no!”

  The room went white. Terry’s breath caught in his throat.

  He gripped the closet door to hold himself up and stared into the shadowy cubicle.

  “Alex? Alex?” he cried.

  Hanging from a rope was the limp body of the Silver Prince, his neck bent at an impossible angle. Sticky red blood was splattered over the front of the beautiful costume. It puddled onto the closet floor.

  Drip, drip, drip . . .

  chapter

  9

  It’s another trick, Terry told himself.

  Please. Oh, please—let it be another trick.

  But the silver costume was real. And the blood continued to drip as he watched.

  Drip, drip, drip.

  A steady rhythm he knew he’d remember for the rest of his life.

  He was still staring at the bent form of his friend, trying to get the strength to go for someone, when he heard a voice behind him. “Whatcha got—oh, no!”

  It was David, horror on his face.

  “I just found him,” Terry said, his voice and hands shaking. “Maybe it’s another trick.”

  “I don’t think so,” said David. “Don’t touch him. I’ll go for help.”

  “I’m coming with you.” Terry didn’t want to spend another second with Alex’s corpse.

  On the way down the stairs they ran into Ricky, Trisha, and Les. Quickly David told them what Terry had found.

  “We’ve got to call an ambulance!” said Trisha. “Maybe he’s only hurt.”

  “It’s more than that,” said David. “You didn’t see him. His neck—all the blood . . . ”

  Terry shuddered, remembering the ruined costume. He had had his problems with Alex, sure, but no one deserved to have something so terrible happen to him.

  “At least call the police!” said Les.

  “First let’s tell Justine and her uncle what happened,” said David. “They’ll know what to do.”

  Justine and her uncle were sitting in front of the fireplace, talking together in low tones. When the frightened guests burst into the living room and explained what had happened, Justine jumped up at once, concern radiating from her lovely face.

  “You call the police,” Philip told Justine. “I’ll see what the situation is.”

  “Wait, Uncle Philip!” said Justine. “No police—yet.” Philip nodded and together with the others they ran up the two flights of stairs to the attic.

  “It’s in here,” said Terry, leading the others to the closet. He braced himself for what he knew he was going to see and pulled open the door.

  There was nothing at all inside the closet.

  “I don’t believe this!” he cried.

  “Where is he?” asked David at the same moment.

  “Very funny,” said Trisha angrily. “For your information, Terry, you’re not supposed to pull tricks on members of your own team!”

  “It’s not a trick!” Terry protested. “I saw him—we both did!”

  “He was here,” David added. “And blood was dripping.” He bent down and touched the closet floor. “It’s dry,” he said, sounding astonished.

  “I guess I’m not the only one who prepares ‘surprises,’ ” said Justine with a little smile. “Come on, Uncle Philip, let’s go back downstairs.”

  The others were about to follow them when Niki came into the room.

  “Has anyone seen Terry?” she asked. Then she spotted him. “What’s going on? What are all of you doing in here?”

  Quickly the others explained what had happened. “So we get up here,” Les finished, “and there’s not only no body, the closet’s completely empty. Obviously, they made the whole thing up.”

  “Did you make it up?” Niki asked Terry, her dark eyes searching his face.

  “No,” Terry repeated. “I saw the body. It was real. I don’t know where it is now, but it was here.”

  “Come to think of it,” said Ricky, starting to sound worried, “I haven’t seen Alex for quite a while. Has anyone?”

  “Maybe you just thought you saw something,” said Niki. “There are a lot of shadows in here.”

  “What we saw was real,” said David. “It was Alex.”

  “Then if he was—like you say— We’ve got to find him!” said Niki. “Come on, Terry, let’s look in the rest of the rooms.”

  No one felt like searching alone, so the six of them—Terry, Niki, Les, David, Ricky, and Trisha—carefully checked behind the boxes in the attic, then crept down the stairs and began to go through the rooms on the second floor.

  “This is Justine’s room,” said Niki, opening the door. “Maybe he just—” She broke off with a shriek.

  The others crowded closer. Lying on Justine’s bed was the Silver Prince.

  But as soon as they got near, it became clear it wasn’t Alex.

  Ricky approached the bed first. “Hey!” he said. “This is just—”

  “A dummy!” Terry finished for him. The object lying on the bed was Alex’s silver costume, stuffed full of rags. The “blood” Terry and David had seen was streamers of red cellophane that had moved slightly to resemble dripping. In that light it was hard for Terry to believe he had been fooled so badly.

  It had been so real that he even imagined the sound of the blood dripping onto the floor. What an idiot he had been!

  “Gotcha!” Alex jumped out of the bathroom, dressed in a blue robe, laughing so hard he could hardly breathe.

  “Are you all right?” Niki asked, wide-eyed.

  “He’s fine!” said Terry in disgust. His voice was shaking again, but not from fear, from anger. “That was a rotten trick!” he told Alex. “We thought something had really happened to you!”

  “I’m touched by your concern,” said Alex with a pleased smirk. “Nice work, David.”

  “It did look pretty real,” David said, also smirking.

  “You mean you were in on it?” Terry asked David, furious.

  “Sure he was,” said Alex. “How else could we convince you wimps to waste all that time searching for my body? While you were running around trying to find the Silver Prince, the rest of the jock team finished the treasure hunt. Too bad, guys, you lose again!”

  Niki turned to Alex, angry now herself. “That was really mean, Alex!” she said. “I never thought you could do something so rotten!”

  For a moment Alex looked hurt, then he smirked again. “Hey,” he said. “Don’t you know all’s fair in love and—Halloween tricks? Besides, Niki,” he added, “I gave you plenty of chances to join the winning team.”

  “Come on, Terry,” said Niki, grabbing his hand. “Let’s go back to the party.”

  “Why don’t you all clear out,” said Alex. “I’ve got to change back into my costume—so my team can collect the prize for the treasure hunt.”

  As they walked back down to the living room, Terry’s head was swimming. He liked surprises. But Alex’s little trick had left him shaken.

  I guess I still care about Alex, Terry thought. Otherwise I would have bee
n able to think more clearly when I discovered that dummy in his costume hanging in the closet.

  In the living room Murphy and Angela were dancing in the dim glow from the electric candles. The “treasures” were piled up on a table by the fireplace.

  “Want some punch?” Terry asked Niki.

  “Sounds great,” she said. “I’ll save you a seat. I need to talk to you.”

  Terry brought two cups of punch and then settled in the loveseat next to Niki. She was every bit as beautiful as she had been at the beginning of the evening, but her dark eyes were now narrowed with concern.

  “Still upset about what Alex did?” Terry asked her.

  “Not really,” said Niki. “It’s something else. Remember when I told you what I saw Justine saying the other day?”

  Terry stopped her in surprise. “You don’t still think she’s up to something?” he said. “Justine’s the only person at the party who hasn’t done anything weird.”

  “Let me tell you what I found,” Niki went on. “And tell me what you think. While you were on the treasure hunt, I went into Justine’s room—”

  “You were snooping in her room?”

  “She didn’t say any part of the house was off-limits,” Niki reminded him. “Besides, I was curious. Terry, she doesn’t have any of the normal high school stuff in her room—”

  “Well, why should she?” said Terry. “She only moved here a few months ago. Besides, she’s lived all over the world. She’s probably more interested in stuff she got in her travels than pennants or school colors.”

  “She doesn’t have things from her travels either,” said Niki. “Her room is practically bare, except for one thing—”

  She told Terry about the hidden closet and the clothes she’d found there, along with the picture of Justine and the older man.

  “Right,” said Terry. “Well, there’s a simple explanation. Justine’s a CIA agent and the guy’s a Russian spy.”

  “Will you be serious!” said Niki, but she was laughing too. “Look, I know it sounds crazy, but nothing I found in Justine’s room makes any sense. And I also found some prescription bottles made out to Enid Cameron.”