The Skeleton Haunts a House Read Online Free Page B

it one of us?”
    Deborah said, “Nope, a customer. I didn’t recognize her.”
    â€œThat’s a relief,” she said, then quickly added, “Not that it’s good. I know I shouldn’t care that it was somebody I didn’t know but—”
    â€œWe get it,” I said, and hugged her again. “I don’t see Si— I don’t see Scooby-Doo.”
    â€œI don’t know where he is,” Madison said. “He was with my group, but he slipped away when the lockdown was called.”
    â€œHe couldn’t have left the haunt,” Deborah said. “Security said some people got through, but not a Scooby-Doo.”
    Madison said, “Then I guess he’s still in there. What do we do if they find him?”
    â€œMaybe they won’t connect him with us,” I said.
    Madison gave me a look. “Mom, what are you wearing? Or should I say
Velma
?”
    â€œOh, coccyx, I forgot!” It wouldn’t take a deductive genius to pair up my costume with Sid’s.
    â€œBesides which,” Deborah reminded me, “my ticket takers saw you together. Didn’t you notice them taking pictures? They thought you were cute.”
    â€œNext time, no matching costumes.”
    â€œIf there is a next time,” Deborah said ominously.
    That pretty much killed conversation for a while, so we sat down to wait. Maybe fifteen minutes later, a man in a McQuaid sweatshirt and jeans came in, looking frazzled. He started for the clump of cops, but when Deborah called out, “Hey, Oscar,” he swerved in our direction.
    â€œYou picked a swell night to take off,” she said to him.
    â€œI know. I should have known better on the first night of the Howl, but I wasn’t expecting things to go crazy until closer to Halloween.”
    â€œOscar, you’ve met my niece, Madison. This is my sister, Georgia.”
    â€œOscar O’Leary,” he said, shaking my hand. “You teach English, right?”
    â€œDoes it show?”
    He grinned. “I don’t know all the faculty, but having three professors with the same last name stands out.”
    â€œOscar is McQuaid’s chief of security,” Deborah explained. “He’s been helping me set up safety protocols at the haunt, not that they worked any too well tonight.”
    â€œHey, we were planning for drunks and accidents, not murders.” He patted her arm, and she actually let him. Madison and I exchanged quizzical glances. Oscar had sandy blond hair and dark brown eyes, and while I wouldn’t call him handsome, he was definitely in the “nice-looking” category. I’d probably seen him around campus, but fortunately, hadn’t had to deal with security in a while.
    Deborah said, “So what’s going on up at the haunt? Have they identified the girl yet?”
    â€œYeah, they found a purse dropped behind the curtains, and the picture on the driver’s license matches the victim. Sergeant Raymond is calling her family. Man, that’s not a job I’d want.”
    I took Madison’s hand in mine and squeezed it. I didn’t even want to think about getting a phone call like that.
    â€œAnyway, Raymond is going to come take charge here when he’s done, but in the meantime, I’m going to see about getting you people some drinks, maybe something to eat.” He patted Deborah’s arm again before walking on.
    â€œHe seems nice,” I ventured.
    â€œHe knows his job,” she said, which was high praise.
    He certainly knew how to get things moving. Within minutes, the dining room personnel had rustled up coffee, soda, and cookies for everybody. I wondered which one of the dean’s affairs would be short on refreshments as a result. Since I was never invited to such things, I took extra cookies.
    Finally Louis showed up, and accompanying him were a trio of young women. All three looked as if they were a year or two older than