ohhhhhh Bobby,

and where is our Sue, what has happened to her, curious minds would like to know aka ME!

That was great! Good for you Bobby!

Loved how D was acting like an "average citizen"!

Also loved the Myles remark about Cousin It!

You are an awesome writer Oreo!!!!!!!!! I holding my breath on this one! And what's with Jack warning those college bimbos to not be there alone and then he goes off and leaves Sue!!!!!

Gotta read page 4! Just had too much to say to throw it all in one post! heeehheh


Matalyn

Thank goodness! There's enough of that going around!!!!! I love this story!!!! So now you're writing mysteries me lady?!!!!!! I think I'm liking this!!!!!!!!!

Now please don't make us wait too long to see what happens to Sue! Poor woman gets abducted by the most horrible people!

I'll be back later and hope to see a few more posts!

Ooooooh.. good distraction ... Bobby.. way to go.. Just the way a guy should be. No offense Jack!! I adore Jack but.. cooome on already!

SUUEE WHERE ARE YOUU

Well, I would say that Bobby has decidedly made his move.

This is really good and creepy. What has happened to Sue and Jack?

Okay, now Bobby has me melting!!

Joy

AH

Great!!! Boby and Tara making out... while Jack and Sue are getting killed! God man, Bobby! LOL Great job! I love it!

~Veronique

The Jack Hudson School of Romance! It must be a four year school cuz he has yet to make a real move!!

LOL

Great job so far! And you are so right about the nightmares!

WARNING: Do Not Read A HC Story Before Bedtime. May Cause Nightmares!

Chapter 10

The sound of a scream jerked Bobby and Tara apart. “Blast it all!” Bobby cursed leading the way to the source.

Tara trailed a half-step behind mumbling similar things. “This better be for real,” she murmured, “or I’m going to use my highly trained skills on someone’s neck. Oooooooooooooh, how dare they interrupt the most incredible kiss I’ve ever had!”

“Best ever, huh?”

“Did I say that out loud?”

“Yep, and I heard every word.” Still jogging ahead of her, he turned his head and grinned before slowing his gait enough for Tara to come along side him. He grabbed her hand. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. In fact, I felt the same way.”

Bobby and Tara skidded to stop in front of the soaking wet blond female “football player” who was pointing out a set of French doors leading to a veranda and ultimately the garden. A flash of lightening lit up the scene. Approximately a hundred yards before them in the garden, Hulk lay propped against a tree with his head cocked at an angle which could only mean one thing.

“Tara, stay with her,” he hastily ordered, dashing through the nearest door. The wind caught it and slammed it against the mansion’s wall. He forced it shut and she watched him run off.

Tara glanced from the girl to Bobby. She could see several guests rushing down the hall to join them with D and Myles leading the pack. “You stay right here,” she told the girl. “Someone will be here in just a minute.”

Checking the gun strapped to her thigh, Tara eased out the door, careful not to let whip it open, and raced off in the direction of Hulk’s body. Rain stung her skin and the driving wind made it difficult to stay upright in her white pumps. “Bobby!” she called as he rounded the tree, but her voice was lost in the sounds of the storm.

Lightening illuminated the garden and Tara gasped when she saw what Bobby was headed towards. A second body lay sprawled across a gravestone in the cemetery immediately beyond the garden. She cursed the shoes on her feet as the heels sunk into the soggy soil. ”I feel like I’m in one of those dumb ‘Friday the 13th’ movies,” she told herself kicking off the shoes. ”There. Those dumb girls never think of that.”

The cold mud oozed through her toes and she cringed with every step. Tara reached the body of Hulk just as Bobby looked up and caught sight of her during another series of lightening flashes. Her white dress, now soaked and transparent, clung to her body and her hair hung around her face. She pushed the dripping rivulet away from her eyes as she leaned closer to the dead man and extracted something from under his arm just as a crack of lightening hit the tree beside her and a branch split from the trunk. She didn’t have time to react as the branch crashed down.

Bobby sprung to his feet. “Tara!”

o.k i'm a little worried now! lol great job Oreo

more dead bodies, and TARA....please, oh please hurry back with more of this amazing story.....

There better be another post quickly following that one, we need to know Tara is ok and it only scraped her right???


Bet Bobby got a right eyeful of Tara in a transparent dress!!!


Vickie

Chapter 11

“Tara!” Bobby yelled, pulling the first section of the branch away. “Tara, can you hear me?”

“I’m okay,” she croaked. “Just get this thing off me!”

With a final push, Bobby hefted the rest of the branch to the side. Bobby helped her sit up in the mud. “Are you hurt?”

“Wet. Muddy. Cold. But okay.”

Bobby shimmied out of his leather bomber jacket and draped it around Tara’s shivering form. Removing his wide brimmed Indiana Jones hat, he plopped it on her head. He couldn’t help but grin, and Tara slugged him. D and Myles, who had dashed out the doors when they saw the branch snap, finally reached them. D surveyed the area with his flashlight. “Is she hurt?”

“She is fine,” Tara stated. “Who’s got Blondie?”

“We left Sarah Swanson, the blond, with Stella and Dr. Denise Keller,” Myles explained as Bobby helped Tara to her feet.

“Let’s get you out of here, luv.”

“No. The rain’s let up some, and I want to show you something about the Hulk.”

Bobby wrapped his arm around her waist and with the first step could tell she was favoring her right ankle. Still, he’d seen her determination before and didn’t want a fight, so he merely held on to her more tightly as she hobbled over to the body. “What did you see?”

Tara propped her hand on the tree above Hulk’s head. “Look at the angle of that cut. Whoever killed him was a lot shorter than him - like around my height - and they approached him from the front.”

“How can you tell?” D asked.

She demonstrated the angle on Bobby. “See? It doesn’t trail off like it would if it happened from behind.”

“So we have a short murderer,” Myles stated.

“Can I have that flashlight for a minute, mate?” Shining it around the area, Bobby turned his attention to the muddy soil beneath them. “Too bad it’s been raining so hard. It’s washed out any hopes of tracks here.” He moved the light to Tara. “Where are your shoes?!”

“Down there somewhere. Heels are such a nuisance. Let’s take a look at the other body.”

She took a step on her own in that direction and bit back a gasp.

Bobby heard it and easily lifted her into his arms. “Your walking days are done, luv.”

“Bobby, I can walk!”

“Sure, but why would you want to?”

D. stepped forward and took the flashlight out of Bobby’s hand. “We’ll check out the other body. Bobby, you just get her inside. And Tara, let that doctor take a look at you.”

Wrinkling her nose at D for appearance sake, she wrapped her hands more tightly around Bobby’s neck and allowed her head to drop onto his shoulder. She had to agree with the Aussie. Although the circumstances were far from ideal, why would she want to walk when Bobby Manning was willing to hold her in his arms.

I loved that scene . .. the details, the teasing between team members. Great work hun

<wipes brow> that was close i'm gald Tara's ok

oh so true Tara so true

I hope Tara's okay...

Glad that Tara is okay, but now we need to locate Sue and Jack.

Just found your story and it's absolutely wonderful! I love what you're doing with Bobby and Tara!! Gotta love a man who takes the initiative!!! Hello, earth to Jack, you might want to take a hint from that! Just a fantastic mystery! Can't wait to read more!

Chapter 12

“I’m sorry, Sue. That wasn’t a way out either,” Timothy Mulligan explained shutting the heavy door behind him. “I’m afraid I’ve gotten us lost. Some rescuer I’ve turned out to be.” The candelabra on the music room table cast a warm glow on the room. Sue glanced around at French furnishings surrounding the the baby grand in the center of the room. He motioned to a needle pointed Queen Anne chair. “Why don’t you rest for a minute?” Sue sat down slowly. He smiled roguishly at her, picked up her hand, and pressed a kiss to its back.

Stepping away, he snagged a chair, positioned it backwards, and straddled it facing Sue, the cape swishing through the air with a flourish. “Don’t worry though. I’ll take care of you.”

Sue knew the man should scare her, but she didn’t feel endangered. He had a way of disarming her. She’d been terrified when the candle blew out. Then, she felt a reassuring hand at her elbow, and in her confusion, she assumed it was Jack. She allowed her escort to lead her through the darkness. When she felt the cape of Mulligan’s costume brush her arm, she realized her mistake and fought the urge to run blindly away. They’d gone down a maze of hallways and through several doors, before he stopped and lit the candelabra. Sue sighed knowing she couldn’t find her way out quickly.

“I really need to get back. Jack will be worried.” She watched his dark eyes hoping for some indication that he understood.

“WORRIED?” he signed. “J-A-C-K- YOUR LOVER? BOYFRIEND?”

His ring caught the light of candelabra as he moved his hand and she found herself watching his graceful movements. Timothy signed beautifully. She shook her head, “No nothing like that. He’s just … my friend.”

“THAT’S NOT HOW HE LOOKS AT YOU.”

Changing the subject, Sue asked. “Where did you get the ring?”

“MY GYPSY GRANDMOTHER GAVE IT TO ME.”


************************


Someone held the French door open for Bobby as he approached carrying Tara. He deposited her on chair near the garden’s entry, and stepped back when the doctor hurried over. “Where are you hurt?”

“Her ankle,” Bobby told her. “Her arm’s bleeding, too. Tara, you’re shivering. Could someone bring us some blankets?”

“Ch—ch--chill, Bobby,” Tara told him.

“I know you are.”

“No. I mean calm d—d---d-down. You’re just as wet as me.”

Dr.Keller prodded the tender flesh around her ankle and Tara winced. “It’s not broken, but it’s a pretty good sprain. I’ve got an air splint in my bag that should work once we get the swelling down. I think I can Dermabond the cut on your arm closed after we get it cleaned.” She turned to Bobby. “Would you mind carrying this young lady up to her room while I get my bag?”

“I’d love to.”


********************


Hatchet-Head’s body lay draped over a tomb stone in a peculiar way it seemed to Myles. Both Morticia and Hulk had been found face up, but he was face down. Unlike the others, his throat hadn’t been cut, but he’d been stabbed in the chest. “Do you think he surprised the killer?”

D shrugged. “Looks like a possibility. Or just couldn’t get the same angle.” He flashed the light around the lifeless body. “Bingo!” he shouted to Myles as he shown his light on the murder weapon.

Myles walked over to it and squatted down. “Now, that’s a fancy knife. A real antique, too. Let me see the light.” D passed it to him and Myles shown it on the hilt of the weapon. “It looks like a Micheal Price Push Dagger. See this ebony horizontal handle. It’s works kind of like a cork screw. It allowed the user more leverage to push it into the victim. You know, this is worth about $8000.” He straightened up. “This might have killed our tombstone hugging friend here, but it wasn’t used to cut anyone’s throat. It’s not that kind of weapon.”

Gypsy grandmother?!?

He better not be putting the moves on Sue!!!

He might sign beautifully and be charming but isn't he also the bad guy??!!


NOt liking the feling i am starting to get....Something bad is gonna happen, i can feel it in my water!!

Vickie

Okay, Sue in the samedimmly lit room with Mulligan and not feeling scared is spookin' me out here Lorna! PLEASE come back and post some more! I'm lovin' this!!!! I love the interaction with Bobby and Tara!!!!!!

Sue... Sueee... be scaaared! or just tell me that you're not scared cuz you know Jack will save you *nods*

is they two killers....

and should be rallying together to go and free Sue, or What???

Wow! I love your story, O! I see you down there! Does that mean you're about to post more?? I really like how you're painting Mulligan and how you have Tara describe what she thinks of the killer. Great story all together!

~Veronique

I seeeeee yyyoooouuuuuu down there oreo! Are ya postin'....are you postin?!!!!!

huh? I have a throwing up, feverish, coughing two year old so I'm camped out here for a while.

Just for you, Matalyn. Hope your sick little one is doing better, and I hope whatever it is, it isn't catching.

Chapter13

With Tara now bandaged, splinted and wrapped in a Blair Mansion fluffy terry robe, Dr. Keller departed leaving her with instructions to take it easy. Bobby waited until the door closed to remove his wet shirt. Tara blushed at the sight of his bare chest, but did not look away. As soon Bobby turned, Tara started to get up.

“What are you doing?” Bobby asked, toweling off his wet hair.

“There’s a paper in the bathroom that I took from Hulk’s body. I didn’t want Dr. Keller to know about it.”

“You stay. I’ll get the paper.”

Bobby returned, spread the damp paper on the desk, and then proceeded to read it aloud.

”Masquerade!
Every face a different shade . . .
Masquerade!
Look around -
there's another
mask behind you!”

“I guess that would explain the other body. Who was it, Bobby?”

“Hatchet-Head.”

“Throat cut?”

“Didn’t have time to tell.”

“Was there a note on him?”

“Like I said, there wasn’t enough time before you tried your ‘become one with nature the hard way’ routine.”

Tara chuckled, then her face suddenly grew serious. “Bobby, where are Jack and Sue?”

Bobby’s own face paled. In all the excitement, he hadn’t realized they hadn’t seen them in over an hour. “I don’t know, luv, but I think I’d better go check.”

“Not alone, you’re not.”

“Tara, you’re supposed to take it easy.”

“Which is exactly what I won’t be doing if you leave me here. Either you help me or I go alone. Is my dress dry yet?”

“Of all the stubborn, fool-headed…”

“Watch it Manning,” she warned. “I pack a mean computer.”

Hurt and scared......Tara still can banter with the best!!! I bet she does pack a mean computer

Happy Saturday, everyone! I'll be cleaning all day. Yay for me!

I want to thank everyone for their feedback. You all are so supportive!


Chapter 14

After meeting D and Myles in the hall, it was agreed that Bobby and Tara would head upstairs to look for Jack and Sue while D and Myles interviewed Sarah. The splint on Tara’s ankle, along with Bobby’s supportive hand, made the pain bearable as they headed down the long corridor with flashlights in hand.

“This place goes on forever,” Tara commented. “They could just be lost. Too bad Levi the Wonder Dog isn’t here to help us find them.”

“Jack!” Bobby called. His flashlight caught a glimpse of something glittery and he bent to examine the fabric which had snagged on a corner of the ornate wood trim.

“I think it’s a piece of Sue’s dress,” Tara said fingering the gauzy material.

“At least we know they were here.”

“At least we know she was here.”

Bobby paused as he felt a breeze. “Do you feel that?”

“Maybe there’s a window open somewhere?”

They rounded the corner and heard a moan from inside the room on their right. Bobby swung the light toward the sound.

“Jack!” Tara exclaimed as they hurried to his side.

With a hand holding the knot jutting from the back of his head, Jack groaned and struggled to sit up. Passing the flashlight to Tara, Bobby offered him a hand. Tara shone the light towards Jack’s face.

“Ugh!” he yelled, shielding his eyes. “Get that thing away from me.”

“Sorry, Jack. Bobby, is he bleeding?”

More carefully, she positioned the light so Bobby could check the injury. “No, Sparky’s hard head remains in tact.”

Jack shot forward. Immediately, he regretted the action as a wave dizziness hit him full force. He dropped his head to hands. “Sue? Have you seen her? Is she with D and Myles?”

Bobby swung around on the Oriental rug to face his friend. Jack looked up. Years of friendship made communicating in words unnecessary. Jack could see the answered written in neon lights on Bobby’s expression.

“Oh, Lord, no,” Jack prayed.

Tara placed her hand on Jack’s shoulder. “We don’t know what happened. We’ll find her.”

Bobby knew Jack was a man of action. His whole life consisted of defining a problem and coming up with a solution. He could almost see the switch flip in Jack’s brain as Jack sat up and took a deep breath before leaning forward to check his ankle holster. “My gun’s gone.”

Tara shone the light around hoping to find it. “Jack, what’s this?” She used the light to point to a sheet of paper on the floor near where Jack had lain.

Jack snagged it and read silently as Tara and Bobby read over his shoulder.

”Flash of mauve . . .
Splash of puce . . .
Fool and king . . .
Ghoul and goose . . .
Green and black . . .
Queen and priest . . .
Trace of rouge . . .
Face of beast . . .
Faces . . .
Take your turn, take a ride
on the merry-go-round . . .
in an inhuman race . . .”

“I’d say he sent that message loud and clear. Looks like you are on the top of his list, mate.”

Rubbing his still blurry eyes, Jack scowled. “But that doesn’t make sense. If he….”

“Or she,” Tara interrupted.

“If he ---or she--- wanted to kill me, they certainly could have while I was out.”

Tara shrugged. “Maybe that wouldn’t be part of the game.”

Yipes. Mulligan seems to have Sue under his eerie control.

Refresh, refresh, refresh......

Need to know where Sue is and why does someone want my Jack dead???


Vickie

creepy, very creepy, dun dun dun :eek jaw drops:


kids have attacked this....

This game is getting creepy and more creepy at avery post

Sunday mornings get pretty busy around here, so I thought I'd post tomorrow's chapter tonight. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 15

Dr. Keller discovered Myles and D questioning Sarah when she went to check on the young woman. She demanded that Myles step in to the hall with her.

“First of all, are you suffering from some kind of skin disease?”

She touched the latex wounds on Myles face which hung limply in several places and he chuckled. “They weren’t as water proof as the package claimed.”

“Second, who exactly are you guys? And, before you tell me you are just Blair Mansion employees, think again. No where on my resume does the word idiot appear.”

Myles had to chuckle this time. He had no doubt that what his spitfire doctor had just said was true.

“Police? Private investigators? F.B.I.?” She tapped her foot impatiently. “Fess up. You secret is safe with me. Lord knows, I’ve been keeping doctor/patient confidentiality for years.”

Myles knew it was risky, but if she continued to rant, she’d blow their cover. “F.B.I.,” he finally admitted quietly.

“Good. How can I help?”


***************************


Sue didn’t remember falling asleep on the velvet cushioned fainting couch, but figured that she must have as she forced her heavy lids open. She blinked owlishly at the dark figure near the blazing fireplace, then, swung her feet to the floor.

He turned and cocked his eyebrow at her. “Ah, you’re awake, my love.” Confidently, he sauntered over and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand.

Sue smiled at him. “I’m glad it was you by the fire. For a minute, I was afraid it was Jack.”

Excuse me??Did i just read that right?? 'She's glad it wasn't Jack'!!!

What the heck is going on??

Vickie

There's something seriously wrong here...

Please, please fix this!



gracie

She was afraid it might be Jack?!?

I just caught up with this wonderful, but very scary, story..... Great work so far!! (not that I'd expect any less from you )

Anyways, what's this supposed to mean???



What have you done to the Sue we all love???

i would like to know the same thing!

Hope it's warmer where you are today than where I am. I shivered all the way through church. Have a great day!

Chapter 16

Reluctantly, Myles allowed Dr. Keller to join D and him in their discussion with Sarah Swanson. The doctor had convinced him by explaining she already had the girl’s trust. “Some times you just need a woman’s touch.”

She sidled her chair beside the young college girl and draped an arm over her shoulder. “Sarah, can you tell us why you were so wet?”

The blond puffed her bangs out of her eyes. “I don’t remember Dr. Keller. Honestly.”

“What do you remember, honey?”

“Vickie, Stephanie, and I –you know, the friends I came with—went upstairs to look for clues. While we were in the library, the Phantom of the Opera guy came in. A little later that other hottie with the pigtail came in. He said we should go back to the ball room because it wasn’t safe to be alone. I don’t remember anything after we left the library until I saw the body.” She rubbed her temples. “Man, my head is killing me.”

“Sarah, look at me,” the doctor told her. She peered into the girl’s eyes, and then reached behind her head to check for head injuries. Glancing up at D, the doctor shrugged and shook her head “no.”

Myles sat down in the chair across from the women. “You said you spoke to the man wearing the Phantom costume. Can you tell us what you talked about?”

“Mostly, we flirted with him. He’s really cute, and he’s got captivating eyes.”

“Anything else?”

“He has a great costume right down to the ring on his hand. He showed it how it captured the light of the candle. That’s all I remember.”

D stepped forward. “What about when Jack came in?

“Jack?”

Myles rolled his eyes. “The ‘hottie’ with the ponytail.”

“Oh, yeah. He’s a sweetie, but someone should tell him that ‘all work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy.’”

D coughed to cover his chuckle. “Did you see the lady with Jack?”

“You mean the one he danced with earlier? No, she wasn’t with him.”

D and Myles exchanged glances. “So after Jack left, you all left the room?” Myles asked.

“Yeah. We were going back to the ballroom like he suggested.”

“And?”

She closed her eyes and dropped her head into her hands in defeat. “And I don’t remember. It feels so weird. It’s just like a big black hole. I remember the library and then the body.”

“So, where are your friends now?”

Flustered, Sarah cried, “I don’t know. Who are you people anyway? Can’t we just stop? My head is pounding.”

Before she left, the doctor insisted on doing a more thorough examination on Sarah. D and Myles left them alone, and a few minutes later, the doctor joined them in the hall.

“So is she lying?” Myles asked dryly.

“Not necessarily. While there’s no apparent physical reason for her amnesia, there are other things that can cause the condition like a traumatic event or certain psychotropic drugs. With her headache, a hangover is even a possibility. Without a blood test, it’s hard to know.”

D nodded his head in agreement. “Doctor, would you mind keeping an eye on her? We need to go find our friends.”

Maybe Mulligan hypnotized the girls with his ring and letting them kill for him....

That could be a good reason why she doesn't remember anything

And also a reason for Sue's behavior in your previous post...

Yeah, it is also pretty cold here...that's another reason why I stayed underneath my blanket all day (and of course because of the freaky HC stories.... )

okay that was just weird!!!!!! What have you got up your sleeve Lorna?!

I also like this part I can see Myles doing this! That was soooooo funny!

Keep it coming and thanks for your entry the night before last! My little one was calling and I didn't have time to post after I read it!

it's the ring me thinks, hyponotic powers...i guess...dun dun dun

Chapter 17

After checking nearly every room, closet, and hallway on the second floor’s west wing, Tara, Bobby, and Jack discovered no sign of Sue.

“Before we start on the east wing, let’s retrace your steps. It’s awfully dark up here. Maybe we missed something,” Bobby suggested.

Hesitantly, Jack agreed. He walked a few yards down the next hallway. “I left Sue here. I guess that window on the end is the one I heard shatter. I figured the wind blew a branch through it.”

Bobby left Tara propped against the wall and covered the distance to the dormer window. He fingered the shards and peered down at the shingles below. “This wasn’t broken by a branch. There is more glass on the roof outside than in here on the floor. Someone broke it from the inside.”

The news made Jack’s skin crawl. Who had deliberately made the candles go out? He hated the thought. Sue would have been terrified in the darkness.

“Then you heard the girls giggling?” Tara interrupted his reverie.

Jack nodded and led his friends down the hall. Too much walking had left Tara leaning heavily on Bobby for support. He eased her onto the leather overstuffed sofa in the library before finding a match to light the oil lamp on the table in front of her.

Pensive, Jack paced back and forth. “This is a complete waste of time. We’ve already checked this room.”

“Maybe we missed something. The last time we were only looking for evidence of Sue.” Bobby perused the shelves and began tilting one volume after another.

“Crash, knock it off! There are no secret passageways that are going to open up if you find the right book. That only happens in the movies.”

Tara ran her hand over the top leather bound volume on the oak table in front of her. Picking up the first of the three books, she noted it was a copy of Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. She shivered. Beneath that book, she found a copy of On the Witness Stand: Essays on Psychology and Crime by Hugo Münsterberg. Checking the copyright, she found it was written in 1921.

The final volume appeared to be new. She read the title, Gypsy Magic: A Romany Book of Spells, Charms, and Fortune-Telling, and rifled through the pages. They were filled with photos sporting tarot cards, crystal balls, and jewelry. Her brow crinkled as she tried to discover the connection between the three books. They seemed so deliberately selected. She returned the books to the table when she heard footsteps in the hall.

“Bobby? Tara?” Demetrius called.

“In here,” Bobby answered.

The two men stepped through the door and Bobby couldn’t resist teasing Myles who kept trying to press the latex scars back on his face. “Mate, you’ve never been a ladies man, but this new leprosy thing is going to make dating next to impossible.”

Jack glowered at his friend’s poor timing and the group quickly got down to business filling each other in. Jack’s brow creased as Myles told him about Sarah’s story or lack there of. Something nagged at recesses of Jack’s mind. It was haunting him, but he couldn’t force it forward.

“Let’s recap and make sure we are all on the same page,” D suggested. “First of all, we have three murder victims, and Mulligan can be accounted for during their murders or it would appear so. Second, the murderer is about Tara’s height and possibly female, and third, Sue is missing as well as Mulligan.”

Jack slammed his hand on the table. “This is a royal waste of time. Let’s go find her!”

D placed a restraining left hand on his arm and Jack froze. He stared at his supervisor’s hand as if it burned his flesh. “Your ring! That’s what’s been nagging me.”

“My wedding ring?”

“Not yours. Mulligan’s. Sue noticed his ring first on the surveillance tapes. It kept flashing because he used his hands so much when he spoke. Then, she mentioned it again at the ball. She couldn’t take her eyes off his hands. Now, you say it’s all Sarah could remember. Something’s not right.”

Tara snatched up the third volume and found the section on jewelry. “Hey, come look at this.” Bobby sat down beside her and read what she was pointing to. “It says that Gypsy jewelry can be used to mesmerize a person.”

Tara grabbed the second volume psychology and crime and something fell out this time. She picked up the paper and read it aloud.

“Eye of gold . . .
Thigh of blue . . .
True is false . . .
Who is who . . .?
Curl of lip . . .
Swirl of gown . . .
Ace of hearts . . .
Face of clown . . .
Faces . .
---the game is almost over.”

“Guys, I think we have a problem.”

I knew it had something to do with the ring


Ya think??? I know you have a problem

OREOLOVER!!!!! this is sooooooogoooood! You should skip your freelance stuff and write mysteries for a living!!!!!!!

Lovin' it!!!!!!!!!



Matalyn