As she stared down at Harry, his eye blinked.

"Hello, Hany," Sandy said.

He groaned.

"You still in her?"

His lips moved slightly, but he said nothing.

"Was she worth it?"

He said, "Uhhh."

"You two belong together."

"Heh..."

"What?"

"Help," he murmured.

"Maybe Bambi'll help you. She's very accomodating."

With that, Sandy stood up. She stepped away from the grave, set down the lantern, then squatted beside the body of Marlon Slade.

"Char... ?"

She tumbled Slade into the grave.

Then she filled it in.

Chapter Seventeen.

NO-SHOWS.

When Dana saw Warren striding toward her across the front lawn of Beast House, she hopped off the stool and raised a hand in greeting. Her heart was pounding fast.

"You made it through your first day," he called, still a distance away.

"Pretty much."

"How'd it go?"

"Lunch went great."

He grinned. "Mine, too." He stopped in front of her. Looking a little embarrassed, he pushed his hands into the front pockets. of his shorts and tilted his head to one side. "Anyway, it was sure nice to meet you."

"Same here."

"A fellow Southern Californian."

"I'm no fellow," Dana pointed out.

His grin widened and he blushed. "No, you're sure not. Anyway, I'll probably be seeing you around."

"Probably at the snack stand tomorrow."

"Hope so."

Looks like he's not gonna ask me out. Okay.

"Well," he said, "I guess I'd better get going."

"Okay. You walking?"

"Yeah. My place is just over there." He pointed across the street toward the wooded area just north of the old brick Kutch house.

"Your cabin's in the trees there?" Dana asked.

"Yep."

"Do you have an ocean view?"

"Not much of one. You can see just a little water through the trees."

"Sounds neat."

"It's not bad."

You're not much of a hint-taker, pal.

"Anyway," he said, "I guess I'd better get going."

"Okay. See you tomorrow."

"See you." He turned away and opened the iron gate next to the turnstile. On the other side of it, he glanced back and smiled again. "Take it easy, Dana."

"Thanks."

He started walking away.

"Hey, Warren?"

He stopped and turned toward her.

"You wouldn't want to stick around for a few minutes, would you? I might have to look through the house. We've got some no-shows."

He stared at her, frowning slightly.

"Three players didn't get returned," she explained.

"You're kidding."

"I wish."

He lifted an arm and checked his wristwatch. "It's only ten after. They'll probably turn up. Some people don't pay much attention to what time it is."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Lynn's still here, isn't she?"

"She'd better be. She's my ride."

"Anyone else?"

"I guess Rhonda's still around. Clyde took off at five, and Sharon left a few minutes ago."

Nodding, Warren scowled toward the house. "I guess I can wait a while...at least till...oh, here comes Lynn."

Dana looked over her shoulder and saw Tuck trotting down the front porch stairs.

"So," Warren said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Dana swung her head around in time to see him smile, wave, and turn away. Trying not to let her surprise and disappointment show, she smiled back at him. "Okay," she called. "See you tomorrow. Bye."

"Bye."

She watched him walk to the edge of Front Street. His head swung from side to side as he checked for traffic. Nothing seemed to be coming. He ran across the street, then turned to the right and walked quickly along the dirt shoulder. With each stride, pale puffs of dust drifted up behind his shoes.

"You met Warren," Tuck said.

Dana turned around. "Yeah."

She felt herself tighten inside.

Don't ask.

"We've still got three tape players out," she said.

"Three?" Tuck wrinkled her nose, pivoted and stepped closer to the shelves. Standing in front of them, she planted her hands on her hips. The breeze fluttered her shorts and blouse, and swept her long hair sideways. Streamers of hair blew across her face, but she made no attempt to brush them away.

What's taking her so long? Dana wondered.

The edges of the shelves were marked with red numbers spaced six or seven inches apart. Above each number, there was room for one cassette player and headphone set.

Returning the used ones, Dana had been careful to fill each place in order.

There were spaces for 150 of the listening machines.

All the shelves except one were completely loaded. But that final shelf was empty above 148, 149 and 150.

It shouldn't take a major study to figure out that three players were still out.

"Tuck?"

She turned around, frowning at Dana through her blowing blond hair. "Looks like we've got a problem," she said.

"You look worried," Dana told her.

"I was just inside. I thought everybody'd cleared out. If three people are still in there, they must be hiding."

"Doesn't this sort of thing happen all the time?"

"Not exactly all the time. And I'm particularly not thrilled that it's happening on top of the Ethel situation."

For a moment, Dana didn't know what Tuck meant. Then she remembered how they'd found the Ethel that morning-the gown ripped where it wasn't supposed to be ripped, the mannequin's breasts and vagina exposed.

"You think there might be a connection?" she asked.

"Hope not." She frowned. "I suppose Clyde's long gone."

"He took off at five."

"Yeah, he does that. Times like this, I sort of wish we had a whole staff full of tough guys."

"I shouldn't have let Warren leave."

"That's okay. He wouldn't have been much help, anyway. Who is still here?"

"Just us and Rhonda, I guess. Maybe the girl who works with Warren at the snack counter..."

"Windy? She would've left by now. Same with Betty."

"Who's Betty?"

"Runs the gift shop. You haven't met her yet?"

Dana shook her head.

"Sweet little white-haired gal."