Page 51 of Serenity Falls

‘A burglar?’

She shrugs. ‘I don’t know. But right after I saw it, my phone rang. It was a voice, kind of distorted, and it just said – “You shouldn’t be awake.”’

I feel the coffee in my stomach churn unpleasantly. ‘Did you get the number?’

‘Unknown caller.’

I rub at my head, trying not to let my disquiet turn into fear. ‘So, maybe it was a wrong number.’

‘Maybe.’

‘Have they called again?’

‘No.’

‘Well, if they do, don’t answer, or wake me up and I’ll deal with it.’

‘Okay.’

‘Promise me?’

‘I said, okay.’

I’m not sure I believe her. But I don’t want to push it. Not with everything else that’s going on. I was half considering telling her about Arnie. Maybe she could have looked at the camera app. She’s right that she’s more tech-savvy than me. But now I don’t want to scare her.

‘Things will settle down here,’ I say. ‘I’m sure.’

She offers a thin smile. ‘At least it’s not boring.’

‘So now you want to stay?’

‘I wouldn’t say that, exactly. But it looks like we’re stuck here for now—’

‘It does.’

‘So, I might as well unpack some of my things.’ She looks around at the boxes again. ‘Is this really all our stuff?’

‘Yeah. But life is not all about stuff, right?’

‘Least it won’t take long to unpack.’

She bends and picks up a box labelled Sadie, then traipses upstairs. I watch her go, smiling. As soon as she’s out of sight, I let the smile fall and I pick up my phone again. First, I call Serenity Home Security Services and book an appointment for tomorrow morning. Then I make another call.

‘Hello?’

‘Hi, it’s Dan Barker here – could I come by and talk to you about something?’

Ellen

I suppose the seeds of my demise were sown, somewhat appropriately, at the planning meeting for the Pumpkin Patch Party.

The party is a Serenity Falls tradition. It takes place every year on the weekend before Halloween. The town square is decorated, we have a band, there are stalls, a hog roast and, of course, the Pumpkin Patch carving competition. There are prizes for the most original pumpkin, first pumpkin, scariest pumpkin, prettiest pumpkin and an overall winner.

I’m the judge. Naturally. Because it was my idea. And because I always make sure that the right person wins. Believe me, the Pumpkin Patch carving competition is not just a competition about carving pumpkins. It’s a political minefield, and, in the wrong hands, a potential disaster.

No one handles it better than me. Last year saw the biggest number of entries ever, and I was determined to make 2016 even better. I had no reason to believe anything would go wrong.

Until the meeting.