is Mr. Dodds?”
“That’s the weird part! When I got out, he sat me in that chair, freed
my hands, and by the time I thought to take off my helmet, he was gone!
He likes doing that, though- he likes to make dramatic entrances and exits.
What bothers me though, is how he got past Charlemagne and Attila.”
“Who? Oh, Mandy’s dogs. Hmm. He wouldn’t have, um… he wouldn’t…”
he didn’t finish, because Flora’s eyes grew wide, and she dashed from the
room, barely managing to keep her footing on the slick tile. “Hey wait!
shouted Jason, “he could still be around…”
He struggled with the cuffs for a while, which Flora hadn’t managed to
remove, then sat down in resignation when he realized he couldn’t get
them off. He wasn’t about to go running through the house naked, no matter
how well he knew the owners. Besides, his feet were still more or less
oily, and he didn’t fancy negotiating all that tile without the use of his
arms for balance.
Flora returned in a few minutes, puffing, with a puzzled expression on
her face. “S’odd,” she said, “‘Tilla and Charley are outside, chasing
the birds as if nothing’s happened. Healthy as horses.” She began
fumbling with Jason’s cuffs again. Finally, she wiped her hands on
another towel, and gripping the leather through the towel, managed to
unbuckle the stiff straps.
“So how did he get in?” Jason asked, wiping silicone from his body with
an already saturated towel. “And how the hell am I going to get clean?”
he added to himself.
Flora looked thoughtful as she dug another towel out of the cupboard.
“I don’t know…maybe he drugged them. I know for certain he used drugs
on me… I still feel a little funny around the edges. Not bad funny,
just sort of fuzzy… you know?”
“Yah. Hey, what about Mandy?” Both their eyes grew wide, and they
managed to jammed themselves in the doorway like two Keystone Kops, in
their haste to get into the adjoining room. What they found was not
exactly comforting. The tilt-table sat unmoving, the respirator
equipment, silent. A strange-looking hollow mold of Mandy’s body lay
upside down on the floor next to the table, the table itself being bare,
with an outline where the mold had been cut free. Jason walked over and
examined it. The suit Mandy had been made to wear was still inside,
molded into the rubber. The tape sealing the back zipper had been cut,
and the suit simply zipped open, since her back hadn’t been covered with
the rubber.
There was no sign of Mandy in the room.
Jason looked worried. “Oh…”
“…shit,” finished Flora. She looked even more worried than Jason.
The two of them went up the stairs, two at a time, and started searching
the first floor. It rapidly became apparent she was not there.
“Mandy?” called Flora, “MANDY!” she was beginning to sound frantic.
“Hey, hey, easy,” soothed Jason, maybe she’s asleep upstairs.” He
sounded more calm than he felt, or at least hoped he did. “Let’s finish
looking around before we go panicking, okay?”
Ignoring the elevator in favor of the sweeping staircase for speed,
they took to the second floor. In the hallway, they found a note, pinned
to Mandy’s door by a deer-footed dagger.
“Jesus!” said Jason, wide-eyed. Flora yanked the note free as they
swept in to Mandy’s room.
Mandy was in her bed, apparently asleep. They stood transfixed for a
moment, until they saw that she was breathing. Jason looked at Flora
with relief. She was staring at the note. An amused look of wonderment
was stealing across her face. At Jason’s puzzled expression, she held
…End of the part80. To be continued..