Jeff Strand - Graverobbers Wanted - No Experience Necessary

The woman died about two minutes before the end of it. There was no doubt whatsoever that she was dead.None.

Boo-Boo moved up to the camera, opening his bloody mouth wide. "That hit the spot!Nummynummy!"

The cheerful piano music started up again. The perky narrator said "We hope you've enjoyed the adventures of Gaggles and Boo-Boo, best friends to the end! Good night, don't let the bed bugs bite, and don't forget to buyUnited States savings bonds! Bye-bye!"

The picture faded to black.

I staggered into the bathroom and threw up.

Chapter 16

ROGER AND I each had a tall glass of ice water before we said anything. I guess this tape hadn't been much worse than the first, but seeing it on a large screen, in full color, with sound, made it much more disturbing.

"Was the other one like this?" asked Roger.

I nodded.

"And you actually watched a second one?"

"I didn't have much choice." I hit the fast forward button on the VCR remote to see if there was anything else on the tape. "But I sure didn't see the killer's name anywhere, did you?"

"Not unless he's named Gaggles or Boo-Boo."

"What about the voices? To me it sounded like The Apparition might have done all of them. What do you think?"

"I think you're probably right," said Roger. "Even if it wasn't him, it didn't sound like any of our other suspects, so that doesn't help."

"Well, there has to be a clue somewhere. We'll just have to keep watching the tape until we find it."

"So we're still not going to the police?"

"We can't. I have to believe that if the cops show up, he'll be able to kill the remaining prisoners before they can stop him. Or suppose the police are actually able to figure out who he is, and arrest him at the taping today...he might never tell where the prisoners are being kept. If he thinks he'll be dead soon and has nothing to lose, why would he? We just have to figure it out ourselves and trust that it'll really be over today."

"It could end with a slaughter," Roger pointed out.

I suddenly pressed the pause button. "Did you see that?"

"What?"

I rewound for a few seconds, catching a momentary glimpse of something on the television screen. I pressed play, and then watched until the message flashed on the screen,pausing the tape before it vanished again.

"Oooooh, this one's a toughie! Need an extra hint, Andrew? Go to 1214 Cruor Avenue. Alone, of course."

"Where's Cruor Avenue?" Roger asked.

"No idea." I pressed fast-forward again and watched the screen carefully in case more messages popped up.

"Are you going?"

"Not yet. Hopefully we won't need an extra hint if we can find out who he is from the rest of the tape."

We sat there for several minutes until the tape came to an end, with no other bonus hints that I noticed. I rewound the tape and we watched the section with Gaggles and Boo-Boo a second time. Ipaused it right before the first bite, not wanting to have to watch the torture again until I was sure the clue wasn't hidden in the introduction.

"What do you think?" Roger asked.

I sighed. "I'm not seeing anything that's pointing me in a specific direction. Maybe Gaggles and Boo-Boo are actual nicknames."

"What about the cowboy hat? That could mean something."

"It might," I agreed. "I wish there was some way we could safely get a copy of this to Rachel."

I suddenly had a paranoid mental image of somebody sitting outside in a van, listening to our conversation being transmitted from a bug that was hidden in the confetti. It was certainly possible. I hoped I hadn't doomed the rest of the prisoners.

We rewound the tape and watched a third time. I scooted up right against the screen, searching for hidden messages that might be in the background. Something about the way the skulls moved when they spoke seemed a little odd—odd beyond the way their mouths didn't match their words.

I pressed the mute button so their voices wouldn't be a distraction, and continued watching.

"Look at that," I said, tapping the screen on the skull with the cowboy hat. "Which one is this, Gaggles? Look how his mouth moves compared to Boo-Boo's."

Roger watched silently for a moment. "It definitely seems like two different people are working them."

"Right.Gaggles isa lot more haphazard. Boo-Boo almost looks like he's being controlled by a computer."

I thought about that. It was an interesting thing to notice, I guessed, but what was it supposed to mean?

Maybe two members of Ghoulish Delights were working together.Dominick and Linda, or Carl and Farley. Or, it could just be another helper like The Apparition. Either way, this observation did approximately squat in terms of revealing the killer's identity.

We rewound the tape yet again, but the fourth viewing provided no new insights. A fifth viewing had the same result.

So the clue we needed could very well be hidden after the skulls started their vicious work.

I really, truly, wholeheartedly did not want to watch that part of the video again, but I had to. Considering that real people had gone through the agonizing torture recorded on the tape, and to stop it from happening again all I had to do was sit in the comfort of my living room and watch it, I really had no excuse.

I watched the death of the woman in its entirety.

No clues presented themselves.

I looked over at the clock on the wall.Almost eight.Four hours until we needed to be at the taping.

"Okay, Roger," I said, "you're not going to like this, but I suggest you sit here and study the tape while I go to that Cruor place."

"All right, I'll see what I can do."

"And I assume you know to keep the doors locked and be alert for people stalking the house."

"You assumed correctly. But are you sure you really want to go there?"

I nodded. "I'll be okay. The killer has put me in some creepy situations since he dumped us in the ditch, but none of them were designed to put me in danger."

"So far.Be careful anyway."

"I will."

I went into Kyle's room and was pleased to discover that it was a full 2.5% cleaner than when he'd started. I did the usual hugs, kisses, descriptions of punishment should he not behave, and then proceeded into Theresa's room, which looked nearly 4% better. Maybe my parenting skills weren't so bad after all.

After telling Theresa that no, she couldn't come with me, I went outside, got in my car, and pulled a map of Chamber out of the glove compartment. I looked upCruor Street on the sidebar index and saw that it was located in square B-7, which meant it was way on the other side of town. No big surprise.

CRUOR STREETwas part ofRichmondHeights . The "Rich" part of the name was appropriate, because this was the wealthiest section of town. I drove past house after house that made my place look like a rotting hovel until I reached 1214. It was a green two-story deal with a recently mowed lawn that had already been littered with toys. The roof was covered with three different antennas and a satellite dish. A car was parked in the driveway, but I couldn't tell what kind because it was hiddenunder one of those stupid car covers. It was probably a nice one, though.

I parked next to it, got out, and went up to the front porch and rang the doorbell.

"Hold on!" a voice called out. "I'll be there in a minute!"

It took about three minutes, but finally a well-tanned guy in his mid-forties opened the door. He wore denim shorts and a plain white t-shirt, had no remaining hair worth mentioning, and was in pretty good shape save for a small beer gut.

"May I help you?" he asked, smiling at me with perfect, unnaturally white teeth.

"This is going to be a bit unusual," I admitted, "but could I ask you a few questions?"

"No, I haven't been Saved," he said.