“Still—”
“Someone close,” Jon said determinedly. “I believe it’s someone we’ve talked to already. And I can’t help but wonder if there’s more to the motive than just ancient vengeance. Anyway, it’s the night before Halloween. Let’s listen to some music.”
“What?”
“We’re going to check out our friend’s gig. Young Calvin Daily, who created the great video game, Puritans vs. Witches.” He smiled grimly. “And then we’ll go home. We’ll have an officer on duty, but he’ll lie back in plain clothes in an unmarked car, watching.”
“You think the killer might ruin his plan by coming after an FBI agent?”
“If he feels cornered. And I think he just might. In your mind, or his, he thought that every man had a weakness, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, my love, I’m afraid that he might be seeing you as my weakness. And that’s why we’ll be extra vigilant and help every step of the way.”
Chapter 9
By the time they returned to Essex Street, people had turned out in high numbers—and in costume.
“Maybe we should have dressed up,” Kylie said. She liked Halloween—usually. Dress-up and parties were fun.
Generally.
Jon smiled. “As what?”
“Not clowns. Or werewolves. I’ve already seen a few tonight, but that kid we passed who was about seven years old did it best. I admit, I’m amazed. So many people. And still, many of the happenings were virtual this year,” Kylie said.
“Ah, well, we’ve had record days at airports. I’m willing to bet that our victims—and possible intended victims—might not have come to Salem before. But this year, the concept of a city truly embracing Halloween was just too much temptation. There!” he said suddenly.
A band played down the street.
“You can see Calvin Daily?” she asked Jon.
“No, I can see the big banner above the makeshift stage—it says Wolf Howlers.”
“Jon, do you think that it could have been Calvin? He seemed nice. And, seriously, little more than a kid.”
“He’s in his twenties, and people have killed at much younger ages.” He stopped, looking at her. “I don’t believe that the Flannery couple could have done any of this—neither would have the strength. I believe Charles has a heart condition. That doesn’t lend well to hauling around corpses. I think our widower, Ned Olsen, while not a suicidal man, still just wants to join the wife he loved. That leaves Matheson. He’s a big enough guy, and God knows enough so-called family men have proven themselves to be killers. Then there’s Daily and Kenny Innes.”
“And maybe none of them,” Kylie reminded him.
“They know the house better than anyone.”
“But none has a family pedigree that dates back to the early days of Salem.”
“We don’t really know that for sure, do we?” he asked. “Anyway, let’s watch for a bit. The band doesn’t sound too bad.”
“They sound good. I like them.”
They moved closer. The band had gathered quite an audience—because they were good.
They were all in bits of costume. Well, they called themselves the Wolf Howlers, and it was Halloween. Calvin was on lead guitar—wearing wolf ears and a furry wolf vest. The keyboard player was dressed similarly, as was the lead vocalist. The bassist had added a tail to his ensemble, and the drummer had an entire wolf costume on—fuzzy pajamas, Kylie thought.
They played old covers and did great with them, adhering to the season with numbers like Blue Oyster Cult’s Don’t Fear the Reaper, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs’ Little Red Riding Hood, and Alice Cooper’s Teenage Frankenstein.
The crowd loved them. And Kylie couldn’t help but note that young, attractive women huddled closest to the stage.
Maybe hoping to have a drink with a band member.
At one point, somewhere in the middle of a song from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Calvin saw them in the crowd. He nodded and smiled and looked pleased to find them there. She and Jon lifted their hands in acknowledgement, and Jon gave Calvin a big thumbs-up sign.
“The band isn’t bad. How long do we get to listen?”
“They’re on for another thirty minutes. I’m going to see what happens after. We’ll blend into the crowd, though.”
And they did. It wasn’t painful at all because the band joked easily between songs and played them all with not just expertise but also the soul that made the difference. At the end, the lead singer announced that Sister Sally Sadist and her Savvy Sisters were coming on next, and then they broke down as the next band came on.
Jon pulled Kylie along with him behind a large advertisement for the various groups.
While there was noise on the street, she could still hear the band members packing up—the drums, it seemed, were being used by all the groups. Guitars and the keyboard were carefully put into their cases.
The crowd had drifted. It would be a few minutes before there was music again.
“Hey, you guys hanging out at any of the pubs?” the lead singer called out.
“Sure!” the keyboardist replied.
“For a bit. Hey, guys, I have a two-year-old at home,” the bassist replied.
“I’m heading out. I have real work to afford me being here!” Calvin said.
“Think he’s really going home?” Kylie whispered.
“I think we’ll see,” Jon told her.
Calvin might not have been going home, but he did wave goodbye to his bandmates and weave his way down Essex to the garage.
Kylie and Jon were parked there, too.
“I doubt if we’re on the same floor. We’ll probably lose him, but…”
Kylie hurried along beside Jon. As they entered the area to catch the elevator, they saw that it was just closing.
They rushed in, only to find that Calvin had gotten there before them.
“Hey, guys! You did come out,” he said with pleasure. “Though you were probably just out and about and happened to see the group. But we’re okay, right?”
“Not okay. I thought you were great,” Kylie told him.
Her answer brought a smile to his lips. Then he frowned, but it turned to a grin. “Hey, you don’t seem to be old at all—heading home a little early, huh?”
“Long day,” Jon said briefly.
Calvin frowned again. “Yeah. The guys were talking earlier, saying that if they were girls, they’d be heading home. You get anywhere with the case?”
“Solving this kind of thing is like a puzzle,” Jon told him. “More pieces are falling into place, though.”
“Well, good,” Calvin said approvingly. “Glad a good old G-Man is here. Uh, sorry, not old. Never mind. You know what I mean.”
“Hey, you’re almost a kid,” Kylie told him. “You’re going home early.”
Calvin sighed and adjusted his grip on his guitar case. “It may be Halloween on Sunday, but I have a Monday deadline. We’re playing again tomorrow, but I owe some modifications to a game Monday.”
“Ah, work by day and by night,” Jon said.