I typed in MORE.Hesitated for a couple of seconds. Then hit return.
"CORRECT.FIFTY-EIGHT, TO BE EXACT. RIGHT LEG SPARED."
If that question ever popped uponJeopardy I'd be set.
"QUESTION FOUR. LEFT LEG. IN MULTIPLES OF FIVE MINUTES, HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO CLEAN UP AFTER THE AVERAGE GHOULISH DELIGHTS MURDER-ON-TAPE?"
How the hell was I supposed to know that?
"Give that here!" said Tony to someone behind me. As he walked up to the door, I saw that he held a metal pipe, about two feet long. Bruce stepped forward and each of them took an end. "Left leg, correct?" he asked me.
"Correct!" Three seconds remained on the timer.
I typed 60 and at the last second hit enter.
"WRONG. THE CORRECT ANSWER IS 45. LEFT LEG SEVERED."
The blade positioned by his left leg swung with incredible force, striking the metal pipe with aloudclang. Bruce and Tony both let out a grunt as the pipe was wrenched out of their grasp. It slammed against Roger's leg with a sound that had to be bone breaking. Roger let out a muffled cry of pain.
The blade swung back to its original position.
Roger was badly hurt, but at least he still had his leg.
"FINAL QUESTION.NECK."
"The next one's going for his neck!" I shouted. Bruce and Tony quickly positioned the pipe so that it would block the blade, and two other cops joined to help them hold it.
"WHO AM I?"
If I knew that, I wouldn't have been in this situation to begin with! Carl, Farley, Dominick, Linda...maybe even Rachel...who could itbe ?
I had a one in five chance of guessing correctly.
One in four, if I discounted Rachel.
Even if the pipe stopped the blade from cutting him, if I got this wrong my best friend was going to end up with a broken neck.
Five seconds.
I typed in CARL.
Three seconds.
I placed my finger over the enter key.
Two seconds.
No! The odds were too much against me!
Better to try something where Ididn'tknow the odds.
I spun around and flung the laptop into the air as hard as I could. The wires connecting it to the door snapped.
The bottom blade snapped up, slamming into the wood between Roger's legs again.
A split-second later, the blade to the right of Roger's waist sprung. The cops spun the pipe downward, and the bottom of it passed in front of Roger's right leg an instant before the blade hit. Though there were four cops holding it, the pipe was still wrenched away from them, and crunched against Roger's leg in the same area as before, but at a new angle. Roger shrieked beneath the tape.
The blade to the left of Roger's waist sprung, slamming against the opposite blade.
The blade on the right side of Roger's head, the one intended to chop off his right arm, sprung, coming down upon the upper end of the pipe and crushing it into his shoulder. It was immediately followed by the blade on the left side of his head, which struck the right blade and elicited another shriek from Roger.
The blade aimed at Roger's neck sprung. It connected with the other two blades, giving the pipe against his shoulder a third slam.
And that was it.
Roger remained fastened to the door, probably with a shattered leg and shoulder. But he still had his head. He'd live.
"We need some saws and a metal cutter!" shouted Bruce, but somebody had already retrieved the metal-cutting shears. While the cop with the shears went to work on the band around Roger's right leg, Tony pulled out a pocketknife and began to cut through the duct tape.
He ripped the tape away from Roger's mouth, and Roger spoke in a weak voice. "Under my shirt...an envelope..."
I lifted his shirt to reveal an envelope folded into quarters and taped to his chest. I pulled it off, tore it open, and read the letter inside.
"So, how does your friend look without his head? Sorry that there was no correct answer to the last question, but I couldn't give anything away incase you made a lucky guess. You're probably wondering what happened to your kids. Are they still alive? Did I chop their heads off, too?Nope, not yet. I'll save that for later, unless you cooperate. We'll consider your involvement with the cops an unfortunate little detour that cost your friend his life. If you ever want your kids back, you'll proceed exactly as planned. Go home and relax, then come to the taping. Join the fun. Try to solve the mystery. Otherwise I'll get to add a new age bracket to the listofGhoulish Delights stars. So you make sure those pigs stay out of it. I have insiders on the force, so don't try anything remotely sneaky. If I get the slightest bit suspicious, your son and daughter will be screaming in pain for days, and they'll be dead for months before you find them. Got it? Good."
I touched my hand to my cheek. I hadn't even realized I was crying.
"I'm so sorry, Andrew..." said Roger. They were having trouble getting the metal band off his arm, and it didn't look like he'd be free anytime soon. "I didn't see it coming."
"Do you know who it was?"
"No. I was knocked out with something, and when I came to I was in the back of a van. I couldn't see who was doing it...I was just dumped off here."
"Was it more than one person?"
"I don't think so. They used a cart or something, so one person could have done it alone."
I turned toward the crowd of police officers. "I have to go home," I said. "I have to find the person who did this on my own. He has my kids and he has four other prisoners. If he thinks there's any police involvement, any at all, he'll kill them. He doesn't want anyone else playing his game."
"That's crazy," said Bruce. "You've got it narrowed down to five suspects. We'll just round `emup and bring `emin!"
"No! If he sees any cops, my kids are dead! He'll kill them before you finish knocking!"
"We at least can have people keep an eye on you," said Tony. "Plainclothes cops. They'll blend in. He'll never know they're there."
I shook my head. "Please, you've got to stay completely out of this. All of you." I pointed to The Dismemberment Game. "Look at what kind of stuff this guy sets up! I mean, do you honestly believe he'll hesitate to kill my children? I don't know what his resources are, I don't know who he has working for him, I don't know anything except that if thereisany police involvement in this matter, there's a really good chance that I'll never see my kids alive again. Please, let me do what I have to do."
A middle-aged man in gray pants and a rumpled dress shirt stepped forward. "My name is JamesGeldern , Chamber County Chief of Police. We'll get your friend out of there. Go get your kids."
"I mean it, you can't have me followed," I insisted.
"We won't have you followed. The mind that created a contraption like this is not the kind of mind I want to make angry. Now get the hell off police property before something like this happens again."
"Thank you." I looked at Roger. "You'll be okay, don't worry."
"I'm sorry, Andrew...I tried to do something but I..."
"Forget about it. It wasn't your fault."
I walked away from the police parking lot and onto the sidewalk. Theresa and Kyle would be okay. Everything would turn out okay. It had to.
In my mind I heard the delighted cackle of a wicked witch. "Would you like to see my little puppet show,dearies ? Fifty-eight bites between the two of you! Don't forget, my puppets love it when youscreeeeeeeaaaaaaaaam ."
Chapter 20
TWO BLOCKS from the police station I reached a pay phone. It had to be safe to call a cab...the killer couldn't expect me to spend a couple of hours walking home. After being told the cab would be there in about ten minutes, I leaned against the brick wall of a hardware store and waited.