Beacon-Times has no new stories about the Babysitter, but forty more people have commented on the editorial.
Coastal160 wrote:
Did anyone see a cruiser in front of the Solomons’
house on Highgate Road Friday?
Sanddollar wrote:
I saw Beth Solomon in the market this a.m. She had on big honking sunglasses and a headscarf like she was Mary-Kate Olsen or somebody.
Sheepdogg wrote:
Nice sighting, Sanddollar. Check out my blog, The-DoggHouseSniffingOutThatBabysitter.com, for breaking news.
Waster wrote:
BetSo hot! Dani not so hot! Must take after the old man.
MPthree wrote:
She’s all right. I would do her no problem but you’d have to watch your back the whole time.
All right, they know, Dani says to herself. Everybody knows.
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What to do? It would be fine, Dani decides, to write an e-mail and not send it, to save it as a draft and let Beth press Send if she decided it was okay. Dani’s hands shake. She has trouble keeping her fingers on the keyboard.
Dear Dad,
How are you? I hope this is still your correct address. If it bounces back I’ll do a search or I’ll ask Mom if she has it. I suppose I could send snail mail, but this issue is rather time-sensitive so I don’t think I have time.
What I want to ask is, how would you feel about me coming to stay for a while? Maybe a few months, or maybe longer. Since summer is coming, I don’t have to worry about school. Mom would pay my plane fare and I could get some kind of job out there to pay for my own expenses. Maybe I could be a white-water guide or something like that.
Dani rereads her message while one finger hovers on the Delete key. Her dad and Julia won’t want her around their kids. In fact she should avoid kids for a while; maybe the rest of her life.
T H E B A B Y S I T T E R M U R D E R S
Dani closes her laptop. She curls on the couch, trying to devise a strategy. A lot of people who liked her before are going to hate her now. She doesn’t know where she’ll be able to hide if not here. She tries to push away a belief that some kind of punishment is inevitable, the natural cause-and-effect outcome of having these bad thoughts.
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The Dogg House
Sniffing Out That Babysitter
Your blog host: Sheepdogg
Out of sight, out of mind?
Word on the street is that The Babyslitter, I mean Babysitter, is hiding at home in the swank neighborhood of Ocean View. She was not seen in public either Friday or Saturday. Does she believe that if she doesn’t show her face, this will go away . . . poof?
Sheepdogg knows.
To Sheepdogg:
Just a note of encouragement from a group of fans in another part of the country. We are a national clearinghouse for crimes that are underattended by local law enforcement. We like the way you are going about writing on this case. Please look at our website; we’d love for you to check us out.
Rowdie
POK (Protect Our Kids)
To Rowdie:
Thanks for the props. Working hard on the blog without T H E B A B Y S I T T E R M U R D E R S
much feedback. My dad is a cop, really frustrated. I’m very interested in your group. Stay in touch. Would like to visit sometime, btw. Montana looks phenomenal!
To Sheepdogg:
How would you like to be our eyes and ears in Hawthorne?
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The land-line rings while Dani’s on the computer. It rings seven times, twelve times, twenty-two times. Dani’s mom would never let the phone ring twenty-two times.
On her e-mail Dani has a message from MyFace.com saying
“Check out the new girl in town!” It sends her to her own profile page.
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MyFace Profile
Name: Dani Death
“Aspiring kiddie killer”
Sex: Female
Age: 17 years old
Location: Hawthorne, Massachusetts, United States Last log-in: May 16
Mood: cold
Interested in:
General: being crazy
Sounds: human screaming, blood gurgling from an open wound Movies: Finding Nemo Hacked to Pieces About me:
I am a psychotic bitch who thinks about killing kids. How about I watch yours while you go to the movies? Don’t rush home and don’t bother calling—everything is JUST FINE’
Who I’d like to meet: your local kindergarten.
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Dani hears a car in the driveway. She shouldn’t go to the door unless she knows it’s Beth. She stands in the living room and tries to peer out the picture window. It’s a bright blue May day. She moves the curtain slowly, so no one will detect her. She hears a crash and something hard