so I can finish this project and get on the road.”
“We won’t be in your way,” was Jake’s flip reply. “Go on with what you were doing. I’m just going to call Detective Reese.”
“Call him,” Barry said, no longer bothering to sound like Mr. Reasonable Guy. “I’ll mention to him that you guys were asked to leave and you won’t. I think it’s called trespassing, and probably harassment, too.”
Darla, meanwhile, had spied another of the empty gallon paint cans lying near the closest wall. Not a hammer, but better than nothing. She began wriggling her way over to it, careful to avoid the hole in the floor. If this didn’t worked, as a last resort she could fling herself through that opening. Her body hitting the floor below would cause enough ruckus to bring someone running—and the fall couldn’t be any worse than what Barry had planned for her.
“Maybe we should leave, Jake,” James was saying now, and his suggestion sent a wave of panic through her. Had Barry actually convinced them that he was hiding nothing? “If Mr. Eisen wants us off his property, I think we are obliged—”
“Hey, look what I found behind the door,” Robert cut him short, his tone excited. “They look like the sticks Ms. Pettistone had in her hair this morning. And this one looks like it has, you know, blood on it!”
Blood from where I managed to stab Barry, she thought in satisfaction as she inched her way closer to her goal. Surely the sight of blood would convince them that something was wrong there.
“Remember, I told you the cat was hurt,” she could hear Barry counter reasonably. “We tried to make a splint with those hair things, but it didn’t work. That’s where the blood came from. She must have dropped them there.”
At his words, a shudder went through her. Once again, the man had come up with a plausible argument for another uncomfortable question. Plausible enough that the trio might finally give up and unknowingly leave her behind. She couldn’t let that happen. She had to get to that paint can before they marched back out the door again!
But this time, it seemed that her friends weren’t buying what Barry was selling.
“That story is, in the parlance, bullshit,” James replied, much to her relief. “In fact, I am beginning to think you are keeping something from us. Darla, can you hear me? Are you somewhere in this house?”
“Darla! Darla, are you here?” Jake echoed. “Damn it, Barry, you’d better spill your guts now, or I’ll let Robert use that bat of his on you!”
Barry began to argue the point, and James to counter him, but Darla didn’t need to hear any more. The important thing was that her friends didn’t believe him!
By now, she had reached the paint can and dragged herself to her knees beside it. The sweat from her palms had seeped into the adhesive of the tape, loosening its grip on her skin. Now, she could use both hands to readily grasp the bail on the paint can. Holding it by that wire handle, she raised the empty can shoulder high and then smacked it against an exposed stud in the wall.
To her surprise, the can gave off a hollow bong, almost like a bell.
Encouraged, she raised the can and swung it against the stud again, and yet again. Each time, the dull rings were louder, reverberating in the empty room.
“Wait!” Jake’s voice rose above the small hubbub that had been going on below. “What in the hell is that sound? It’s almost like a cowbell ringing.”
Darla raised the can to strike it again; then, recalling something Jake had said a few days earlier, she changed her mind. Grabbing the metal container by its edge now, she used it like a mallet against the floor to beat out a familiar two-part rhythm.
Shave and a haircut, two bits. Shave and a haircut, two bits.
“Oh my God, it’s Darla,” she heard Jake’s stunned cry. “Did you hear that? She’s the only one I know who does that stupid knock.”
“It sounds like it’s coming from, you know, upstairs,” Robert added. “Here, I’ll go look for her. Ms. Pettistone! Where are you?”
“Give me that bat, Robert. I might need it. James, go with him,” Jake snapped. “I’ll keep an eye on Mr. Eisen until Reese and his team can get here.”
Darla could hear feet pounding up the first flight of stairs, heard James and Robert call her name as doors flung open.