Shakespeares Landlord Page 0,47

students, and we scampered (or hobbled) back into place.

"Kiotske!" We came to attention. "Rai!" We bowed. "Class dismissed!"

"My favorite words," Carlton murmured to Janet, who laughed - too much for such a feeble joke, I thought.

Marshall came up to me and said very quietly, "I'll pick you up at your house," which answered all my questions.

I sat on the floor to pull on my shoes. After I tied them, it was an effort to get up smoothly, but it was also a point of pride. Carlton was sitting in one of the folding chairs that lined the room, his head cocked. He was looking at me as if he was examining a suspect hundred-dollar bill.

"Good night," I said briefly.

"Good night," he answered, and bent to tie his sneakers, a scowl on his handsome face.

I shrugged and went through the double doors, passing Marshall's office and waving to him. He was looking at employee time sheets. The main room was empty except for Stephanie Miller, one of Marshall's hired hands who teaches some of the aerobic classes. Stephanie was running the big industrial vacuum cleaner over the worn green carpet. I gave her a casual nod and passed through the front door and over to my Skylark, one of four cars left in the parking lot. There was something on the hood of my car.

I wouldn't let myself stop, but I slowed down to get a better look. It was a ... doll?

Then I was standing a foot away and I dropped my gym bag. It was a doll, a Ken doll.

The eye had been defaced with red nail polish. It was fresh. I could smell it from where I stood. It had been used to create artistic drops of blood down the doll's face. Someone had made the doll look as if it had been shot in the left eye, the eye I had hit when I shot Nap.

I remembered exactly how it had looked, the sound the man had made, the way he'd hit the floor. He hadn't looked anything like a Ken doll... .

"What's wrong?" Carlton asked. "Car trouble?"

I was glad to be dragged back from the edge of the nightmare. I stood back so Carlton could see.

"Was this on your car?"

"Yes. I left the car locked, so someone put it on the hood."

I shivered at the malignancy of the "gift."

"What's up?" Marshall asked. He'd just locked the front doors of the gym. Across the parking lot, Stephanie got in her car and pulled out to go home.

I pointed to the doll. I couldn't bring myself to touch it.

"Oh, Lily, I'm sorry," he said after a moment.

"I get the feeling there's something about this I don't know?" Carlton asked.

I puffed out my cheeks with a gust of air. I was so tired. "I guess I ought to take this by the police station," I said.

"Lily, let it wait until tomorrow," Marshall said. "Go on home now. I'll see you in a little while."

"No. I want to get rid of it. I'll call you when I get home."

"Lily, do you want me to go to the police station with you?" Carlton asked.

I'd had almost forgotten Carlton was still there. I found myself feeling the unaccustomed emotions of warmth and gratitude toward my neighbor.

"That's very kind of you," I said stiffly, wishing I could sound more gracious. "But I think I better go by myself. Thank you for offering."

"Okay. If you need me, call me." Carlton hobbled over to his Audi and went home, doubtless anticipating a hot bath and a welcoming bed.

I watched him go because I didn't want to turn to meet Marshall's eyes.

"I'm wondering," I said, still looking into the night, "whether you have a secret admirer - someone who could find out my history and leave these little gifts for me, someone who could kill a rat and leave it on Thea's table."

"So, it's scaring you off, and we should forget about us?" Marshall leaped to the thought. He was upset and angry.

Well, I'm not exactly happy, either, I fumed to myself.

"No, that's not what I'm saying."

"Are you saying you don't want to see me tonight?"

"I don't know. No, that's not what I'm saying. I've been looking forward to it as much as you have." I raised my hands, palms upward, in a gesture of frustration. "But this is bad, isn't it? To think someone's watching me? Sneaking around with things like this?" I waved my hand toward the doll. "Thinking about what to do to