Makeovers Can Be Murder

Chapter 36

It was time for a quick change of strategy.

The 911 operator had sent a squad car, but in the meantime I decided to become my own siren.

″I don′t know who the hell you are, but the police are on the way!″ I screamed toward the door.

Dashing into the kitchen, I grabbed a knife from the wooden knife block on the counter, and a skillet from the cupboard. Then I kicked the walls. Anything to make noise and scare whoever it was off.

″Get out of here. Get out-get out!″

The 911 operator, who was still on the line, said in a worried tone, ″Miss Gallagher? What′s happening? Are you okay?″

Bomp-bomp-bomp! Another sound at my front door. Only this was knocking, authoritative and official sounding. It couldn′t be the intruder.

″Kate Gallagher?″ a deep male voice said. ″Dur ham Police Department.″

Still clutching the skillet, knife, and phone in my hands, I crept to the door. I opened it a sliver. Two patrolmen stood there wearing serious-responder expressions. One of them I recognized from having covered previous crime scenes. I remembered his name was De la Cruz.

Letting the knife slip from my hand, I opened the door wider. (Never let a cop see a knife in your hand under any circumstances, by the way. It can be dangerous.)

″You got here really fast,″ I said to De la Cruz.

″One of your neighbors called-you got a great neighborhood watch here. What happened, Miss Gallagher?″ De la Cruz said to me. The fact that he didn′t need to confirm who I was meant that he′d obviously recognized me, too.

I explained the twisty doorknob sound to them, plus the pushing-on-the-door thing that had scared the bejesus out of me. I have to admit, my explanation sounded much less dramatic than the experience had felt in real time.

″So you didn′t get a look at the guy?″ De la Cruz said, while making some notes in his report pad.

″No,″ I said. ″I just made as much noise as I could to scare him off.″

The other cop, who′d been examining the doorknob, straightened up. ″Hey, Cruz,″ he said. ″Take a look. I found jimmy marks.″

″Jimmy marks?″ I said. ″Are those from the guy trying to break in?″

″Yup. Definitely,″ De la Cruz said, peering at the brass doorknob. ″It was probably an attempted burglary. We′ve had a bunch of them around here lately. Usually they take place during the daytime when no one′s home, though. Not at night. It sounds like they came here looking for trouble.″

Looking for trouble. I thought about Anaïs Loring of the Newbodies, and how she′d been murdered during a home-invasion robbery. At night.

The chill I′d felt earlier washed over me again. I checked my watch. It was nearly ten thirty. I′d heard the first sound of the intruder around ten.

It′s like evil karma is stalking the Newbodies, Evelyn had said to me the other night on the phone. Who′s next?

Was it supposed to have been me?