A Theater to Die For by M.P. Black

Author:M.P. Black [Black, M.P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9788794457101
Publisher: MP Black Media
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

Saturday morning found Alice and Ona drinking coffee on the front steps of Wonderland Books when a troop of young people marched toward the store.

Even at a distance, the leader of the pack’s black hair was unmistakable.

“Billy Brine,” Alice said. “Now, what does he want? And who are all those people following him?”

“If they had pitchforks, they could play extras in Frankenstein,” Ona said, sipping her coffee. “Though I’m guessing they’re something much more mundane: podcast fans.”

Alice got to her feet, as did Ona, getting out of the way. Billy Brine and his followers descended on the store like a swarm of locusts, pressing inside the tiny house. Within minutes, they’d pulled dozens of books from shelves, leaving them on the little benches, the counter, or resting face-down in sections where they didn’t belong. Alice, having retreated to safety behind the counter, tried not to feel annoyed.

It’s part of the business, she told herself. I’m grateful to have customers.

Ona was by her side, and now leaned close. “It’s almost impossible to tell how upset you are, except for the fact that you’re grinding your teeth.” But her tone was sympathetic, and she added, with a visible shudder, “Can you imagine the damage they’d do to the Pemberley Inn?”

Alice had an apocalyptic vision of the Pemberley Inn laid to waste, portraits hanging askew, wallpaper ripped, windows broken. Then her mind pictured Main Street thronged with savage podcast fans, roaming the streets like zombies.

She shuddered.

“Speaking of which, why aren’t you at the inn, in case they want to book a room?”

Ona laughed. “These kids? Book accommodation at my hoity-toity inn? Forget about it. They’re staying at a barn somewhere. Something Billy arranged for a song and a dance. I’ll bet you 20 bucks they don’t buy any books.”

“Morning,” Chief Jimbo said, coming into the store.

“What brings you to my bookshop?” Alice asked.

She got her answer when Billy hailed Chief Jimbo from across the store. “Chief, you ready?”

“Ready when you are, Billy.” Chief Jimbo turned to Alice and Ona with a grin. “Did you listen to Billy’s new podcast episode? It dropped last night.”

Dropped? Alice had the feeling Chief Jimbo was emulating language that wasn’t in his natural vocabulary.

“No, I haven’t had the pleasure of listening to it yet.”

“Well, you should. Billy lays out his theory about the Oz Killer, and even points to where he’s located.”

“Oh?”

“Right here in the Blithedale Woods.”

Alice thought of the wild man she’d seen. The man who’d broken into Sandy’s home, the public library, and—almost—Dorothy’s place. She sighed. If Ona hadn’t shown up early this morning, she might’ve had a chance to sneak away and take another look at Sandy’s place. She couldn’t get into Dorothy’s home, of course, not now that Beau had put in a security system. And who knew where the wild man was hiding.

Well, apparently Billy does…

“After releasing the new episode,” Chief Jimbo continued, “he put out a call to his followers⁠—”

Billy himself came over and cut in. “And they jumped in cars and on buses, and here they are.

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