Killing Time by Suzanne Trauth

Author:Suzanne Trauth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Published: 2020-03-16T13:55:30+00:00

12

I headed for the highway that ran between Etonville and its next-door neighbor, Creston, a larger city with a variety of neighborhoods from upscale to blue collar. I had gotten to know its downtown shops—a café for out-of-Etonville getaways, a jewelry store that played a part in one of my early investigative adventures—as well as its soup kitchen, where the Windjammer had donated food. Older, run-down areas with small, single-family homes and faded apartment buildings were mere blocks from multimillion-dollar houses. Creston included it all. I also knew that Halloween Costumes Super Store, the location printed on the bag in the foyer of the Villariases’, boasted hundreds of outfits to buy or rent, suitable for any dress-up occasion.

I left Route 53 and drove to Gardiner Avenue, two streets over from the central shopping area. I found a space a few doors from the costume business and marched briskly to my destination. I had no time to kill.

I entered the store, nearly empty this morning, and scanned the aisles of costumes. Racks of movie-inspired clothing, zombies, vampires, ghosts, and traditional pirates, cowboys, and nurses outfits. There were also heaps of clothing scattered around the place. No one was at the checkout counter, so I ambled down an aisle until I found a young man with a clipboard, taking inventory. He counted sailor uniforms, gave the costumes a once-over, made notes, and moved on to the next items.

“Excuse me.”

The clerk looked up and swept one hand over his half-shaved head, then tugged on a large gold hoop in his ear.

“I’m looking for a Phantom of the Opera costume.”

He studied me skeptically. “Halloween’s over, lady.”

“Right. But I have an event…a theater thing, and I need to go as a famous stage character. I figured the Phantom was a great idea.”

He frowned. “What about a princess from Frozen or a witch in Wicked?”

“I’m kind of set on Phantom,” I answered.

The young man gestured for me to join him at the checkout counter. He tapped keys on his computer, tugged on his earring some more. “We had four full costumes. One bought, three rented, all of ’em out.”

I knew where one of them was located. “What a shame. My good friend rented one from here and we were going to wear them together.” Did that even make sense?

“Two Phantoms?” he asked, confused.

“Maybe you remember him? Carlos Villarias? Tall, dark-haired, handsome. In fact, he’s playing Dracula at the Etonville Little Theatre right now. Maybe you’ve heard about it?”

“Nah. Not into theater.” He typed on his computer again. “Carlos Villarias. Phantom costume. Still outstanding.”

“Did Carlos pick it up or did you ship it to his office?”

“Picked it up.”

“I thought maybe he gave you his work address…he has a lot of stuff delivered there.”

“No work address. Do you want to see other costumes?” he asked, getting impatient.

“I’ll wander around.”

The clerk pointed off to the left. “Show costumes are in aisle three.” He stepped from behind the counter, then stopped. “You said Etonville?”

“Yes.”

“If you know the guy who rented the Grim Reaper costume, tell ’im I need it back this week.

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