it. He stabbed the guy from the realty office twenty-eight times, all over, including his face. Then he turned on the girl. She tried to fight him off, and then she tried to escape by pulling the doors apart, but the perpetrator stabbed her three times in the back.
"When she was pulling at the doors, though, she must have dislodged whatever it was the perpetrator had used to jam the elevator. It started to travel downward again, and at some point the perpetrator climbed out of it and escaped."
"Jesus, there are some crazies around," said Trevor. "If you can't even get into an elevator in a crowded office building without being attacked…"
"Is the girl okay?" asked Sissy. "I mean, considering what she's been through."
"She's still in shock, but she's not as traumatized as I thought she would be. Some assault victims can't say a single word that makes any sense at all…sometimes for weeks. Sometimes never."
"Did she know the man who attacked her?"
"Unh-unh. She gave me a very vivid description, but he's not the kind of man that you would want to know, believe me. She said he was tall, and kind of blocky, but it was his face that really made an impression on her. She said that his face was very red, almost like he was wearing a red mask."
Sissy reached across the table and picked up the DeVane cards. She sorted through them until she found la Blanchisseuse, the Laundress. She passed it over to Trevor and said, "Just as the cards predicted. A red-faced man, high up on a ladder. Of course they didn't have elevators when these cards were first drawn. A young woman, and a tub full of blood. In other words, a bloodbath."
"Coincidence, Momma, coincidence. You're always reading things into things when there isn't anything there."
"I don't think so. Not this time. Another card predicted that somebody would create a likeness of a man with blood on his hands, and what do you think Molly has been doing this evening?"
"Was he really so red in the face?" asked Trevor.
"That's how the girl described him."
"Maybe he was wearing face paint. You know-trying to look like a demon, or Darth Maul out of Star Wars, so that he would scare people more."
Molly shrugged. "Maybe. But he didn't need to put on face paint to scare her. She was scared enough already. She was absolutely sure that she was going to die."
"So what do the police think?" asked Trevor.
"Right now, nothing conclusive. They're checking out the murdered guy's background, in case this 'Red Mask' maniac knew him and bore him any grudges. He worked in realty, so that's perfectly possible. CIS are going over the crime scene and asking a whole lot of office workers a whole lot of questions. But there's not much more that they can do, not tonight."
"Are you going to be on TV?" said Trevor.
"Not me. But my sketch is. Mind you, they've put it out on the Internet already."
CHAPTER 7 - Cicadas Coming
Over the yard, a three-quarters moon hung suspended, so orange that it was almost crimson. Although it was nearly 10:00 P.M., the air was still thick and warm. Sissy looked up to the sky and said, "Can you feel something stirring?"
"Oh God, I hope not," said Molly. "Not yet, anyhow."
"Make sure you close your bedroom window tonight, Momma," Trevor warned her. "And close it real tight."
"They're only bugs, surely," said Sissy.
"Of course they're only bugs. They won't harm you and they won't sting you. But you never came to Cincinnati in cicada season before. They come out in billions, and they fly, and they get everywhere. Why do you think I've covered the pool and hung muslin over the peach trees?"
"You never told me that they were such a nuisance."
"I was trying to be stoical, Momma, on account of having a job here and not being able to relocate. But they get caught in your hair, they block up your ventilation, and they get spattered all over your windshield when you're driving to work. That's why we never have outdoor picnics in cicada season-they keep dive-bombing the
"When she was pulling at the doors, though, she must have dislodged whatever it was the perpetrator had used to jam the elevator. It started to travel downward again, and at some point the perpetrator climbed out of it and escaped."
"Jesus, there are some crazies around," said Trevor. "If you can't even get into an elevator in a crowded office building without being attacked…"
"Is the girl okay?" asked Sissy. "I mean, considering what she's been through."
"She's still in shock, but she's not as traumatized as I thought she would be. Some assault victims can't say a single word that makes any sense at all…sometimes for weeks. Sometimes never."
"Did she know the man who attacked her?"
"Unh-unh. She gave me a very vivid description, but he's not the kind of man that you would want to know, believe me. She said he was tall, and kind of blocky, but it was his face that really made an impression on her. She said that his face was very red, almost like he was wearing a red mask."
Sissy reached across the table and picked up the DeVane cards. She sorted through them until she found la Blanchisseuse, the Laundress. She passed it over to Trevor and said, "Just as the cards predicted. A red-faced man, high up on a ladder. Of course they didn't have elevators when these cards were first drawn. A young woman, and a tub full of blood. In other words, a bloodbath."
"Coincidence, Momma, coincidence. You're always reading things into things when there isn't anything there."
"I don't think so. Not this time. Another card predicted that somebody would create a likeness of a man with blood on his hands, and what do you think Molly has been doing this evening?"
"Was he really so red in the face?" asked Trevor.
"That's how the girl described him."
"Maybe he was wearing face paint. You know-trying to look like a demon, or Darth Maul out of Star Wars, so that he would scare people more."
Molly shrugged. "Maybe. But he didn't need to put on face paint to scare her. She was scared enough already. She was absolutely sure that she was going to die."
"So what do the police think?" asked Trevor.
"Right now, nothing conclusive. They're checking out the murdered guy's background, in case this 'Red Mask' maniac knew him and bore him any grudges. He worked in realty, so that's perfectly possible. CIS are going over the crime scene and asking a whole lot of office workers a whole lot of questions. But there's not much more that they can do, not tonight."
"Are you going to be on TV?" said Trevor.
"Not me. But my sketch is. Mind you, they've put it out on the Internet already."
CHAPTER 7 - Cicadas Coming
Over the yard, a three-quarters moon hung suspended, so orange that it was almost crimson. Although it was nearly 10:00 P.M., the air was still thick and warm. Sissy looked up to the sky and said, "Can you feel something stirring?"
"Oh God, I hope not," said Molly. "Not yet, anyhow."
"Make sure you close your bedroom window tonight, Momma," Trevor warned her. "And close it real tight."
"They're only bugs, surely," said Sissy.
"Of course they're only bugs. They won't harm you and they won't sting you. But you never came to Cincinnati in cicada season before. They come out in billions, and they fly, and they get everywhere. Why do you think I've covered the pool and hung muslin over the peach trees?"
"You never told me that they were such a nuisance."
"I was trying to be stoical, Momma, on account of having a job here and not being able to relocate. But they get caught in your hair, they block up your ventilation, and they get spattered all over your windshield when you're driving to work. That's why we never have outdoor picnics in cicada season-they keep dive-bombing the
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