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running her hands over it several times. She shook her head sharply, confirming a definite ‘no’ as the telephone started to ring.
    Grabbing her robe she pulled it on and hurried down the hall to the stairs, taking them two at a time as the phone continued to ring.
    “Hello. Hello!”
    There was silence which she broke by saying again, “Hello,” and then, “Oh, hell, not again!”
    Suddenly there was a woman’s voice, raspy and vile.
    “Billy!” it said sharply.
    “Billy? I’m sorry there’s no Billy here. You must have the wrong number.”
    She was about to hang up when the voice said again, “Billy? I know you’re there, nasty Billy. You answer me this minute.”
    “Look, you’ve got the wrong number.”
    “Don’t lie to me. I know what you did, nasty Billy!”
    Puzzled, still not realizing that it was the caller, Jess said, “Look, I’m telling you, you have the wrong number.”
    Quickly the voice changed from that of a woman to something that was almost sub-human, uttering the most sickening and disgusting epithet that Jess had ever heard. She slammed down the phone involuntarily, a shudder running up her back. She stood there for a moment not sure what to do when she was startled almost out of her wits by a loud banging sound.
    After she had jumped she realized that the sound came from the front hall and she looked out to see through the elaborate, frosted glass window of the front door a figure distorted out of recognition. The door banged again and Jess went to it.
    She struggled to open it for the catch continually stuck and when she finally was able to get it free she pulled it back to see Mrs. MacHenry standing there, her arms loaded with two brown paper bags.
    “Oh, here, Mrs. Mac. Let me help you.” She took one of the bags and started toward the kitchen with Mrs. Mac following her.
    “Brought you girls some groceries. Just staples mostly. Lord, prices are high. Thanks for letting me in. We’ve got to get someone over here to fix that door. Mr. Reynolds promised to do it.” Under her breath she muttered “I must have called that son of a bitch a dozen times about it.”
    In the kitchen they set the bags down on the counter and began to unpack them. Mrs. Mac unloaded a few things before she noticed that she was still wearing her coat so she started back to the hall to hang it up when Jess called to her, “Oh, Mrs. Mac? There was another of those calls just now. You know . . .”
    From the hall, Mrs. Mac’s voice floated back. “Oh, was there, dear?”
    “It was crazy. Some woman then a man wailing and saying terrible things.”
    Mrs. Mac, having finished hanging up her coat, tiptoed into the living room and removed the hidden sherry bottle from behind the books on the shelf as she shouted back, “It’s probably just one of your boyfriends, trying to tease you.” After swallowing the sherry and replacing the bottle she slipped out of the room again calling out to Jess. “Clare Harrison’s father was here today.”
    “Oh. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye to her.”
    In the dining room Mrs. MacHenry opened a cabinet door and peered in. She couldn’t see what she wanted so she reached her hand in, fishing as she carried on the loud dialogue with Jess. “Well, you still might. Clare didn’t meet him where she was supposed to.” Under her breath she said, “Goddam it, I know I put it there. Where the hell is it?”
    When Mrs. Mac told her that Clare had not shown up to meet her father Jess stopped putting the groceries away and thought for a moment before she yelled to Mrs. Mac, “Well, do you know where she is?”
    “I thought she probably went over to the fraternity house. You know, for the party.”
    Resuming with the groceries, Jess said, “Oh, yeah? Maybe she did. I wasn’t there. Did you send him over there?”
    Finding what she was looking for, Mrs. Mac muttered, “Oh, there you are.” To Jess she called out, “Yes. He drove me to the store. I pointed it