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looked up, their faces brightening.
    Marguerite touched them lightly on their backs and then moved toward another group.
    Biddy and Lindy made their way back to where they had entered and looked over the crowd. Peter Dowd, the company’s stage manager, and Mieko stood at the edge of a group of students. In their midst, Rose Laughton moved her hands animatedly in the air, recounting some story that produced quiet laughter from the young dancers around her.
    Rose was the company’s wardrobe mistress. She was large, loud, and intimidating; not beautiful, but striking in a Valkyrie way. She struck horror into anyone who abused their costumes and had a sense of humor that often left her peers open-mouthed.
    Peter, tall and dark with black hair and forbidding brown eyes, stood uncomfortably on the fringe of the group. A whiz at all things technical, he was taciturn in the social sphere. When he had announced his New Year’s resolution of becoming more sociable, his statement was met with howls of laughter. If his idea of sociability meant hovering awkwardly at the edges of conversation, he was making a great start.
    Lindy smiled. How someone that handsome could be so socially inept was ridiculous.
    She turned from the group and her eye caught those of a boy standing in the shadows at the edge of the pavilion. His face was streaked with tears. She instinctively moved toward him. He disappeared into the darkness.
    24

    Midsummer Murder
    “We’re going back to the house.” Jeremy was standing beside her, eyebrows knit together. This was not the homecoming he had expected.
    Lindy touched his arm. “We just got here.” She fell silent when she realized that Robert was with him. He looked utterly exhausted. Thin lines framed his mouth. He rubbed one eye methodically with the back of his hand.
    “We’ll go with you,” said Biddy. “We need to go over the schedule for tomorrow.”
    “I’ll take care of it.”
    “Oh.” Biddy looked taken aback, but she said nothing more.
    “Shall we find Chi-Chi and tell her?” asked Lindy.
    Robert darted his eyes in her direction. “Yes, would you?”
    She nodded and led Biddy off to look for Chi-Chi’s bright dress among the crowd.
    Chi-Chi nodded when they told her Robert and Jeremy had left, then hurried toward the path. Lindy and Biddy followed.
    “Maybe we should leave them alone,” said Biddy. “Jeremy seemed to want to get away from us.”
    “I think he’s just worried about Robert. He seems to be taking this rather too hard.”
    They followed the others up the path toward the house. Chi-Chi had already caught up to Jeremy and Robert. They stood together briefly, then Chi-Chi took Robert’s arm. Jeremy took the other, and Lindy and Biddy were left to make their own way over the graveled walk.
    From the edge of the woods, they watched the three go into the house, Chi-Chi supporting her husband as if he were an invalid. The door closed behind them.
    “He sure seems dependent on his wife,” said Lindy.
    “Maybe we should just sit here for a minute and then go to bed,”
    said Biddy indicating one of the benches that were spaced strategically along the path.
    “We should at least say good night to Marguerite and Ellis before we do.”
    “We can wait for them here.” Biddy sat down and contemplated a winged statue of Mercury that stood on the other side of the path.
    Lindy joined her. “Don’t be upset with Jeremy. You know he always gets totally involved with whatever is going on. He didn’t mean to be rude.”
    25

    Shelley Freydont
    “Of course not,” agreed Biddy. “But he needs to be with his friends.
    We’re outsiders, and it wouldn’t be right to force ourselves into that friendship. Besides, it’s none of our business.”
    “Oh, there you are.” It was Stuart. “Ellis and Marguerite are right behind me. Shall we go up to the house for a nightcap?”
    Brother and sister appeared at that moment, Marguerite leaning heavily on Ellis’s arm. She looked tired