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through a door?”
    Charlotte shook her head. “No, Ma’am. That was what was so scary. The figure just disappeared into the wall. I didn’t see any opening.”
    “Could you tell me what the figure was wearing?
    “Well, it was pretty dark, but there was light from the house and our boat. Whatever, the thing was wearing, it didn’t reach to the ground. Seemed like it had something white around its neck.”
    Brandy hoped she could get some details to connect the figure with Eva Stone. She framed her next question carefully. “Try to describe what was at the neckline.”
    “It wasn’t white like a mist or a fog, or like that. It looked like it had sharp edges. It wasn’t very long. Below that I saw something like reddish cloth. Well, we didn’t wait to examine anything carefully, Miss O’ Bannon. I wasn’t the only one who saw it. Some of the girls started screaming, and we just took off.”
    “I appreciate your telling me about this,” Brandy said.
    “None of the other girls will talk about it. The guy driving the boat says it must’ve been a trick of light, or the shadow of a cloud passing over. Our folks want everyone to forget what happened. They say it was all in our imaginations. They think we were drink-ing——but it happens we weren’t.”
    Charlotte stared through the windshield, chin up and defiant. Then the blonde head dropped, and she gripped the wheel. “Still, I don’t want you to use my name. I don’t care if you write what I told you, but to get my parents off my back, I told my parents I’d shut up about it. If they see I’ve talked again to a reporter, they’ll ground me for a year.”
    Well–documented interviews, Brandy thought grimly. Those were Mr. Tyler’s instructions. She thanked Charlotte, nevertheless. Even though she wouldn‘t be quoted, the girl’s description might later give Brandy’s account credibility.
    She pulled out of the parking lot, aware that she faced her moment of truth. Who could she use as a witness? None of the other students were even willing to speak to her. Only one possible witness came to mind——herself. She would have to follow her plan, even if she followed it alone.

FIVE  
    After Brandy checked her county map, she took 441, turned south, passed over a canal, and finally cut right on the small road near Lake Dora’s south rim. Mentally she took inventory. Her mother didn’t expect her until very late. She had a pen flash-light——its beam would be hard to see from the house——and her note pad and a flash camera. To look professional, unfortunately, she had worn a shirt waist dress and pumps, not entirely suitable for a stake–out in the woods.
    As she made the final turn into Sylvania’s lane, she faced the inky blackness of woods. Overhead, branches arched in a thick, dark canopy. She felt a sudden tightness in her chest and lectured herself severely: nothing was here at night that was not here in the day time. Besides, no one had ever claimed this alleged haunting hurt anyone. What danger could there be in simply watching?
    Before she came to the parking area, she pulled off the road under a live oak draped in Spanish moss. Then tucking her purse under the front seat, she locked her car, pocketed the pen light and her car keys, and hung her camera on a strap around her neck. As she slogged through the sand toward the uneven side lawn, she cursed her high heels. Skirting a ragged fringe of cherry laurel, she inched around the back side of the house and crouched behind shrubbery several yards from the lake. She had a good view of the boat house where Charlotte claimed she saw the figure. Because the lake side of the house and its dormer windows faced the shoreline, they were not in her direct line of vision. No light came from the two side windows.
    Time passed slowly. Her legs began to cramp, her eyes to ache from sheer concentration. Far across the dark expanse of water glimmered the tiny lights of Tavares. For an hour the only