On a sudden impulse, Karen waved back. The look of surprised indignation on Shreve's face pleased her enormously.

"There's Tony," Mark said with relief. "It's about time."

Theirs were not the only eyes that followed Cardoza's progress across the room. Again Karen was struck by his astonishing good looks. His colleagues must kid him unmercifully about being so beautiful.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, pulling out a chair. "A policeman's lot…"

"Bad?" Mark asked. At close range the signs of strain on Tony's face were visible to all of them.

"Yeah."

Though Mark was obviously curious, he took the hint. "Drink up, then. You're behind."

"I'll stick to wine, thanks. Have to toast the new enterprise."

After Tony had ordered he leaned back and smiled at them. "This is a pleasant change from my usual stale sandwiches and TV dinners. If you had told me the ladies were going to be so dolled up, I'd have gotten my tux out of mothballs."

"Just don't mention the sweetheart of Sigma Chi," Cheryl warned him.

"You look cute."

"Thanks for nothing."

The affectionate older-brother smile Tony had given Cheryl faded as he turned his attention to Karen. After a moment he said unexpectedly, "'She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies…'"

Karen felt her cheeks grow warm. She could think of no appropriate response to a compliment so gracefully expressed, so obviously sincere. How long had it been, she wondered, since she had blushed at hearing the open admiration in a man's voice?

Mark broke the silence. "If there is anything more revolting than a literary cop-"

Tony grinned. "Hey, pal, if you can't hack it, don't knock it. Here's luck to the lovely lady, and her partner, and their business." He raised his glass.

"Thanks," Karen said. "We're going to need it."

"Especially if people keep messing up the merchandise," Cheryl added. "We've washed and ironed some of those nightgowns twice in two days."

Her blue eyes widened innocently as she spoke, but as Karen had realized, her new partner was not as ingenuous as she appeared. Cheryl did not believe in wasting time, or resources. To her surprise, Karen found that her initial reluctance to imposing on Mark-and Tony- had faded. Tony's charming tribute had nothing to do with it, of course. Neither man appeared averse to discussing the matter. In fact, Mark looked more alert than he had all evening.

"That's one explanation," he said. "Have you got a jealous rival, ladies?"

"A couple of dozen rivals, I guess," Cheryl answered. "But if someone is trying to discourage us they're going about it the wrong way. It will take more than a little washing and ironing to stop us."

"If the low-down rat knew what a menace you are when you're riled up, he wouldn't mess with you," Tony said, smiling at Cheryl. "I agree with you. Anyone who wanted to put you out of business would burn or destroy your stock. There's something else involved. Karen, can you think of anyone who might have a grudge against you?"

"No. Tony, I appreciate your concern-and Mark's-but we don't have to talk about this. It's not your responsibility. And I'm sure you are very, very sick of crime."

"Honey, this isn't a crime." The endearment slipped out smoothly and naturally; Tony appeared not to notice he had said it. "Not the kind I'm accustomed to deal with daily, at any rate. It's more like an interesting little problem."

"A case for the Murder Club?" Karen asked with a twist of her lip.

"Oh, hey," Tony said quickly. "Don't get the idea that this is just an academic exercise for me. It might be if I had read about it or heard about it. But when it happens to someone I know and like… You aren't going to tell me to stay out of it, I hope?"

"I'm very grateful," Karen said quietly.

"There's nothing to be grateful about. That's just the point. No serious crime has been committed, and in my expert opinion there is no danger of a serious crime. This looks like a case of simple harassment. It may not even be directed against you personally. Kids playing tricks, picking a victim at random-"

"Trying to strangle someone is a hell of an unfunny joke," Mark said.

"Shut up and let me be the detective. That's what they pay me for, you know. The first incident may or may not be connected with the others. Whether or not, it's obvious that the guy was not lying in wait for Karen; he was caught by surprise, and lost his head. As for the enterprising young man who made off with Mrs. MacDougal's car-I'm sure you thought you recognized him, Karen, but we have a reliable report of his being seen in Cleveland. It's his home town and he is not unknown to the police there."

He smiled at Karen, who shrugged resignedly. If he was trying to prove that he knew all about her recent adventures, he had convinced her. But he had not convinced her she had been mistaken about Horton.

"The next episode is particularly interesting," Tony went on. "We might call it 'the ghost in the garden.' A bed sheet is certainly a weird disguise-"

"It's a damned good disguise," Mark broke in. "It conceals not only the face but all other identifying characteristics, even height and build. I admit a person wearing it would be somewhat conspicuous out on the street, but in a secluded back garden nothing could be better, and once he leaves the premises he can just roll it up and carry it under his arm. What's suspicious about dirty laundry?"

"Okay, okay. The trouble with you, Mark, is that you talk too much. I still think the bed-sheet disguise suggests someone's peculiar idea of a joke. And a pretty childish joke at that-I mean, who in this day and age believes in the old-fashioned sheeted specter? We've seen too many special effects in too many horror films to be frightened by anything so primitive. Hell, if I decided to play ghost, I could come up with a much more ingenious costume."

"I'll bet you could," Cheryl said.

"Which is precisely my point," Mark insisted. "It wasn't meant to frighten Karen… You weren't frightened, were you?"

"Who, me?" Karen gave a hollow laugh.

"Well, I don't mind admitting I'd have been scared to death," Cheryl announced. "Seeing something like that, in half-fog, half-darkness…You big brave heroes can jeer all you want, but I'll bet you'd have been shocked out of your socks too-at least for a few seconds."

"Exactly," Mark said triumphantly. "Those few seconds could make the difference between capture and escape."

"I don't know what the devil we're arguing about," Tony said. "There was no danger to Karen in that incident-right? The next one, last night's, is a little more serious. The joker actually got into the house. Now are you girls absolutely certain you locked up? I got the impression you were both a little-well-"

"You have a lot of nerve calling us drunks," Cheryl exclaimed.

"I didn't say you were drunk, I implied you were careless. Did you lock all the doors and windows?"

"Certainly," Cheryl said loftily.

"I'm sure," Karen said. "Well-ninety-nine percent sure."

"You'd better be a hundred percent sure," Tony said soberly. "Because if you did lock up, it means your visitor has a key to the house."

"Or that there is a way in we don't know about," Mark said.

"Come off it," Tony grunted. "Next thing you'll be talking about secret passages. Look, ladies, I'm not trying to cast aspersions on your sobriety, but it doesn't seem possible that someone could have a key. You just had new locks installed, didn't you? So. The next question is, did anyone know Cheryl was staying overnight?"

"No," Cheryl said without hesitation. "It was a last-minute decision. I didn't know myself until after midnight."

"You didn't call Mark?"

"Well, of course. You know I did."

"Just a damned minute," Mark said. "Are you suggesting-"