Allhallow's Eve: (Richard Laymon Horror Classic) by Richard Laymon
Authors: Richard Laymon
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dwelling on Scotty. You’ll never get a chance to do anything about him, never get a chance to stick your gun up his ass…
Stop it!
Think about Dexter.
Somebody hated Dex awfully bad to cut him up that way, hated him the way I hate Scotty. So who did Dex rape?
He wouldn’t.
Berney had Chet and Buck looking through the station files for suspects – guys Dexter had stepped on, over the gears. Guys who might want to return the favor. Even in a town the size of Ashburg, a cop could accumulate plenty of enemies.
Sam put his money on Thelma, though. Former spouse. Showed up in town the day before he was killed. Has to be a connection of some kind. If she didn’t handle it herself, she might’ve put somebody else up to it.
Maybe Elmer.
Even as he thought about the man, he saw Elmer Cantwell leave the house. The hunched figure crossed the lawn and ducked into the Volvo. The car backed out of the driveway.
Sam swung away from the curb, and followed. He stayed a full block behind Elmer’s car as it moved up the deserted street. At an intersection ahead, another carpulled in front of him. With this one as a shield, he narrowed the gap. It soon turned onto a driveway. By this time, Elmer was passing the Baptist church. The business district was only a block away. With traffic picking up, Sam didn’t bother to drop back. He stayed several car-lengths behind Elmer, and kept moving when the Volvo swung into the parking area of Harney’s Liquor.
Near the end of the block, he pulled up to a vacant stretch of curb. He waited, wondering if he was crazy to be tailing Elmer. Tailing him on an errand , for Christsake! His old lady probably ran short of apricot brandy … On the other hand, maybe Elmer planned to do some entertaining.
This could pan out, after all.
Sam chewed on his lower lip, and watched the rear-view mirror.
Soon, a car backed onto the road. Sam looked away as it approached. When it passed him, he looked. A Volvo. He let it get a good headstart, then pulled onto the road behind it.
The Volvo approached an intersection.
If he’s heading back home, Sam thought, he’ll turn here.
He didn’t turn.
Sam grinned, and followed. The Volvo led him away from the business district, down tree-shrouded streets. Not far ahead was the entrance to the Ashburg Golf and Tennis Club.
Where Babe Rawls once tended bar.
Where Thelma used to hang out.
But Elmer drove past it.
The open fields of the golf course began. On the other side of the street, the last few houses were left behind, and the cemetery took over.
Sam’s headlights lit a wooden sign. ‘You are now leaving Ashburg,’ it read. ‘Come back soon.’
Where the hell’s he taking me? Sam wondered.
Better be to Thelma.
11
Eddie Ryker was drying the supper dishes when the telephone rang. His mother lifted a plate out of the sudsy water. ‘Would you get that, honey?’
‘Sure.’ He balled up the dishrag. As he backed away, he shot it toward the sink. It flared out, and dropped like a sheet over the rack of dishes waiting to be dried.
In two long strides, he was at the kitchen door. He picked up the wall phone.
‘Hello?’
‘Eddie?’ asked a soft, breathy voice.
He smiled. ‘Oh, hi Aleshia. How are you?’
‘I miss you.’
‘Me too,’ he said, and wished he’d picked up the phone in a different room. He never expected the caller would be Aleshia. She usually phoned much later, talking quietly from her dark bedroom.
‘How was football practice?’
‘Just fine,’ he said. He remembered her waving as she ran by with the other cheerleaders, her legs quick under the pleated skirt. ‘How did your practice go?’
‘Oh, just fine. Except for Sue. She’s such a know-it-all. I just wish she’d fall off her pedestal andbreak a leg. Or something higher up, if you get my meaning.’
Eddie smiled.
‘I suppose you heard about Chief Boyanski?’
‘Yeah. It was on the news.’
‘Isn’t it just ghastly? To think there’s a murderer
Stop it!
Think about Dexter.
Somebody hated Dex awfully bad to cut him up that way, hated him the way I hate Scotty. So who did Dex rape?
He wouldn’t.
Berney had Chet and Buck looking through the station files for suspects – guys Dexter had stepped on, over the gears. Guys who might want to return the favor. Even in a town the size of Ashburg, a cop could accumulate plenty of enemies.
Sam put his money on Thelma, though. Former spouse. Showed up in town the day before he was killed. Has to be a connection of some kind. If she didn’t handle it herself, she might’ve put somebody else up to it.
Maybe Elmer.
Even as he thought about the man, he saw Elmer Cantwell leave the house. The hunched figure crossed the lawn and ducked into the Volvo. The car backed out of the driveway.
Sam swung away from the curb, and followed. He stayed a full block behind Elmer’s car as it moved up the deserted street. At an intersection ahead, another carpulled in front of him. With this one as a shield, he narrowed the gap. It soon turned onto a driveway. By this time, Elmer was passing the Baptist church. The business district was only a block away. With traffic picking up, Sam didn’t bother to drop back. He stayed several car-lengths behind Elmer, and kept moving when the Volvo swung into the parking area of Harney’s Liquor.
Near the end of the block, he pulled up to a vacant stretch of curb. He waited, wondering if he was crazy to be tailing Elmer. Tailing him on an errand , for Christsake! His old lady probably ran short of apricot brandy … On the other hand, maybe Elmer planned to do some entertaining.
This could pan out, after all.
Sam chewed on his lower lip, and watched the rear-view mirror.
Soon, a car backed onto the road. Sam looked away as it approached. When it passed him, he looked. A Volvo. He let it get a good headstart, then pulled onto the road behind it.
The Volvo approached an intersection.
If he’s heading back home, Sam thought, he’ll turn here.
He didn’t turn.
Sam grinned, and followed. The Volvo led him away from the business district, down tree-shrouded streets. Not far ahead was the entrance to the Ashburg Golf and Tennis Club.
Where Babe Rawls once tended bar.
Where Thelma used to hang out.
But Elmer drove past it.
The open fields of the golf course began. On the other side of the street, the last few houses were left behind, and the cemetery took over.
Sam’s headlights lit a wooden sign. ‘You are now leaving Ashburg,’ it read. ‘Come back soon.’
Where the hell’s he taking me? Sam wondered.
Better be to Thelma.
11
Eddie Ryker was drying the supper dishes when the telephone rang. His mother lifted a plate out of the sudsy water. ‘Would you get that, honey?’
‘Sure.’ He balled up the dishrag. As he backed away, he shot it toward the sink. It flared out, and dropped like a sheet over the rack of dishes waiting to be dried.
In two long strides, he was at the kitchen door. He picked up the wall phone.
‘Hello?’
‘Eddie?’ asked a soft, breathy voice.
He smiled. ‘Oh, hi Aleshia. How are you?’
‘I miss you.’
‘Me too,’ he said, and wished he’d picked up the phone in a different room. He never expected the caller would be Aleshia. She usually phoned much later, talking quietly from her dark bedroom.
‘How was football practice?’
‘Just fine,’ he said. He remembered her waving as she ran by with the other cheerleaders, her legs quick under the pleated skirt. ‘How did your practice go?’
‘Oh, just fine. Except for Sue. She’s such a know-it-all. I just wish she’d fall off her pedestal andbreak a leg. Or something higher up, if you get my meaning.’
Eddie smiled.
‘I suppose you heard about Chief Boyanski?’
‘Yeah. It was on the news.’
‘Isn’t it just ghastly? To think there’s a murderer
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