Haunted by Tamara Thorne Page A

moved to the other end of the hallway to explore a large bedroom with a wall of built-in wardrobes whose glass art was just short of scandalous. As he inspected the room, David began to suspect that this had been Lizzie Baudey's private sitting room. She would have wanted to stay near the front door, where she could keep an eye on the comings and goings of her customers. If, as the story often went, she broke her legs and couldn't walk without pain, she might well have slept down here, as well.
    "God, Daddy," Amber cried, "do you know what these are?" She squinted at the glass on one wardrobe door.
    "They're... they're..." she paused, at a loss for the word, then sputtered, "Trouser mice!"
    "They're what?" Theo asked. The dark mood that had hung over her like a pall in the other room had lifted.
    David peered closely at the glasswork. "Penises," he said, catching a whiff of the sweet perfume.
    "Dad!"
    "That's what they are, kiddo." He glanced at Theo. "Amber's always felt that the correct terms for reproductive organs are more improper than almost any euphemism."
    "They're gross-sounding words," Amber said hotly.
    Theo joined them at the wall of wardrobes and put her fingers to the arched glass over the rosewood doors. Amber backed away, looking disgusted.
    "When Lizzie Baudey inherited this house, she poured her artistic talents into it," David told them. "She replaced a lot of the original wood panels with glass. And since she was running a house of prostitution, I assume she thought that pornographic art was good for the mood. It probably appealed to her sense of whimsy, too, so that's what she designed and commissioned."
    "They're not really pornographic," Theo said, her voice throatier than usual. "They're too beautiful to be obscene."
    "Well, I don't want any of those things in my room," Amber stated with disgust. She walked out of the room.
    "They are well done," David remarked to Theo, even more aware of the sweet scent. "I especially like the way Lizzie's sense of humor shows in some of the designs." The two-inch pink, rose, and purple penises in the glass arches were entwined with fig leaves and many of the elegant little organs seemed to be hiding, rather coyly, behind the foliage. He opened his mouth to say so then snapped his jaw shut, shocked that he'd been about to say this to a woman he barely knew. Exhausted, he thought, I must be too exhausted to think straight. "It's getting late. Shall we finish the tour?"
    Theo smiled and gestured at the door. "After you."
    He stepped toward the threshold, aware of Theo right behind him. A second later, he jumped as a hand caressed his left buttock. Shocked, he whirled to stare at Theo.
    "What's wrong, David?" The surprise on her face appeared genuine.
    "Uh, nothing. Nothing." He stood back and gestured for her to take the lead. The woman copped a feel, he thought, following her dumbly out the door. He couldn't believe it, but he knew what he had felt . Or maybe she'd just brushed him with her purse? That could be, he supposed. Maybe...
    "I see you've found the billiards room, Amber," Theo said, entering the already-lit room. David followed her in, wondering how she’d react to a subtle goose.
    Amber, standing on the far side of the huge billiard table, just shrugged . "This lamp's not bad," she said, looking at David.
    "It's magnificent." The billiards lamp was five feet long and eighteen inches wide, and its leaded shade was comprised of hundreds of multi-colored circles representing billiard balls. "They cleaned up the wood," Theo said, pointing at the table's massive carved legs. "But we've had a hard time locating someone who knows how to re-cover the table top. She laid her hand on the stained threadbare felt. "My secretary finally located a man down in Santa Barbara who'll do the work, though. I'm really sorry it's not done already."
    "No problem." The ancient material, once green, was almost colorless except for the huge blackish stains in the center of the table.