بگو سیب و بمیر فصل 18

Say Cheese and Die! - Chapter 18

Greg sat in the shade with his back against the tree trunk, the camera on the ground at his side, and watched the blue-uniformed policemen.

They covered the backyard and could be seen bending low as they searched around in the woods. He could hear their voices but couldn’t make out what they were saying. Their faces were intent, bewildered.

More policemen arrived, grim-faced, businesslike.

And then, even more blue-uniformed policemen.

Mrs. Walker had called her husband home from a golf game. They sat huddled together on canvas chairs in a corner of the patio. They whispered to each other, their eyes darting across the yard. Holding hands, they looked pale and worried.

Everyone else had left.

On the patio, the table was still set. The birthday candles had burned all the way down, the blue-and-red wax melting in hard puddles on the pink-and-white icing, the cake untouched.

“No sign of her,” a red-cheeked policeman with a white-blond mustache was telling the Walkers. He pulled off his cap and scratched his head, revealing short blond hair.

“Did someone… take her away?” Mr. Walker asked, still holding his wife’s hand.

“No sign of a struggle,” the policeman said. “No sign of anything, really.”

Mrs. Walker sighed loudly and lowered her head. “I just don’t understand it.”

There was a long, painful silence.

“We’ll keep looking,” the policeman said. “I’m sure we’ll find… something.”

He turned and headed toward the woods.

“Oh. Hi.” He stopped in front of Greg, staring down at him as if seeing him for the first time. “You still here, son? All the other guests have gone home.” He pushed his hair back and replaced his cap.

“Yeah, I know,” Greg replied solemnly, lifting the camera into his lap.

“I’m Officer Riddick,” he said.

“Yeah, I know,” Greg repeated softly.

“How come you didn’t go home after we talked with you, like the others?” Officer Riddick asked.

“I’m just upset, I guess,” Greg told him. “I mean, Shari’s a good friend, you know?” He cleared his throat, which felt dry and tight. “Besides, I live right over there.” He gestured with his head to his house next door.

“Well, you might as well go home, son,” Officer Riddick said, turning his eyes to the woods with a frown. “This search could take a long time. We haven’t found a thing back there yet.”

“I know,” Greg replied, rubbing his hand against the back of the camera.

And I know that this camera is the reason Shari is missing, he thought, feeling miserable and frightened.

“One minute she was there. The next minute she was gone,” the policeman said, studying Greg’s face as if looking for answers there.

“Yeah,” Greg replied. “It’s so weird.”

It’s weirder than anyone knows, Greg thought.

The camera made her invisible. The camera did it.

First, she vanished from the snapshot.

Then she vanished in real life.

The camera did it to her. I don’t know how. But it did.

“Do you have something more to tell me?” Officer Riddick asked, hands resting on his hips, his right hand just above the worn brown holster that carried his pistol. “Did you see something? Something that might give us a clue, help us out? Something you didn’t remember to tell me before?”

Should I tell him? Greg wondered.

If I tell him about the camera, he’ll ask where I got it. And I’ll have to tell him that I got it in the Coffman house. And we’ll all get in trouble for breaking in there.

But—big deal. Shari is missing. Gone. Vanished. That’s a lot more important.

I should tell him, Greg decided.

But then he hesitated. If I tell him, he won’t believe me.

If I tell him, how will it help bring Shari back?

“You look very troubled,” Officer Riddick said, squatting down next to Greg in the shade. “What’s your name again?”

“Greg. Greg Banks.”

“Well, you look very troubled, Greg,” the policeman repeated softly. “Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you? Why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind? I think it’ll make you feel a lot better.”

Greg took a deep breath and glanced up to the patio. Mrs. Walker had covered her face with her hands. Her husband was leaning over her, trying to comfort her.

“Well…” Greg started.

“Go ahead, son,” Officer Riddick urged softly. “Do you know where Shari is?”

“It’s this camera,” Greg blurted out. He suddenly could feel the blood throbbing against his temples.

He took a deep breath and then continued. “You see, this camera is weird.”

“What do you mean?” Officer Riddick asked quietly.

Greg took another deep breath. “I took Shari’s picture. Before. When I first arrived. I took two pictures. And she was invisible. In both of them. See?”

Officer Riddick closed his eyes, then opened them. “No. I don’t understand.”

“Shari was invisible in the picture. Everything else was there. But she wasn’t. She had vanished, see? And then later, she vanished for real. The camera—it predicts the future, I guess. Or it makes bad things happen.” Greg raised the camera, attempting to hand it to the policeman.

Officer Riddick made no attempt to take it. He just stared hard at Greg, his eyes narrowing, his expression hardening.

Greg felt a sudden stab of fear.

Oh, no, he thought. Why is he looking at me like that? What is he going to do?