“No one knew his background when he came here and married Doris. It might have been better if he’d never married, much less had children.”
Harry rubbed his chin. “You could be right. He might have struggled to keep everything together but when he realized that his hard work and efforts weren’t enough, I guess his sanity snapped. ”
“We’ll probably never know more than that,” Bertie said. “Was there anything on the cameras?”
“Nothing. I’ll keep checking for the next few days and if I don’t see anything, I’ll just have to blame Max’s fertile imagination.”
“He has that all right,” Bertie agreed. “By the way, don’t forget that tomorrow is Halloween and I won’t be here.”
“I remember. You’re decorating your front yard.”
She nodded. “I always see a lot of trick-or-treaters because they remember me from the library. And I like to set out a good display for them.”
Harry chuckled. “I have lots of treats, but that’s as far as it goes for me. And, since tomorrow is Friday, I’ll see you on Monday.”
***************
There was still nothing on the cameras when Harry checked them the following day. If teenagers were coming out here for any reason, they probably wouldn’t be out here on Halloween night. They’d most likely be at a party somewhere. He hoped it was all Max’s imagination. No one needed a reminder of the worst tragedy in the town’s history at any time, but definitely not on the anniversary of the event.
He called Max and suggested that he avoid that area for a while.
“Any particular reason?” Max asked.
“Not especially,” Harry said, “but if you actually did see someone out there, it’s possible that they might have seen you as well and could be avoiding the area temporarily.”
“Oh… I didn’t think of that,” Max said. “But, it makes sense. They might be watching until they think it’s safe to return.”
“That’s right,” Harry said. “Then we might catch them on the cameras.”
“All right, I’ll change my route for the next few weeks. Thanks, Mr. Hogan.”
Harry ended the call. He did not mention the real reason behind his suggestion. He was more afraid that the situation might trigger Max’s sleepwalking again.
Several hours later, Harry poured himself a small glass of brandy, sat down in the recliner and put the foot rest up. The number of trick-or-treaters seemed to be less and less each year. No doubt the COVID pandemic had had an impact on it. But, the kids in the immediate area were growing up too. Most of them were teenagers now and Halloween was more about house parties with their friends.
All this meant a quieter evening and he was good with that. He reached for the remote and then… “Bang!”… followed by loud, gut-wrenching screams. He jumped to his feet, strode across the room and pulled open the door. He heard the siren of an ambulance in the distance but that wasn’t unusual. Apart from that, all was quiet and still. Shaking his head, he walked back to his chair.
