“But Flo, maybe she didn’t,” Judy protested. “Maybe she’s back there in the theater looking for us.”
“That could be exactly where she is,” agreed Pauline. “Let’s ask Irene if she knows what happened to her. I’m sure our phantom friend didn’t disappear into the mist.”
Judy shivered at the way she said it. Remembering the film storage room and the secret it held, anything seemed possible. A real chill went through her as they reentered the theater. The overhead lights had been turned off, and the seats were all empty. The cameras, idle now, looked more like monsters than ever in the semidarkness. Most of the technicians had gone home, but there was some activity backstage where props were being put away. Voices came from the dressing room. Irene was saying, “I wonder where they went.”
“We went outside if it’s us you’re wondering about,” replied Judy, popping in at the door. Her entrance was so sudden that Irene jumped. The witch, who was just removing her green make-up, dropped her artificial nose. Pauline and Flo laughed, but their faces sobered when they attempted to describe the accident and their fears for Clarissa.
“We thought at first she might have taken a cab, but the cab was coming from Grand Central terminal and it had a redheaded woman in it. She was taken to the hospital—”
“You’re sure it wasn’t Clarissa?” Irene interrupted.
“We’re not sure of anything,” Flo replied with a shiver. “Clarissa is a strange girl. One minute she was there beside me, and the next time I looked she was gone. She probably sneaked out with the money we lent her. I was under the spell of the play and didn’t see her leave.”
“You see how good you were,” Irene said to the girl who had played the part of the witch. With her make-up removed, Judy could see that she was quite an ordinary-looking person. Her cackling voice, too, had been an act.
“Most people enjoy being frightened,” the girl said. “But I hope I didn’t upset your friend.”
Clarissa was not in the dressing room. Neither were the two bottles of shampoo she claimed she had left there.