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night.”
    â€œRight.” Looking at the list made me feel sorry for Louis. All of those people had to be considered suspects.
    â€œAnything else you need to see?” Deborah asked.
    â€œLike what?” Suddenly it dawned on me that she was assuming that Sid and I were going to investigate the murder. “Hey, what happened to ‘we’ll talk about it later’?”
    She tried to look innocent. “Hmmm? I just thought you’d be interested in a behind-the-scenes view. It might be useful someday.”
    â€œYeah, right.”
    Madison intervened by saying, “Maybe I should get my stuff.”
    â€œGood idea,” Deborah said.
    Madison’s backpack was shoved into a locker along with an assortment of clothing and makeup. “Should I take everything, Aunt Deborah? Or is the haunt going to reopen?”
    â€œThat’s between the police and the Scholars Committee,”Deborah said. “The cops want it shut—the committee wants it open.”
    â€œWho’s on the committee?” I asked.
    â€œThe McQuaid Quintet. Officially there are some others on the membership roster, but that’s just for show.”
    I’d never met any members of the family who’d given the university its name, but their presence was often felt in town. “In that case, I’m betting it’ll reopen sooner rather than later.”
    Madison hesitated, then put the spooky makeup back into the locker. Even high school students knew that when the McQuaids spoke, Pennycross listened.
    Deborah checked the time on her phone. “We better get inspected. I think it’s going to get really crowded in a couple of minutes.”
    Madison carried her backpack over to the table and unzipped it. Louis was thorough but professional, and didn’t even question why my daughter carried three different bottles of scented hand sanitizer.
    â€œHow about that?” he said when he was done, nodding at the duffel bag I had on my shoulder.
    â€œIt’s empty,” Deborah said. “Some of the costumes and props need repair jobs, so I’m going to take them home. Is that okay?”
    â€œSure, that’s fine,” Louis said.
    Deborah took the bag from me, went to a couple of lockers, pulled out the contents, and shoved it into the duffel, leaving the bag about three-quarters empty. Then she took it over for Louis to inspect.
    He gave it a cursory examination and returned it. “You’re good to go.”
    She promptly handed it back to me and said, “Here, make yourself useful. I’ve got to stick around, but one of the officers will walk you down. Bathroom break first, right?”
    She shoved Madison and me in the direction of the ladiesrestroom and closed the door behind us just as the officer from downstairs came in with seven or eight chattering cast members.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” I asked her.
    â€œWorking around the cops,” she said, looking at her phone again. “Okay, the next wave will be here in a couple of minutes. Come on.”
    She hauled us out, and said, “Hey, Louis, can somebody—?” Then she pretended to notice that all the cops were busy searching bags. “Whoa, bad timing on your part, Georgia. Hey, Louis, you want me to walk Georgia and Madison out while you inspect those bags?”
    â€œIf you don’t mind,” he said, looking harried.
    â€œNo problem. Come on, ladies.”
    I expected her to sneak off once we were out of Louis’s sight, but she went straight down to the entrance hall, where more cast members had just arrived. The officer stationed there was on the radio with Louis, looking overwhelmed, and even more so as more people came in.
    Deborah said, “Jeez, everybody came at once? You want me to watch the door while you take this batch to the greenroom?”
    â€œYeah, that would be great,” he said. “Okay, guys, let’s head upstairs.”
    I saw Deborah