A Catered Halloween by Isis Crawford

had happened to Libby had happened to her, she’d be thoroughly freaked out, too. Well, not really. Libby always overreacted to this kind of stuff, even though, according to her mom, she had the “gift.” Or maybe that was the reason she did it. Bernie was glad she’d never been blessed that way.
    Usually, Bernie thought of Halloween in terms of crunching leaves underfoot, excited children, hot mulled cider, and pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream-cheese icing on top. But after what had happened with Amethyst, her thoughts were darker.
    Try as she might, she couldn’t get Amethyst’s head out of her mind. And even though she’d really disliked her, she wasn’t sure Amethyst had deserved to die that way. She wasn’t sure that anyone did. Although if they did, Amethyst would be up there on her list. She’d made bad things happen wherever she’d gone.
    That much was not debatable. And there was a good chance she might have killed someone as well. Looked at in that light, whoever had killed Amethyst had done the world a favor. Not that her father or her sister would agree with that thought. And on that note, Bernie turned into the driveway of the house where the Timberland Insurance Company was located.
    The house was a classic wooden, two-story Colonial, painted a boring shade of beige, with white trim. The two front windows had white blinds pulled halfway down. Bernie parked her car, walked up three steps, rang the doorbell, and walked in. The hallway was a different shade of beige. Obviously, Timberland had beige on his mind. Either that or he’d gotten a deal on the paint.
    The receptionist’s desk, which was situated in what had been the sitting room of the house, was empty. Judging from the cup that was sitting there, someone had inhabited that desk not too long ago. She was probably beige, too, Bernie reflected. A moment later Zachery Timberland came out. When he looked at her, Bernie decided he resembled a shark. All teeth. She didn’t remember so many teeth from the last time she’d seen him.
    “So you want to change your insurance policy, do you?” he asked.
    Bernie smiled her charming smile. “That’s why I’m here.”
    “Life?”
    “No. Automobile. I told you that.”
    Timberland put his palms outward. “Everyone makes mistakes. Some people make more then others,” he said, glancing pointedly in her direction.
    Great , Bernie thought as she kept smiling. “I’m sure that’s true.”
    Timberland took a step closer to her. “I know it is.”
    Bernie remained where she was. She was damned if she was going to move for this guy. She’d been hoping to start with the buying the insurance thing and to gradually work the conversation around to the Peabody School, but things didn’t seem to be going that way.
    “So,” Bernie said, trying again, “can you give me a quote on a policy for my car?”
    Timberland’s smile got bigger. Bernie decided he’d definitely gotten veneers on his teeth.
    “No. But I can give you a quote on a life-insurance policy.”
    “Really? You think I’m going to need one?”
    “Everyone needs one,” Timberland said in a bland voice.
    “Is that the case?”
    “It certainly is.”
    “So that’s not a threat or anything?”
    “What a fertile imagination you have. Why would I threaten you?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “There you go.” Timberland leered at her. “I like the shoes.”
    Bernie considered them for a moment. They were high brown suede boots with a thin gold chain threaded through the top. She’d gotten them at deep discount last summer, when she’d been looking for a convection oven on the Lower East Side.
    “They do wonders for your ass,” Timberland said.
    “Nice. You don’t want to sell me life insurance, do you?”
    “You don’t want to buy life insurance, do you?”
    “So I guess that makes us even,” Bernie observed. “By the way, those veneers on your teeth. You should have them redone. They look like Chiclets.”
    Bernie was happy to