Blood Will Have Blood by Linda Barnes

friendly. Call him. His name is Wolf. Don’t hurt him. Don’t scare him like that!”
    It was Karen who organized the successful maneuver. The three pursuers cornered the panicked animal. Eddie scooped him up and displayed him like a trophy. Everyone else applauded, except for Darien.
    â€œThank you, Eddie dear.” Caroline ignored Karen’s and the stagehand’s contribution to the rescue. She came down a few steps. “Now just put him in his basket—”
    â€œStop!” Eddie’s voice, usually so deferential, gave the order. “Stay where you are. Freeze!” He pushed the dog into the arms of the gaping stagehand, and raced up the uneven steps, past the platform where John and Emma sat hand in hand. He knelt at the first riser.
    â€œWhat the hell is going on?” Darien demanded, standing.
    Caroline placed a hand eloquently over her heart and gasped. She collapsed elegantly on the fifth step of the long twisting flight.
    Eddie straightened up slowly, holding something carefully in his hands. Emma and John stared at it wordlessly.
    â€œWill someone tell me what is going on?” inquired Darien.
    â€œIt’s a trip wire,” Eddie said too loudly.
    Caroline burst into beautifully orchestrated tears. With a regretful glance at Emma, John Langford took the steps two at a time to comfort her.
    â€œA trip wire?” Darien repeated.
    â€œA thin piece of wire strung between two nails driven into the riser.”
    â€œBut—” Emma began.
    â€œYes?”
    â€œBut I came down those steps, Arthur. You saw me. It wasn’t there.”
    â€œI picked you up before you reached the bottom step,” John Langford corrected her.
    â€œJust the way you always do, darling.” Caroline’s voice had turned to ice. “Emma wasn’t in any danger. She knew that. She knew it when she planted the damn thing—”
    Langford placed a warning hand on Caroline’s shoulder. “Stop it, Caroline. You don’t know what you’re saying. You’re upset.”
    â€œLet her talk, John. I’m fascinated,” said Emma defiantly.
    â€œHow dare you, you—”
    Spraggue stood up. “Arthur,” he said, “clear the stage. Get all the lights on and break for lunch. Karen, there’s a leather case in my dressing room. Could you send someone to get it? And could you stay?”
    Darien gaped. Then he shrugged. “An hour for lunch,” he said. “Be back at one-thirty. Now clear the set.”
    Caroline sniffed loudly. “Take me down to my dressing room, John. I’m not hungry—”
    Langford escorted the weeping Caroline down the stairs, gazing helplessly at Emma. It was Caroline’s best performance of the day. She gave Emma one reproachful stare, kissed Eddie gratefully on the cheek, reclaimed her puppy, and allowed Langford to half-carry her from the stage. Spraggue restrained his applause.
    The theater began to empty, though some of the actors hesitated, watching Spraggue curiously as he removed a magnifying lens from the leather case a stagehand had brought up. Darien was the last to leave.
    â€œWell,” said Karen Snow, her lips tightly pressed together, “you asked me if I thought the other actors knew why you were here. They’re not that dumb. They’re on to you now.”
    â€œGood.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œThe joker’s been giving us warnings. I wanted to return the favor.”
    â€œSo he’s warned,” she said. “What next?”
    â€œEither he gets more careful, he stops, or he gets caught,” Spraggue said.
    â€œI hope he stops,” Karen said.
    â€œNot me. I’m starting to look forward to meeting this joker of ours. I hope the bastard doesn’t quit.”
    â€œJust make sure you catch him soon.”

Chapter Twelve
    There were fingerprints on the riser—too many. Eddie’s, of course, and probably the prints of