Charlotte waited until he was ready. She spoke in a whisper.
“It all began a week ago. I was about to go to sleep. Before I go to bed, I always close the blinds for the night. A week ago, I was closing the blinds when the telephone rang.”
He wrote it down in shorthand.
“I answered the telephone and I heard a clicking noise. My hearing has stayed sharp over the past few years, and I remember hearing that noise. The next thing I heard was a very deep voice.”
Her own voice shook a little and her eyes shone. Jake reached out to her.
“What did it say?”
“I…I can’t…repeat it. I wrote down what he said.”
A white note emerged from the purple fabric of her dress. She handed it to Jake. It was folded at least four times, and he uncreased it slowly so he wouldn’t rip it. He read it silently.
I see you closing your blinds. If you want us to stop watching you, then you have to stop watching us. Or else.
She was shaking. Jake folded up the piece of paper and looked at her. He recorded the words in his notebook.
“What does it say?” Gary asked.
“Gary, please. It’s sensitive.”
“What does it say?”
“Here.”
Charlotte was still shaking. He slipped Gary the piece of paper.
“I’m sorry about him. He’s just curious.”
“The voice hung up after that.” She seemed calm again. “I haven’t heard anything since.”
“Jacob!” Gary shouted.
“What Gary?”
“I don’t have my reading glasses.”
He was rotating the paper in his hands.
“Jacob, I can’t read this note without them.”
“Charlotte, let’s get back to your story.”
Gary was holding the note up to the light. Upside down.
“What does it say? Just tell me.”
“Later.”
“It won’t make sense if it’s later.”
“Not now.”
“Why won’t you tell me?”
Charlotte looked worried again. Jake stood up and Gary followed. Jake cupped his hands over Gary’s ear and whispered. Gary shouted back.
“Why are you whispering?”
“Come here.” He led him to the hallway. Jake closed the door and told Gary what the note said. When they walked back in, Gary began arching his eyebrows uncontrollably.
“Some note, Charlotte. That’s very scary stuff!”
“It was very frightening,” she continued. “I’ve been fine since then. But I haven’t…”
“What?”
“I used to like sunlight in the daytime.”
She looked down at the floor and Jake looked up at the shut blinds. That’s why they were closed. She didn’t want the man who called to see her again.
“I’m so sorry. Do you want me to open them?”
“No. It’s fine.”
“Did you tell Mel?”
“No, I haven’t told anyone. I don’t know who I can trust.”
Her hair fell in front of her face, gray lines like a pencil sketch. Gary touched her shoulder and whispered that she’d be OK. Jake tapped his notebook with his pen.
“Well, I think you will be fine. One prank call can’t mean anything. Let’s try to figure out who made it.”
She looked up.
“How will we do that?”
“We have to figure out what’s really happening. If we don’t do that, then we’ll just be scared.”
“I don’t know who the voice was.”
“Right. But who might it have been?”
“I don’t know.” She crossed her arms over her knees again.
“You think this started because of bridge?”
“Yes, I know it.”
“Well, why would they be upset if they kicked you out?”
“I suppose I’ve been making trouble since then. I’ve made some noise about starting my own game, and I’ve also been making some investigations. Private investigations. I admit it.”
“I see. And who would be upset about that?”
“Everyone. Everyone plays bridge.”
“I play bridge,” Gary said proudly. He swallowed. “Oh, but I’m not mad at you.”
“Thank you.” She smiled faintly. “I just know it must have to do with bridge. I’ve started getting very, very good. But then when I came home one day, I received a call from Sheryl.”
“Who is that?” He wrote down the name.
“Sheryl Goldfein. I had already changed my dress for the night’s game, but then she called and said that they had filled up for bridge that night. I know they always have room for more people in bridge. She thinks that just because she heads up the council she can do anything.”
He tapped his pen on the side of his notebook. Gary’s head nodded back and then he snapped awake.
“Charlotte, what is this council you’ve mentioned?”
“Oh.” She blushed, her pale cheeks spotted red. “We all make decisions about the community. There are eight of us and Sheryl is the chair. She’s very bossy, and I’m sure that’s why she was able to kick me out of bridge.”
“Right. So what do you do on the council?”
“For one of our recent projects, we helped decide where our new garden would be.”
He smiled.
“I saw that spot. Mel showed me.”
“Yes. It will be lovely. We chose relatively rare flowers. They will be an interesting mix.”
“Do you remember the name?”
“I don’t remember right now.”
“That’s fine.” He wanted Mel to tell him anyway. “Does the council work on anything else?”
“We have many projects.” She was getting excited again. “I’ve always ensured Sheryl doesn’t roll over everyone else. She can do that.”
“How so?”
“The worst thing happened a month ago. We eventually passed the motion, although I tried to stop it.”
“What happened?”
“Well,” she began, “every year, we make a donation to a local charity. It has been a tradition for years.”
“Did she try to stop the donation?”
“No. However, she pushed very hard for her charity to receive the money. Every year since I have lived here, we have donated to a charity called Ducks Unlimited.”
“What do they do?”
“They preserve wetlands. I just know that it has been a tradition here. Sheryl, however, decided that we should change to a different charity this year.”
“Did you mind?”
“I wouldn’t have minded. Though I do love ducks.”
She pointed to the left side of the room. A small painted wooden duck sat against the wall. It was swimming in the blue carpet.
“Isn’t he cute?” She sounded happy again.
“I can see you like them.”
“My husband made me that one.”
“He made that?”
“He was very handy.” She touched her face, letting her hand linger on the side of her cheek. “He could carve a piece of wood easily. He carved pumpkins for Halloween. He could hollow them out in a few minutes. The skin would be so thin you could see the candle.”
“I can’t imagine Halloween in this weather.”
“Oh yes. We used to live in the North. He made the pumpkin as thin as paper. Our daughter made the designs.”
“You love ducks.” He looked at the green wooden one again. “Did you like that charity?”
“Honestly, I’m not particularly attached to the one we’ve used in the past. There are so many good causes. Still, Sheryl nearly forced us to donate to the Saving Tomorrow Initiative.”
“What is that?”
“None of us knew. It was very vague. Eventually, she told us it was an educational charity to help save the wetlands. I believe the wetlands are important, but I had not heard of the Initiative. I didn’t see why we had to switch from the ducks.”
“I see.” He looked at his notebook. A full page. He hadn’t had that in a while. Then he looked at Gary, who was gently snoring in the chair. Charlotte didn’t notice.
“I challenged Sheryl at the meeting, in front of everyone. I told her that I would be willing to switch, but I needed evidence of the group’s quality. Almost all of them voted against me, except for Abram. She’s unstoppable.”
“That’s odd. No one wanted to know?”
“None except Abram and I.” She threw up her hands in frustration.
“And so you’re still having problems with Sheryl?”
She smiled and narrowed her eyes.
“After Sheryl kicked me out of the bridge games, I started to do research on everything about her. I don’t have anything to do at night, since Sheryl won’t let me play. They have two games a week now, too. But apparently not enough space for me.”
“I see.”
Charlotte looked down again.
“I’m starting to discover some very interesting things in the course of my investigations. I’m closer than ever. She’ll regret what she did.”
“I see.”
Her hair nearly covered her face. He stood up and touched her back. Bones. Hard, bent over bones. She looked up and smiled weakly.
“That sounded cruel, didn’t it? I’m so dramatic these days.”
“No, you aren’t.”
“I know I am,” she said and laughed. “All this for a game. If my daughter saw me…”
“Where is she?”
“Pennsylvania.”
“I see.”
“And now I’m causing all this commotion over what you say is a prank call. I’m like a child. I said I wouldn’t cry…” She trailed off. Then she turned her head, her back holding still. She looked at the closed blinds. Jake stood up quickly.
“You know what? Let’s fix something.”
He walked over and opened the blinds. Light entered the room and thick beams of it made everything bright. The duck’s bill turned from black to orange, and the walls seemed cleaner. Gary snapped awake and looked around in shock.
“The white light! Am I dead again?”
“Gary, let’s get a picture.”
Charlotte looked worried.
“A picture for publication?”
“Of course not. Just for you.”
She stayed seated in her chair, the walker at her side. Jake helped Gary set up the camera. It was heavier than he thought. Then Gary smiled as he screwed on his special lens. Charlotte touched her hair and pulled it back and up. She sat up as straight as she could. The light smoothed out her face. It was a pale plane, but a pretty one. Around it, her hair looked like rising smoke. Gary adjusted the angle and clicked. He didn’t even need to use the flash because the room was so bright.