Suddenly, however, Connie wondered if, in his last moment of life, Ticktock had thrown the world into another Pause, exempting only his own house, figuring to disable them and then kill them at his leisure. And if he had died with the world stopped, would it ever start up again? Or would she and Harry and the dog wander through it alone, among millions of once-living mannequins?

She raced to the kitchen door and through it to the night outside. A breeze, cool on her face, ruffling her hair. Fog swirling, not suspended like a cloud of glitter in an acrylic paperweight. The rumble of waves on the sh.o.r.e below. Beautiful, beautiful sounds of a world alive.

4.

They were police officers with a sense of duty and justice, but they were not foolish enough to follow prescribed procedures in the aftermath of this one. No way could they call it in to the local authorities and explain the true circ.u.mstances. Dead, Bryan Drackman was just a twenty-year-old man, and there was nothing about him to prove that he'd possessed astonishing powers. To tell the truth would be a ticket to inst.i.tutionalization.

The jars of eyes, however, floating blindly on the shelves in Ticktock's bedroom, and the mirrored strangeness of his house would be evidence enough that they had crossed paths with a homicidal psychopath, even if no one ever produced the bodies from which he had removed the eyes. They were able to provide one body, anyway, to support a charge of brutal murder: Ricky Estefan down in Dana Point, eyeless, with snakes and tarantulas.

"Somehow," Connie said, as they stood in the pantry staring at the shelves laden with cash, "we've got to concoct a story to cover everything, all the holes and weirdnesses, the reason why we broke procedures on this case. We can't just close the door and walk away because too many people at Pacific View know we were there tonight, talking to his mother, seeking his address."

"Story?" he said blearily. "Dear G.o.d in Heaven, what kind of story?"

"I don't know," she said, wincing from the pain in her wrist. "That's up to you."

"Me? Why me?"

"You've always liked fairy tales. Make one up. It has to cover the burning of your house, Ricky Estefan, and this. At least that much." He was still gaping at her when she pointed to all the piles of cash. "This is only going to complicate the story. Let's just simplify things by getting it out of here."

"I don't want his money," Harry said.

"Neither do I. Not a dollar of it. But we'll never know who it was stolen from, so it'll only go to the government, the same d.a.m.n government that's given us this pre-millennium cotillion, and I can't tolerate the idea of giving it more to waste. Besides, we both know a few people who could sure use it, don't we?"

"G.o.d, they're still waiting in the van," he said.

"Let's bag this cash and take it out to them. Then Janet can drive them away in the van, with the dog, so they don't get wrapped up in it. Meanwhile, you'll be putting together a story, and by the time they're gone, we'll be ready to call in."

"Connie, I can't possibly-"

"Better start thinking," she said, pulling a plastic garbage bag from a box of them on one shelf.

"But this is crazier than-"

"Not much time," she said warningly, opening the bag with her one good hand.

"All right, all right," he said exasperatedly.

"Can't wait to hear it," she said, scooping bundles of currency into the first open bag as he opened a second. "It should be highly entertaining."

5.

Good day, good day, good. Sun shining, breeze blowing through his fur, interesting bugs busy in the gra.s.s, interesting smells on people's shoes from faraway interesting places, and no cats. Everyone there, all together. Ever since this morning early, Janet doing delicious-smelling things in the food room of the people place, the people and dog dog place, their place. Sammy in his garden, cutting tomatoes off vines, pulling carrots out of the ground-interesting, must've buried them in the ground like bones-and then bringing them into the food room for Janet to do delicious things. Then Sammy washing off the stones that people put down over part of the gra.s.s behind their place. Washing stones with the hose, yes yes yes yes yes, the hose, splattering water, cool and tasty, everyone laughing, dodging, yes yes yes yes. And Danny there, helping to put the cloth on the table that stands on the stones, arrange the chairs, plates and things. Janet, Danny, Sammy. He knows their names now because they have been together long enough for him to know them, Janet and Danny and Sammy, all together at the Janet-and-Danny-and-Sammy-and-Woofer place. He remembers being Prince, sort of, and Max because of the cat who peed in his water, and he remembers Fella from everyone for so long, but now he answers only to Woofer. The others come, too, driving up in their car, and he knows their names almost as well because they're around so much, visiting so much. Harry, Connie, and Ellie, Ellie who is Danny's size, all of them coming over to visit from the Harry-and-Connie-and-Ellie-and-Toto place. Toto. Good dog, good dog, good. Friend. place, their place. Sammy in his garden, cutting tomatoes off vines, pulling carrots out of the ground-interesting, must've buried them in the ground like bones-and then bringing them into the food room for Janet to do delicious things. Then Sammy washing off the stones that people put down over part of the gra.s.s behind their place. Washing stones with the hose, yes yes yes yes yes, the hose, splattering water, cool and tasty, everyone laughing, dodging, yes yes yes yes. And Danny there, helping to put the cloth on the table that stands on the stones, arrange the chairs, plates and things. Janet, Danny, Sammy. He knows their names now because they have been together long enough for him to know them, Janet and Danny and Sammy, all together at the Janet-and-Danny-and-Sammy-and-Woofer place. He remembers being Prince, sort of, and Max because of the cat who peed in his water, and he remembers Fella from everyone for so long, but now he answers only to Woofer. The others come, too, driving up in their car, and he knows their names almost as well because they're around so much, visiting so much. Harry, Connie, and Ellie, Ellie who is Danny's size, all of them coming over to visit from the Harry-and-Connie-and-Ellie-and-Toto place. Toto. Good dog, good dog, good. Friend.

He takes Toto straight to the garden, where they aren't allowed to dig-bad dogs if they dig, bad dogs, bad-to show him where the carrots were buried like bones. Sniff sniff sniff sniff. More of them buried here. Interesting. But don't dig.

Playing with Toto and Danny and Ellie, running and chasing and jumping and rolling in the gra.s.s, rolling.

Good day. The best. The best.

Then food. Food! Bringing it out of the people food room and piling it up on the table that stands on the stones in the shade of the trees. Sniff sniff sniff sniff, ham, chicken, potato salad, mustard, cheese, cheese is good, sticks to the teeth but is good, and more, much more food, up there on the table.

Don't jump up. Be good. Be a good dog. Good dogs get more sc.r.a.ps, usually not just sc.r.a.ps, whole big pieces of things, yes yes yes yes yes.

Cricket jumps. Cricket! Chase, chase, get it, get it, get it, got to have it, Toto too, leaping, jumping, this way, that way, this way, cricket. . . .

Oh, wait, yes, the food. Back to the table. Sit. Chest puffed out. Head c.o.c.ked. Tail wagging. They love that. Lick your chops, give them the hint.

Here it comes. What what what what? Ham. A piece of ham to start. Good, good, good, gone. A delicious start, a very good start.

Such a good day, a day like he always knew would come, one of lots of good days, one after another, for a long time now, because it happened, it really happened, he went around that one more corner, looked in that one more strange new place, and he found the wonderful thing, the wonderful thing that he always knew was out there waiting for him. The wonderful thing, the wonderful thing, which is this place and this time and these people. And here comes a slice of chicken, thick and juicy!

A Note to My Readers All of the outrages to which Connie and Harry refer as items in her collection of atrocities from the "pre-millennium cotillion" are true crimes that really happened. No one as powerful as Ticktock walks the real world, of course, but his capacity for evil is not unique to fiction.