I could a tale unfold - 11

Two days passed without any more apparent visits from the young man. That was of course presuming that young man Ross had seen was the same person who had put the costumes on the dummies, but Ross couldn't imagine there being two people wandering around after hours.

He and Kirk would arrive home at night, drained. A usual thing for them when they were in the throes of getting a show up. After tossing together something vaguely edible, they'd collapse into bed, too tired to do more than hold each other until they fell asleep. Mornings were a little better, in that they made certain to stop and get a decent breakfast on the way to the theater.

On the afternoon of the third day, the cast was at the beginning of Act 5 of 'Hamlet'—the graveyard scene. Kirk bent to pick up Yorick's skull, as always, and frowned, but continued with his speech, unwilling to bring a halt to the rehearsal. It wasn't until an hour later that he had a chance to look closely at the prop. Then he strode across the backstage area to where Micah was busily preparing for the next act.

Kirk handed the skull to the prop master, asking, "Why did you change this?"

Taking one look at it, Micah set it down hurriedly on the prop table. "That's not the right one. This one is the real thing—I think." He bent over to look at it again. "Definitely real, if I don't miss my guess. Someone's playing a sick joke on us." He picked up a flashlight, shining it on the skull. "Look, there's still dirt or something on the inside."

"Damn. You mean someone dug it up out of a graveyard?" Kirk shuddered at that thought.

"I hate to say it, but I think so. I wonder if we should call the cops or something."

"Why are we calling the cops?" Chandler asked, coming up beside them.

Ross quickly explained. Chandler looked at the skull and then began pacing. Finally, reluctantly, he said that they should. "If for no other reason than to make certain it's not, well, recent I guess."

"Like from a murder? Now that's an even grosser thought than it's just coming from some poor schmuck's grave," Micah muttered.

"But possible I guess," Kirk commented. "I wonder—I hope this doesn't have to do with the guy who was messing around in the costume shop."

"Well if it does, at least it means we're only keeping an eye out for one person, not two," was Chandler's response, "Someone with a freakish sense of humor."